The crucial claim that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes came from intelligence agencies and was not inserted by Prime Minister Tony Blair's office in a key dossier published last year, a key Blair aide told a public inquiry yesterday.
Alastair Campbell, Blair's communications director, told the Hutton inquiry into the death by suicide of weapons expert David Kelly that he did not know the origin of the claim, which was crucial to Blair's justification for committing British troops to the Iraq war.
Asked by Judge Brian Hutton to clarify his answer on this point, Campbell said: "I knew it had come from the JIC [Joint Intelligence Committee], but I wasn't aware either of the raw information it was based on, or the sourcing."
Blair's office, and Campbell in particular, became involved in a row with the BBC over an allegation that the 45-minute claim was inserted into the dossier days before it was published on Sept. 24 to bolster the case for war to a skeptical British public.
The public broadcaster first made the claim on May 29, citing an unnamed top government adviser, which was later revealed to be Kelly.
Kelly, a microbiologist and a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, was then compelled to give evidence in public to a parliamentary committee investigating the justification for the war.
Subsequent reports from the BBC and British newspapers suggested Campbell had "sexed up" the threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the dossier, provoking heated exchanges between Blair's office and the BBC.
The Hutton inquiry has published e-mails and memos between Blair's closest advisers that suggested former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein did not pose an imminent threat to British interests or even to Iraq's neighbors.
"We will need to make it clear in launching the document that we do not claim that we have evidence that he is an imminent threat," Downing Street chief of staff Jonathan Powell wrote on Sept. 17, a week before the dossier was published.
But a week later Blair went before parliament to say Saddam's WMD posed "a current and serious threat to the UK national interest."
The 45-minute claim, which is at the center of the dispute over the justification for the war, first appeared in a version of the dossier in circulation in Downing Street on Sept. 10.
Previous versions did not contain the claim, according to evidence given to the inquiry. The BBC reports cited Kelly as saying the dossier had been "transformed" in the days ahead of publication.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned