Home > WMD stockpiles ’were not there’
There is no doubt that the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction alleged to be in Iraq were not there, the former UK Iraq envoy has said.
But Sir Jeremy Greenstock told BBC One’s Breakfast with Frost programme the reasons for taking action at the time were "compelling".
"We were wrong on the stockpiles. We were right on the intention," he said.
Meanwhile, Commons Leader Peter Hain has said a probe into the intelligence on WMD should not lead to a witch hunt.
Speaking on Sunday, Sir Jeremy told Sir David Frost that the evidence was not there.
"It’s only with hindsight that we saw that probably the Iraqis were cheating Saddam, as well as misleading us," he said.
’Panned’
"We thought that there was a considerable danger that (the stockpiles) were there, because the intelligence - not just in the American and British systems but in the French, German and Russian systems - also was quite compelling at the time.
"So the decisions taken, from the intelligence at the time, were very understandable," he said.
Speaking on GMTV’s The Sunday Programme, Peter Hain said the upcoming report from Lord Butler’s inquiry into the intelligence that led to war could reveal mistakes had been made.
But he refused to speculate on media reports that the probe, due to publish its conclusions on 14 July, would heavily criticise the secret services.
Tony Blair called the inquiry after no WMD stockpiles were found in Iraq.
Although the report may reveal lessons could be learned, Mr Hain said the secret intelligence service MI6 and domestic security service MI5 "do a fantastic job for us".
"That is not to say that they do not make mistakes from time to time any more than government ministers like me or like the prime minister," he conceded.
He said similar media speculation before the Hutton report had not been accurate.
"When (Lord Hutton) didn’t say what the newspapers were predicting then they panned him," said Mr Hain.
The Butler Inquiry will publish its findings on the eve of key by-elections for Labour in Birmingham Hodge Hill and Leicester South.
The Prime Minister came under pressure to launch the inquiry when President George Bush launched an investigation into US intelligence on Iraq.
He insisted it must not be a re-run of the Hutton Inquiry, which cleared the government of "sexing up" intelligence in its dossier on Iraq’s alleged weapons.
It should concentrate on "structures, systems and processes" rather than the actions of individuals, he insisted.
The Liberal Democrats always refused to take part in the Butler inquiry, saying it was too narrow, and the Tories also pulled out.