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Dossier 'over-egged,' inquiry told
LONDON, England -- A British expert on chemical weapons expressed concern the government was tending to "over-egg" its dossier on Iraq's weapons, his former boss has told a public inquiry. Brian Jones, who headed a group of scientists at the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS), said one of his chemical weapons analysts expressed "particular concern" over drafts of the dossier. "He was concerned that some of the statements that were in the dossier did not accurately represent his assessment of the intelligence available to me," Jones said Wednesday. Jones said there also were concerns about the dossier's controversial claim that Iraq could deploy chemical and biological weapons within 45 minutes -- but that his staff did not ask for the claim to be removed. "We at no stage argued that this intelligence should not be in the dossier. We thought it was important intelligence," Jones told a judicial inquiry in London looking into the apparent suicide of government weapons expert David Kelly. The inquiry, led by Lord Hutton, was set up to investigate how Kelly died after being named as a possible source of a BBC story claiming the dossier was "sexed up" to strengthen the case for war. BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan reported his source -- later revealed to be Kelly -- as saying government officials inserted the 45-minute claim into the dossier against the wishes of intelligence agents. The government denies this, and intelligence chiefs have backed them up. Hutton asked Jones to elaborate on the chemical analyst's concerns over the dossier, which was prepared by the Joint Intelligence Committee with editorial consultation from Prime Minister Tony Blair's office. "Were they matters of language or assessing how serious a particular matter was?" Hutton asked. Jones, who has since retired from the defense department, replied: "They were about language, but language is the means by which we communicate and assess them. So they were also about the assessment. "They were really about a tendency in certain areas, from his point of view, to, shall we say, over-egg certain assessments in relation particularly to the production of (chemical) agents and weapons since 1998." Hutton asked: "When you say there was concern about language and certain assessments were over-egged, can you give examples as regard the use of language?" Looking at the files in front of him, Jones replied: "I think it is a difference between saying, for example, or making a judgment, that the production of (chemical) agents had taken place, as opposed to that judgment being that it had probably taken place, or even possibly taken place." The inquiry has already heard that Kelly worked closely with the DIS, advising them of Iraqi weapons programs and attending a meeting where the dossier was discussed. It has also heard evidence from Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence Martin Howard that two DIS members were so concerned about the dossier that they complained formally to their line managers. But their concerns were overridden by the Joint Intelligence Committee. Jones said he also had concerns about the dossier. "My concerns were that Iraq's chemical weapons and biological weapons capabilities were not being accurately represented in all regards in relation to the available evidence. "In particular ... I was told that there was no evidence significant production had taken place, either of chemical warfare agent or of chemical weapons." Another witness gave his evidence via a one-way video link Wednesday. Referred to only as "Mr. A", he said he was currently employed with the Counter Proliferation Arms Control Department and knew Kelly "very well." Lord Hutton asked whether Kelly was critical of the 45-minute weapons deployment statement and whether he raised questions about it. "Mr. A" said that everyone without access to the intelligence immediately asked what 45 minutes referred to -- was it "a technical process or a command and control process?" But no one to whom the statement was shown thought that it should not have been included, he said. The inquiry also heard about an e-mail from "Mr A" to Kelly referring to the "spin merchants of the administration." Asked about this comment, he said: "It's really a general comment from the working level of the DIS of perceived interference. "The perception was that the dossier had been round the houses several times in order to find a form of words that would strengthen certain political objectives." "Mr A" said that both he and Kelly thought they should have been more involved in the dossier process. He said: "We felt that the UK Government was missing a trick by not including us in the loop." Wednesday morning, a police officer told the inquiry Kelly took his own life, bleeding to death from a slashed wrist after taking an overdose of painkillers. Assistant Chief Constable Michael Page of Thames Valley Police, whose force led the search for Kelly after he was reported missing, said there was no evidence anyone else was involved in his death.
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(His concerns) were really about a tendency in certain areas, from his point of view, to, shall we say, over-egg certain assessments in relation particularly to the production of CW agents and weapons since 1998.
