Iraq Dossier Blow to Blair

[Pert_UK]

"The (UK) government's attempts to bolster its case for the war against Iraq suffered a heavy blow on the first day of the Hutton inquiry yesterday when it was revealed that unease about the dossier on Saddam Hussein's weapons programme ran much deeper than Downing Street has claimed.

Evidence presented to the inquiry into the apparent suicide of the Ministry of Defence scientist David Kelly showed that concerns expressed by Dr Kelly about the language of the government's dossier was shared within the intelligence community, even at a senior level.

In a further undermining of Tony Blair's case, the inquiry heard that Dr Kelly's status was much more significant than the government has admitted, a direct rebuttal of last week's description of the dead scientist by a No 10 press officer as a Walter Mitty fantasist...

Dr Kelly's knowledge of the dossier and the advice he gave was much more extensive than the government has admitted, the inquiry heard."

Full story:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/kelly/story/0,13747,1016878,00.html