Ex-MI6 chief threatens to expose secrets of Iraq war if he faces censure from the Chilcot inquiry.
Former head of MI6 Sir
Richard Dearlove has threatened to expose secrets of Iraq war if he
faces censure from the Chilcot inquiry into British involvement in the
Iraq war.
Sir Richard told the Daily Mail that he wrote a detailed
account of events leading up to Iraq invasion that he intended to make
available to historians after his death.
Sir Richard, who provided intelligence about former Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) said he might
release his memoir “sooner” depending on the finding of the long-awaited
Chilcot inquiry.
“What I have written (am writing) is a record of events surrounding
the invasion of Iraq from my then professional perspective,” he said in
an email to the newspaper.
“My intention is that this should be a resource available to
scholars, but after my decease (may be sooner depending on what Chilcot
publishes). I have no intention, however, of violating my vows of
official secrecy by publishing any memoir,” he added.
According to the Daily Mail, sources close to Sir Richard say
he accepts the inaccuracy of some MI6’s information on Iraq WMDs and
that he believes the inquiry’s chairman Sir John Chilcot should
investigate misleading statements by former British PM Tony Blair and
his chief spokesperson and strategist Alastair Campbell about WMDs.
The US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant violation of
international law in 2003 under the pretext of finding WMDs allegedly
stockpiled by Saddam Hussein. No WMDs, however, were ever discovered in
Iraq.
The Chilcot Inquiry was established by former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who succeeded Blair in 2007.
Those appearing before the inquiry included Blair, other leading
figures within the 1997-2010 Labour government, former cabinet
secretaries and the military high command.
