4.4 | The
search for WMD
247.
The dossier
had been:
“… drafted
and redrafted by the JIC … in consultation with Allies. It was
presented
to No.10 as
a JIC document and remains so. Obviously there were discussions
with
No.10, not
least because you were writing a foreword and you were going to
be
presenting
it to Parliament. But these discussions related primarily to your
frontpiece
printing,
briefing materials, preparation of Q&A, in other words the
normal stuff of
presentation.”
248.
Mr Campbell
stated that that part of the response would give
Mr Blair:
“–
acceptance of genuine concern
––
process,
with a sense of timescale, months not days
––
confidence
they’ll be found because of historical reality and the
labs
––
JIC
assurance nothing wrong took place
––
confirmation
of the ISC inquiry
––
statement
of confidence in Agencies
––
reasons for
no need for other inquiry.”
249.
The House of
Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) announced on
3 June
that it
would hold an inquiry into “The Decision to go to War in
Iraq”.141
The FAC
stated:
“The
inquiry will consider whether the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
within the
Government
as a whole, presented accurate and complete information to
Parliament
in the
period leading up to military action in Iraq, particularly in
relation to Iraq’s
weapons of
mass destruction. The Committee will hear oral evidence from
several
witnesses
in June and will report to the House in July.”
250.
On
4 June, Mr Scarlett sent Mr Blair a written
explanation of the process behind
the
compilation of the September dossier.142
The letter,
described in greater detail in
Section 4.2,
concluded:
“At no
stage in the drafting process … was there an attempt, from No.10
or
elsewhere,
to overrule the judgements of the JIC or my judgement as the
person
in charge.”
251.
Mr Blair
discussed the position he would take at Prime Minister’s
Questions
(PMQs) in a
meeting on 4 June with Sir David Omand (Cabinet Office
Permanent
Secretary
and Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator), Mr Scarlett, Sir
Richard Dearlove
141
Foreign
Affairs Committee Session 2002-2003, 3 June 2003,
Announcement
of New Inquiry.
142
Minute
Scarlett to Prime Minister, 4 June 2003, ‘September 2002 Iraq
Dossier’.
143
Campbell A
& Hagerty B. The
Alastair Campbell Diaries. Volume 4. The Burden of Power:
Countdown
to
Iraq. Hutchinson,
2012.
473