The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
“… the
dossier reflected the JIC Assessments on the recent intelligence;
and the JIC
Assessments
were an accurate reflection, put into context, of the intelligence
itself.
So it was a
flow of perfectly reputable intelligence conveyed by the Assessment
Staff
and
ourselves into the JIC Assessment and thence into the
dossier.
…
“… I am
quite sure … the dossier … does not go beyond … available
intelligence.”341
626.
Mr Cragg
stated that he had subsequently held a meeting with the
Director
of Global
Issues, the Director of Science and Technology and the DIS staff
who had
attended
the Assessment Staff meeting. He had been told, in relation to the
45 minute
intelligence:
“… firstly,
on the actual detailed intelligence, recent intelligence
underpinning the
main text
and partly the Executive Summary, that the Secret Intelligence
Service,
SIS, were
satisfied that the source was established and reliable and …
they
supported
the reporting, which had already been included in a JIC
Assessment
on 9 September.
…
“… My staff
also reported … there had been a discussion … of the general
context
in which
the new intelligence had appeared which convinced them that it
was quite
reasonable
to take the line they did in Executive Summary concerning
the likelihood
or the
capability of the Iraqis to deploy weapons of mass destruction
within
45 minutes
of a decision to do so.
…
“… I
understand from my staff that there was a discussion of the
validity of the
source,
which would almost certainly have included whether it was single
source.”
627.
Mr Cragg
added that a:
“… single
source has to be looked at with some care; but this was a
known
source, established
and reliable with a good reporting record. And the
statements
he was
making, the intelligence he was providing was well in context of
known
Iraqi approaches.
…
“So in that
sense – I think Mr Scarlett said it fairly clearly – there
were no qualms
about
including this reporting.”
341
The
National Archives, 28 January 2004, Report of
the Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding
the Death
of Dr David Kelly [“The Hutton
Report”], paragraph 197.
234