4.4 | The
search for WMD
757.
Mr Scarlett
reported that the position had moved on significantly. Two
documents
had been
prepared:
•
the full,
classified Status Report, addressed to Mr Tenet and to be
copied to
Congress;
and
•
Mr Duelfer’s
testimony to the Congressional Committee hearings on 30
and
31 March.
758.
Mr Scarlett
wrote that the testimony replaced an earlier unclassified
summary
of the
Status Report. It was a “more forceful” document and would need
only light
adjustment
for public release.
759.
Mr Scarlett
also reported that Mr Duelfer intended to draft a final report
over the
summer and
was looking to “surge” additional staff. Mr Howard was
considering how the
UK might
help.
760.
Mr Blair,
who was shown Mr Scarlett’s report by Sir Nigel Sheinwald,
commented
in the
margin that the additional staff were “obviously
vital”.419
761.
Sir Nigel
Sheinwald advised Mr Blair that the text of Mr Duelfer’s
testimony was
an
improvement on earlier texts, but the media was “still likely to
judge it thin” and the
points
Mr Duelfer intended to emphasise were “very
process-oriented”.420
“… our
pressure should now shift from the substance of the report (where
we have
made little
headway) to the handling. If you agree I suggest the following
steps on
Monday
[29 March]:
•
We need to
ensure that the CIA take as little as possible out for the
sanitised
version. We
need all the detail we can secure.
•
Duelfer
should prepare a short summary … This must include a
clear
statement
of breach of SCRs … The summary needs to bring out new
and
suspicious
evidence.The Assessments Staff should pass a draft to
the
Americans.
•
… [H]e
needs to prepare a clear brief statement for the broadcast media
…
•
We need
supporting media appearances in both the US and UK, in
parallel.
The Foreign
Secretary is being lined up here. We need to ensure that
the
Americans
have made a similar plan – last time it was all last
minute.
•
This will
require action on several fronts: Hill/Bartlett, Scarlett/CIA,
me/
Condi,
possibly Jack [Straw]/Powell. It will be too late by the time you
speak
to the
President on Tuesday [30 March].
•
…
419
Manuscript
comment Blair on Minute Scarlett to Sheinwald, 26 March 2004,
‘ISG’.
420
Minute
Sheinwald to Prime Minister, 26 March 2004, ‘Iraq:
ISG’.
571