[A-List] Blair: What goes around, comes around

["bon moun" <sherrynstan@xxxxxxx>]

Spies threaten Blair with 'smoking gun' over Iraq

Senior intelligence officers kept secret records of meetings after
pressure from No 10
By Kim Sengupta and Andy McSmith
08 June 2003

Intelligence officers are holding a "smoking gun" which proves that they
were subjected to a series of demands by Tony Blair's staff in the
run-up to the Iraq war.

The officers are furious about the accusation levelled by the Leader of
the Commons, John Reid, that "rogue elements" are at work in the
security services. They fear they are being lined up to take the blame
for faulty intelligence used to justify the Iraq war.

The intelligence services were so concerned about demands made by
Downing Street for evidence to use against Iraq that extensive files
have been built up detailing communications with Mr Blair's staff.

Stung by Dr Reid's accusations about misinformation over Iraq's alleged
weapons of mass destruction, intelligence officials have given veiled
warnings about what may emerge in the two official inquiries into the
affair.

"A smoking gun may well exist over WMDs, but it may not be to the
Government's liking," said one senior source.

"Minuted details will show exactly what went on. Because of the
frequency and, at times, unusual nature of the demands from Downing
Street, people have made sure records were kept. There is a certain
amount of self-preservation in this, of course."

It is believed some of the minutes relate to conversations involving the
Joint Intelligence Committee, Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's
communications director, Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair's chief of staff, and
Sir David Omand, the Government's security and intelligence
co-ordinator. However, records had also been made, it is claimed, by
individual officers in communications within the intelligence services.

The intelligence services are also seething about Dr Reid's claims of
spies trying to undermine an elected government. Although the Prime
Minister and the Cabinet have been careful not to repeat the
allegations, some security officials feel Dr Reid should apologise. "I
don't know about the other [intelligence] services, but he certainly has
not apologised to the chief of defence intelligence," said a Ministry of
Defence official.

"The mood is very fractious at the moment. Intelligence officials are
keen that the inquiries should establish the demarcation between what
was supplied to Downing Street by them, and what it received from the
Americans."

Mr Blair has defended the failure to uncover weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq by saying that the occupying authorities have a more urgent task
in bringing security and humanitarian aid to the country. "In Northern
Ireland we were searching for IRA weapons for the best part of 40 years
and that is a tiny country. Iraq is almost the size of France," he said
yesterday.

The failure to uncover WMDs in Iraq is costing Mr Blair political
support even among Labour and Conservative MPs who backed the war but
are angry at the possibility that MPs may have been misled. Michael
Portillo, the former Tory Cabinet minister who effusively praised the
Prime Minister in March for renouncing spin to fight for what he
believed to be right, has now changed his mind.

Writing in today's Independent on Sunday, Mr Portillo said: "How could I
have been so naive? Spin is the making of Blair, and it will be his
demise. He's given his opponents a dream slogan - 'You can't believe a
word he says'. But that may not worry the Prime Minister.

"The opposition has never shown self-discipline, so maybe he'll give
them the slip again."

Other MPs who backed the war have warned that the issue could blow up
very quickly into a major constitutional row between the Government and
the House of Commons if, as expected, Tony Blair and senior officials
refuse a request to give evidence to a committee of MPs.

The Labour chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Donald Anderson,
has written to a number of senior politicians and civil servants,
warning them that they may be called before committee hearings later
this month.

Unlike the Intelligence and Security Committee - a group of MPs
appointed by Mr Blair, which meets secretly - the Foreign Affairs
Committee will hold its hearings in public and intends to publish its
findings before MPs break up for the summer.

A number of the intended witnesses, including Tony Blair himself and
some senior figures in the intelligence community, are likely to refuse
to appear. The committee could then appeal for support to the House of
Commons, forcing a highly embarrassing vote which the Government might
lose.

Andrew Mackinlay, a Labour member of the committee who backed the Iraq
war, predicted: "They will say they can't give evidence on matters
affecting the security services, then either the committee will buckle
or - more likely - there will be a major confrontation."

John Maples, a Tory member of the committee who also backed the war,
warned: "It would be very embarrassing for the Prime Minister to be
taking on a Commons committee, because people would ask, 'What has the
Government got to hide?' and second, they might not win a vote."

The continuing instability in Iraq was brought home yesterday when an
American solider was killed and four others wounded in a skirmish
involving grenades and small arms fire in Saddam Hussein's home town of
Tikrit.