The Iraq Inquiry chaired by Sir John Chilcot, after studying the text in detail, has decided to take Failing Intelligence: the true story of how we were fooled into going to war in Iraq as, in effect, the evidence of our author Brian Jones to the inquiry. The book, published by the fine people at Biteback, describes how and why Tony Blair and George W. Bush, by using distorted and exaggerated intelligence, persuaded their legislatures and their electorates that Iraq had WMD and was therefore a threat.
As the former head of the UK Defence Intelligence Staff’s nuclear, biological and chemical branch, Dr Jones – who previously gave evidence to the Hutton Inquiry and the Butler Review – is an expert in WMD-related intelligence and headed a group of analysts on the Defence Intelligence Staff in the run up to the Iraq war. On their behalf, at the time he recorded the grave doubts his analysts had about the certainty the government was attaching to Saddam’s possession of significant stocks of chemical and biological weapons, and the threat this posed to Britain.
He did this despite being told there was convincing intelligence that he had not seen because he was suspicious that this claim was little more than a device to stymie the DIS analysts who would not sign off on such a strong assessment.
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On learning that his book was to be published the inquiry decided to study it before deciding whether to invite Jones to appear at a public session. They have since decided to draw on the book as Dr Jones’ written evidence rather than asking for separate evidence on the points covered. Both Biteback and the author and have given permission for them to quote from the text in the final report.
In his book, Dr Jones describes the process by which the flawed intelligence assessment was generated in 2003 and goes on to analyse the cover up that has taken place since then throughout the four previous inquiries.
The book is particularly critical of the justification for going to war offered to Parliament and the public, and of the failure of those responsible to acknowledge the mistakes they made after the event, thus preventing the learning of important lessons for the future.
Failing Intelligence is officially part of the evidence in the inquiry as to why two of the most powerful nations in the world decided to go to war, revealing the truth behind how those governments used that power to try and cover up the mistakes once it was too late.
Order the book here for £9.99