4.2 |
Iraq WMD assessments, July to September 2002
555.
Mr Blair
had “committed” Mr Scarlett to provide “an intelligence
briefing” for the
Chairs of
the Foreign Affairs and Defence Select Committees and the
Intelligence and
Security
Committee in the week of 16 September.287
556.
In a minute to
Mr Blair in June 2003, Mr Scarlett wrote:
“As is
natural in the JIC drafting process, there was a debate about a
number
of issues
… but agreement was reached on the final text …”288
557.
Mr Scarlett
also wrote:
“The JIC
agreed that all intelligence-based sections in the document would
be
submitted
to it before they were finalised. The draft assessment was
discussed
at the
JIC on 11 and 18 September. The final draft was circulated to
JIC
members on 19
September and subsequently agreed by them. It was sent to
me
by Alastair Campbell
on 20 September289
… I
regarded this as the formal moment
at which I
was taking responsibility for its contents. I noted to Alastair
that the
draft Conclusion
… which had been drafted by me and formed part of
earlier
versions of
the document, had been dropped. I regarded it as
superfluous.”
“At no
stage in the drafting process set out above was there an attempt,
from No.10
or
elsewhere, to overrule the judgements of the JIC or my judgement as
the person
559.
Mr Scarlett
stated that the minute had been seen by his colleagues on the
JIC.
Iraq
informed Mr Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, on 16
September that it had
decided to
allow the return of inspectors and that it was ready to discuss the
practical
arrangements
with the UN.291
In his
speech to the UN General Assembly on 19 September, Dr Naji Sabri,
the Iraqi
Foreign
Minister, offered Iraq’s “condolences to the American people,
especially the
families of
the victims” of the 11 September 2001 attacks and told the Security
Council that
he had been
instructed by President Saddam Hussein to convey excerpts from his
letter to
the General
Assembly, which presented “Iraq’s position on the latest
developments in the
relationship
between Iraq and the Security Council”.292
287
Email
Powell to Scarlett, 16 September 2002, ‘Iraq’.
288
Minute
Scarlett to Prime Minister, 4 June 2003, ‘September 2002 Iraq
Dossier’.
289
Mr Scarlett
was, in fact, referring to his minute to Mr Campbell of 20
September 2002, not a minute
from
Mr Campbell to him.
290
Minute
Scarlett to Prime Minister, 4 June 2003, ‘September 2002 Iraq
Dossier’.
291
Letter
Sabri to Annan, 16 September 2002, [untitled].
292
UN General
Assembly, ‘Fifty-seventh session 19 September 2002’
(A/57/PV.17).
217