Deconstructing the "Dossier"

Doubting Thomas | 24.09.2002 12:54

On a day when stock markets in the US and UK are at 6 year lows and global economic instability threatens the positions of Bush and Blair, what could be more convenient than to call for war...

Deconstructing the "Dossier"

On the morning of 24 September 2002 I downloaded Tony Blair’s “Dossier” on Iraq. Unfortunately, detailed references to the sources from which the information in the “Dossier” was are not provided. Mr Blair obviously doesn’t want the citizens of the UK to be well informed on the background of this propaganda material.

I’ve therefore had to deconstruct the “Dossier” and rebuild the list of sources for myself... Equipped only with a computer and Internet connection I’ve been able to locate sources for all the “information” contained in Chapter 2.

As you can see, this shows quite clearly that the “Dossier” is a collection of existing material, much of it old, whose sole purpose is to put the case for war against Iraq. This document is supposed to be the product of the “Joint Intelligence Committee”. However, as the sources show, it could just as well have been the product of a student with Internet access.

On a day when stock markets in the US and UK are at 6 year lows and global economic instability threatens the positions of Bush and Blair, what could be more convenient than to call for war...

“Doubting Thomas”
24 September 2002

The following list shows publicly-available sources for the information contained in Chapter 2 of the “Dossier”:

p. 11, Item 1