WMD dossier draft must be released (UK)

Source: Press Association

The Foreign Office has been ordered to disclose an early draft of the controversial dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The Information Tribunal rejected an appeal by the Government arguing that releasing the document would not be in the public interest.

The 2002 draft was prepared by the then Foreign Office press secretary John Williams. There have been suggestions - denied by Mr Williams - that the draft might contain the first mention of the claim that Saddam Hussein could launch a WMD strike within 45 minutes.
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"Information has been placed before us, which was not before Lord Hutton, which may lead to questions as to whether the Williams draft in fact played a greater part in influencing the drafting of the dossier than has previously been supposed," the ruling continued. "We make no comment on whether it did so in fact."

Read more: http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jL_L8C7PHkp9C072h3AZKHtHEBgA

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They've got something to hide - such as the political influence of Alistair Campbell and others that 'sexed up' the dossier.

And the Downing Street memoes. And they are comlicit to US war crimes. And they shoot at innocent people in the subway. And they have stinkin' food and lousy beer and to top it all off, they drive on the freakin' wrong side of the freakin' road!

Pfew... great writers in the UK, though :)

Source: London Times

Michael Evans, Defence Editor of The Times

The Government was yesterday ordered to make public a secret document about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction which was drawn up by the head of information at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2002. A ruling by the Information Tribunal rejected an appeal by Foreign Office lawyers who had claimed that the contents of the document were exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Government has always insisted that the official dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction published in September 2002 was drawn up by the Joint Intelligence Committee, then headed by Sir John Scarlett who is now the Chief of MI6.

However, it emerged that there was an earlier draft of a document on the same subject which was written by John Williams who at that time was director of communications at the Foreign Office. There have been claims that Mr Williams’ document played a key part in influencing the content of the dossier produced by Sir John and the JIC, although this has been denied by the Foreign Office.

Critics of the Iraq dossier have accused the Government of using Downing Street and Foreign Office spin doctors to dramatise the contents of the report in order to make the case for invading Iraq. This has always been denied.

Yesterday’s unprecedented ruling by the Information Tribunal followed a request by the New Statesman under the Freedom of Information Act for the Williams dossier to be made public....

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3240548.ece

Their WMD papers have probably been destroyed.

and Kelly's death even more suspicious

No doubt.

Source: Independent (UK)

Ministers told to publish draft of Iraq dossier

By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent
Thursday, 24 January 2008

The Foreign Office has been ordered to release an early draft of the now infamous dossier on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction published in the run up to the war in Iraq. The Information Tribunal ruled that ministers should publish the 32-page draft, drawn up by the former Foreign Office head of news John Williams just weeks before the final dossier was published in September 2002.

- snip -

The Government's dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction remains a hugely controversial episode in the run up to the invasion in 2003. The dossier first made the now discredited claim that Saddam's armed forces could unleash weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.

Tony Blair insisted that the dossier was the work of the Government's Joint Intelligence Committee. However, the early involvement of government press officers emerged during Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly, when details emerged of the early draft by Mr Williams, a former political editor of the Daily Mirror.

The contents of the secret document have continued to fascinate critics of the Iraq war despite the insistence of Foreign Office officials that Mr Williams' draft was not used to draft the final dossier. The tribunal yesterday dismissed claims by the Foreign Office that disclosing the work of civil servants would "inhibit the free and frank provision of advice and the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation".

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ministers-told-to-publish-draft-of-iraq-dossier-773144.html