Iraq dossier drawn up to make case for war – intelligence officer

[Shayne]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/12/iraq-dossier-case-for-war

A top military intelligence official has said the discredited dossier on Iraq's weapons programme was drawn up "to make the case for war", flatly contradicting persistent claims to the contrary by the Blair government, and in particular by Alastair Campbell, the former prime minister's chief spin doctor.


In hitherto secret evidence to the Chilcot inquiry, Major General Michael Laurie said: "We knew at the time that the purpose of the dossier was precisely to make a case for war, rather than setting out the available intelligence, and that to make the best out of sparse and inconclusive intelligence the wording was developed with care."


His evidence is devastating, as it is the first time such a senior intelligence officer has directly contradicted the then government's claims about the dossier – and, perhaps more significantly, what Tony Blair and Campbell said when it was released seven months before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Laurie, who was director general in the Defence Intelligence Staff, responsible for commanding and delivering raw and analysed intelligence, said: "I am writing to comment on the position taken by Alastair Campbell during his evidence to you … when he stated that the purpose of the dossier was not to make a case for war; I and those involved in its production saw it exactly as that, and that was the direction we were given."


He continued: "Alastair Campbell said to the inquiry that the purpose of the dossier was not 'to make a case for war'. I had no doubt at that time this was exactly its purpose and these very words were used."

Laurie said he recalled that the chief of defence intelligence, Air Marshal Sir Joe French, was "frequently inquiring whether we were missing something" and was under pressure. "We could find no evidence of planes, missiles or equipment that related to WMD [weapons of mass destruction], generally concluding that they must have been dismantled, buried or taken abroad. There has probably never been a greater detailed scrutiny of every piece of ground in any country."


The document is one of a number released by the Chilcot inquiry. They include top secret MI6 reports warning of the damage to British interests and the likelihood of terrorist attacks in the UK if it joined the US-led invasion of Iraq.


However, a newly declassified document reveals that Sir Kevin Tebbit, then a top official at the Ministry of Defence, warned the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, in January 2003 that the US would "feel betrayed by their partner of choice" if Britain did not go along with the invasion.


Despite its concerns, MI6 told ministers before the invasion that toppling Saddam Hussein "remains a prize because it could give new security to oil supplies".


Laurie's memo raises questions about the role of Sir John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, who later became head of MI6.

Seriously, where is the accountability? It is disgusting, the death of hundreds of thousands, the displacement and utterly ruined lives of millions, the death of our own citizens believing they're "fighting for something", the numerous M16 and US intelligence disclosures on how this "war" has only heightened "terrorist threat" and for chances of political Islam wanting to violently interfere with the West, inspiring generations of zealots, and providing a platform and valid reason for indoctrination and extremism. It is beyond the mother of all ups. It is utterly abhorrent. Those responsible need to go to prison. For a very, very long time.

I'm sure public opinion in the US is always going to be high for invading other counties and "exporting" your "brand" of democracy to those who "need" it. Close those trade barriers, privatize everything for our corporations to buy out, and take out a few billion in IMF loans to buy our weapons, and hell, your one of us right? But I know most of the general public in the UK find it sickening and disgusting that we took part in this political charade (the biggest protests in this countries hisotry were against the war, over a million in London alone).

Sometimes I hope there be a God, the God of the Old Testament, for the sole reason of these incredulous animals responsible feeling his wrath and being damned to the fires of Inferno.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Damn. I guess we'll have to get the time machine out and go back to 2002 and stop the war from happening.

Oh right, we can't do that. It happened. Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just make sure we do the right thing by the Iraqi people and leave the place in better shape than we found it.

Seriously, what exactly do you want/expect to happen because of this "revelation"?

[Plan C]

Damn. I guess we'll have to get the time machine out and go back to 2002 and stop the war from happening.

Oh right, we can't do that. It happened. Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just make sure we do the right thing by the Iraqi people and leave the place in better shape than we found it.

Seriously, what exactly do you want/expect to happen because of this "revelation"?

I expect Tony Blair to at least ing apologize and step down from his post of Peace Envoy to the Middle East. I expect his legacy to be condemned by UN (whose resolution he so flagrantly contravened) and international community.

But he won't apologize. He's a gutless man, opportunist and a blagger with very little dignity. He's a modern politician after all.

[kentuckybandit]

This is your second topic, Shayne, where you illustrate your utter lack of comprehension of how the world works. Nations don't just run off to war for no reason. Just because you don't like the reasons doesn't mean they don't exist. If the powers that be in the UK at the time felt that securing Iraq for future oil supplies, or maintaining military alliance with the US was in the best interest, then that is what was acted upon.

Also your constant assumptions of what the US population wants or feels is getting rather stale. Your hope for us all to burn in the fires of hell is just sorry. Epic thread fail.

[Plan C]

This is your second topic, Shayne, where you illustrate your utter lack of comprehension of how the world works. Nations don't just run off to war for no reason. Just because you don't like the reasons doesn't mean they don't exist. If the powers that be in the UK at the time felt that securing Iraq for future oil supplies, or maintaining military alliance with the US was in the best interest, then that is what was acted upon.

You seem to miss the point. Nations never rush into wars, governments do. You don't seem to remember that British public vehemently opposed the Iraq war. Remember the marches in London? The reason we have the right to feel betrayed is that we knew all along that we were being lied to and our government's actions back then were an utter disgrace. This is the point of this thread. Perpetrators should be brought to justice.

[Shayne]

This is your second topic, Shayne, where you illustrate your utter lack of comprehension of how the world works. Nations don't just run off to war for no reason. Just because you don't like the reasons doesn't mean they don't exist. If the powers that be in the UK at the time felt that securing Iraq for future oil supplies, or maintaining military alliance with the US was in the best interest, then that is what was acted upon.

Also your constant assumptions of what the US population wants or feels is getting rather stale. Your hope for us all to burn in the fires of hell is just sorry. Epic thread fail.

ahahahahahahahahha. no wait. AHAAHAHAHAahahahahahahahahahahaha! the naivety of that post actually bought a tear to the eye.
"governments are just looking out for our best interests, they just want whats best for us" - yeah, sure, that's exactly how political systems work. I mean, lobby groups and corporations that directly finance these political parties are at the bottom of preference legislature and international business and foreign policy, and don't forget the almost rogue executive branch of government, who do god knows what, for god knows what paranoid, twisted, reason of almost deluded grandeur.."we're....saving the world...etc".

The CIA testing syphilis on Nicaraguans in the 60s, the arming and training of the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan, the backing of of violent coups and installation of tyrannical regimes in Chile, Argentina, Iraq , Iran, Brazil, El Salvador, Cambodia, Laos - that tiny little country that the US had bombed more than Germany was bombed in the entirety of World War II, Angola, the Philippines, the current funding, second only to rogue state Israel, training and co-op partnership with the the Colombian regime, who have a human rights record that make Iran look like Switzerland. This has all been in the interests of you, of us? That is the defense of a ing Nazi my friend, and I can say this being half American myself, if even half of that country think along the same line as you, I will be glad to never step foot in that country again. Or at least until they stop excersising a foreign policy that is at best, inhumane.

Don't worry, though, I'm sure you'll explain this all away in your head, like News Corp has done for those who are chained in Plato's cave, observing only the mere shadows of reality. I'm sure you can catch Sarah Palin on in five, or at the next tea party, giving a most elegant speech on why its in the interest of the average American citizen for anything of this sort to happen. No wait, let's take Bill O'Reily's stance - American Exceptionalism. We just inherently know what's right and wrong, over anybody. They don't have a say. No wait, lets just employ the doctrine of the Neo Con side of the Republican party, that American lives are actually worth more than those of other countries. Because nationality and where you happen to be born actually means something this grand, and literally, it if we have to a few million people over now and then so we can get our oil just little bit cheaper, our goods just a little bit faster and lives just a little bit richer.

"They just do it for us, daddy, they just wana make sure we happy and we can live the american dream, yaaaay". What an immature post. Wake up and smell the coffee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_...change_actions

[Heathen Hammer]

Damn. I guess we'll have to get the time machine out and go back to 2002 and stop the war from happening.

Oh right, we can't do that. It happened. Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just make sure we do the right thing by the Iraqi people and leave the place in better shape than we found it.

Seriously, what exactly do you want/expect to happen because of this "revelation"?

Bush, Cheney and his other cronies going to jail?

[mongrel]

Damn. I guess we'll have to get the time machine out and go back to 2002 and stop the war from happening.

Oh right, we can't do that. It happened. Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just make sure we do the right thing by the Iraqi people and leave the place in better shape than we found it.

Seriously, what exactly do you want/expect to happen because of this "revelation"?

Trying Bush and Blair for war crimes would be nice.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Bush, Cheney and his other cronies going to jail?

Trying Bush and Blair for war crimes would be nice.

You know, I keep asking this question and maybe one day I'll get an answer.

In specific terms, citing actual examples, please tell me what 'war crimes' Bush, Blair et al have committed and what specific laws they have broken. Please include precedents.

Please.

[Il-Principe]

You know, I keep asking this question and maybe one day I'll get an answer.

In specific terms, citing actual examples, please tell me what 'war crimes' Bush, Blair et al have committed and what specific laws they have broken. Please include precedents.

Please.

To be fair that evidence is circumstantial at best. But he want the direct laws, I dont know why people refuse to give them.

1. He wanted a direct law, so a quote from the UN laws would be ideal, also you would have to have actual proof that they did this ie that WMD's were known to not exist before the war.

Cite me a law. Under what legal system did Bush, Blair etc commit an illegal act. If they're guilty of something, then obviously you should be able to show me the law where it says: "Committing X is illegal".

People go on about the "illegality" of the war, and that Bush Blair and co have committed "warcrimes"; yet nobody can actually demonstrate how going to war broke any law nor what "warcrimes" they have actually committed.

If they had actually committed a crime, don't you think some band of legal-eagles somewhere in the world would have figured it out by now?

You both have not searched very actively to answer that question or have you? Here we are:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_against_peace

Some excerpts:

United Nations Charter

The first article of the United Nations Charter says:

The Purposes of the United Nations are:
To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;

The interdiction of aggressive war was confirmed and broadened by the United Nations' Charter, which states in article 2, paragraph 4 that

All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

etc. (more in the article)

Here there is even a specific US law (I wouldn't be surprised, if there is something similar in the Uk):

The U.S. Army's Law of Land Warfare (Field Manual 27-10) states:

498. Crimes Under International Law Any person, whether a member of the armed forces or a civilian, who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefore and liable to punishment. Such offenses in connection with war comprise:
a. Crimes against peace.

And these laws only cover the crime against peace. It does not yet cover all war crimes, which were committed in Iraq.

[Gaidin]

And these laws only cover the crime against peace. It does not yet cover all war crimes, which were committed in Iraq.

<sigh>

And any halfway decent attorney with even a little experience at international law could make a defense out of the idea that Saddam Hussein was breaching the ceasefire set up following Desert Storm, casting doubt on your entire idea about crimes against peace. As much as I disagree with the Iraq War, please try harder.

[Shayne]

Well,

Those responsible need to go to prison. For a very, very long time.

[mrmouth]

Doing the same thing in Libya right now, arrest them.

[Yosemite]

Doing the same thing in Libya right now, arrest them.

indeed innocent people haven't been shot in libya

[motiv-8]

Doing the same thing in Libya right now, arrest them.

..... Wot?

And it is utterly surreal that they jumped in the Libya boat together, under the pretense of Gaddafi supposedly preparing to shell Benghazi. Talk about flimsy. Europe has lost all credibility in my mind.

Cannot... tell.. if.. serious....

[Heathen Hammer]

..... Wot?

Cannot... tell.. if.. serious....

Indeed they are truthers for their opinion contradicts FOX news, CNN and other beacons of truth.

[Pyrich]

The irony is the US helped put the baath party in power in the early 60's and in return both US and british petroleum companies (Mobile and BP i believe) made some fantasic business deals. For at least a decade or so.

[garudamon11]

The irony is the US helped put the baath party in power in the early 60's and in return both US and british petroleum companies (Mobile and BP i believe) made some fantasic business deals. For at least a decade or so.

It isnt irony, it is simple politics

1- Use the uncivillized nation
2- Make it hate you
3- Declare war
4- ????
5- Profit!

[Treize]

Nice post.

[Azog 150]

Its good to finally see it put out in the open. I think everyone knew there were ulterior motives to the war (Isn't there always?).