IRAQ ’S
WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION
THE ASSESSMENT OF THE BRITISH
GOVERNMENTFOREWORD BY THE PRIME MINISTER,THE
RIGHT HONOURABLE TONY BLAIR MP
The document published today is based,in large part,on the work of the Joint
Intelligence Committee (JIC).The JIC is at the heart of the British intelligence
machinery.It is chaired by the Cabinet Office and made up of the heads of the UK ’s three
Intelligence and Security Agencies,the Chief of Defence Intelligence,and senior
officials from key government departments.For over 60 years the JIC has provided
regular assessments to successive Prime Ministers and senior colleagues on a wide range
of foreign policy and international security issues.
Its work,like the material it analyses,is largely secret.It is unprecedented for the
Government to publish this kind of document.But in light of the debate about Iraq and
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD),I wanted to share with the British public the
reasons why I believe this issue to be a current and serious threat to the UK national
interest.
In recent months,I have been increasingly alarmed by the evidence from inside Iraq that
despite sanctions,despite the damage done to his capability in the past,despite the UN
Security Council Resolutions expressly outlawing it,and despite his denials,Saddam
Hussein is continuing to develop WMD,and with them the ability to inflict real damage
upon the region,and the stability of the world.
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Politics/documents/2002/09/24/dossier.pdf