UK ‘warned’ over Iraq weapons
government was told of doubts over threat days before invasion, inquiry hears
Published:
The UK Government was warned just days before the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein may be unable to use his chemical weapons, the official inquiry into the war was told yesterday.
On the second day of public hearings in London, senior Foreign Office officials said intelligence was received in March 2003 suggesting Saddam had “disassembled” his chemical weapons and had not given the order to re-assemble them.
The officials said ministers had been repeatedly warned the intelligence on Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was “patchy”, even though Tony Blair told parliament that they represented a “clear and present” threat.
Sir William Ehrman, who was director of international security at the Foreign Office, said reports by the Joint Intelligence Committee had made clear how uncertain the intelligence was.
With British and US troops massed on the Iraq border and the invasion just days away, he said evidence had come in that his weapons might not be usable at all.
However Sir William insisted that it had not made any difference to the case for war as it simply proved that Saddam was not co-operating with the United Nations weapons inspectors.
Tim Dowse, who was head of counter-proliferation at the Foreign Office, said when he took up the post in 2001, Iraq was not seen as the main country of concern as far as WMD were concerned.
He said despite concerns in the United States, there was no evidence that Saddam was prepared to supply chemical or biological weapons to terrorists, even after the 9/11 attacks in New York City.
“In fact, after 9/11 we concluded that Iraq actually stepped further back,” he said. “They did not want to be associated with al Qaida. They weren’t natural allies.”
Mr Dowse said that he had originally attached little importance to intelligence claiming the Iraq had weapons it could deploy within 45 minutes, which featured heavily the government’s Iraq dossier.
“Speaking personally, when I saw the 45 minutes report, I did not give it particular significance because it didn’t seem out of line with what we generally assessed to be Iraq’s intentions and capabilities with regard to chemical weapons,” he said.
Following the invasion, he said, there was “surprise and concern” in Government that no WMD had been found.
Mr Dowse said he had been so confident WMD would be discovered his main concern was that they should not “declare success too rapidly” in the hunt for weapons, only to be proved wrong.
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Edward Davey said: “The threat that Saddam could deploy WMD within 45 minutes was fundamental to the government’s argument that Iraq presented an imminent danger.
“This evidence proves what has long been suspected – that intelligence was cherry-picked or dismissed to support the case the government wanted to make.”
The inquiry was adjourned until today.
Readers' Comments