After many years of ministerial obfuscation and evasion, the British people have been finally allowed to read the text of the first draft of the so called "dodgy dossier" that took them war in Iraq on a false premise - namely that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD.
The first draft made a series of claims about the extent and danger of the Iraqi president's weapons arsenal. However, by the time the final version (the basis for war) was released in September 2002, those had been "sexed up".
In other words, in order to justify the war, Blair and his acolytes adjusted the facts.
The first draft was written by John Williams, the former director of communications at the Foreign Office (ie a spin doctor, not a security expert). He warned that Saddam had come to power by "torture, rape and execution" and concluded that Iraq presented a "uniquely dangerous threat to the world".
There was no mention of Saddam's capability (now disproved) of launching WMD in 45 minutes.
The final dossier, allegedly written by John Scarlett, who was then the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, stated:
"Iraq's military forces are able to use chemical and biological weapons, with command, control and logistical arrangements in place. The Iraqi military are able to deploy these weapons within 45 minutes of a decision to do so."
Last night, Mr Williams told BBC Radio 4's PM programme:
"The 45-minutes claim was absolutely nothing whatever to do with me. It was news to me."
Opposition parties have renewed their calls for a public inquiry into the build-up to the war.
I doubt that Tony Blair cares much one way or another, given that in a supreme twist of sick irony he is now the so called Middle East peace envoy.
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