Scarlett's Dodgy Munition Weapons Lie

Iraq inquiry: Sir John Scarlett says he was not put under pressure by Number 10 over 'dodgy dossier' And if you believe that...

Sir John also conceded it would have been better if his report had been more specific about the 45-minute claim to make clear it referred to munitions not weapons.

But he said there was no 'conscious intention to manipulate the language or to obfuscate or to create a misunderstanding'.

...which is an obvious and disgraceful lie. Using the word 'weapons' when they meant 'munitions' is a blatant attempt to mislead.

Scarlett also said he had seen a draft of Blair's foreword

and knew what it said but had never considered it his role to alter Mr Blair's wording.

'My memory at the time was that this was something which was the Prime Minister's and was going out under his submission so it was different from the attention that I had paid to the wording of the dossier,' he told the panel.

He admitted that it might have been better if the political argument had not been put at the start of the report, which gave rise to the claim that Saddam could launch WMDs against British bases within 45 minutes.

Weasel words - the claim about the 45 minutes was either true or not; it had nothing to do with the political argument.

Considering that we were about to embark on an unjustified and disastrous war, Scarlett should have shown more integrity and courage, but that would have been too much to expect from the current political classes.

Just in case your memory needs refreshing on Blair's own words to the House of Commons on this matter, this is what he said:

I am aware, of course, that people will have to take elements of this on the good faith of our intelligence services, but this is what they are telling me, the British Prime Minister, and my senior colleagues. The intelligence picture that they paint is one accumulated over the last four years. It is extensive, detailed and authoritative. It concludes that Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, that Saddam has continued to produce them, that he has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be activated within 45 minutes, including against his own Shia population, and that he is actively trying to acquire nuclear weapons capability...

The Government dossier confirms that Iraq is self-sufficient in biological weapons and that the Iraqi military is ready to deploy those, and chemical weapons, at some 45 minutes' notice.

A heap of festering lies.