LONDON — Britain’s Foreign Office on Monday released an early version of a 2002 dossier of pre-war intelligence on Iraq that became vital to Tony Blair’s case for war.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband published a draft of the document on Iraq’s weapons capabilities after a request under Freedom of Information laws.
The document includes references to intelligence claims that Iraq had acquired uranium and could produce chemical weapons. But the file does not contain a claim that Iraq could launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes — an allegation that was later discredited but became crucial to Blair’s push to back the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Critics allege the assertion was inserted into later drafts on the orders of Blair’s office, which was seeking to strengthen the case for war, a charge the government denies.
