Iraq: "make a case for war"

Dossier 'had to make case for war'

13 May 2011 - British intelligence officials were directed to "make a case for war" when producing a controversial 2002 dossier on Iraq, it has emerged.

Declassified evidence released by the Iraq War Inquiry directly contradicts the evidence given by senior personnel in the Blair government, particularly former chief spin doctor Alastair Campbell.

Major General Michael Laurie, a senior Defence Intelligence Staff official at the time, told the inquiry that an earlier dossier had been rejected because it did not make the case for war strongly enough, and that his superiors were "under pressure" to produce a stronger case for invasion.

Laurie made the statement in response to evidence by former Blair spin doctor Alistair Campbell.

"Alistair 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," he wrote.

"The previous paper, drafted in February and March [2002], known to us then also as 'the dossier', was rejected because it did not make a strong enough case. From then until September we were under pressure to find intelligence that could reinforce the case." {continued}