The Report of the Iraq Inquiry

584. Sir Richard should have alerted the Chairman of the JIC and made sure that

Mr Blair and Mr Straw were informed.

585. Given the controversy about the failure to find WMD and questions about

whether the intelligence had been presented accurately after the conflict,

Sir Richard Dearlove should have ensured that Ministers were aware of the

position when he informed the Intelligence and Security Committee that the

intelligence had been withdrawn.

586. By the middle of 2004, serious doubts had emerged about two further

streams of reporting which had informed pre-conflict assessments on:

• the production and possession of stocks of chemical and

biological agents;

• the weaponisation and deployment of those agents;

• Iraq’s intentions to use chemical and biological weapons; and

• Iraq’s strategy of concealment and deception.

587. On 2 June 2004, SIS alerted the FCO and No.10 to concerns about the

reporting from the chain responsible for the “45 minutes” report and a number of

other reports including the one which had informed the 27 November 2002 Update.

588. The ISC Report published in September 2003 stated that Sir Richard Dearlove

told the Committee that the sourcing for the SIS report of 30 August (the source for

the reference in the September dossier to chemical and biological weapons being

deployable within 45 minutes of an order to use them), was “reliable”:

“The senior military officer named and quoted in the report was in a position to

comment on the deployment of chemical and biological weapons.”226

589. SIS informed the FCO on 2 June 2004 that it had information casting doubt on the

reliability of information from a sourcing chain which had provided intelligence before the

conflict on Iraq’s intentions and ability to use chemical or biological weapons.227

226 Intelligence and Security Committee, Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction – Intelligence and

Assessments, September 2003, Cm5972, paragraph 51.

227 Minute SIS to Kidd, 2 June 2004, ‘Butler Review: Sourcing of 45 Minute Report’ attaching SIS Paper,

2 June 2004, ‘Speaking Note for C to Lord Butler […]’.

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