LONDON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Alastair Campbell, press secretary to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, defended a 2002 dossier Tuesday that said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
In testimony at the Chilcot Inquiry, a panel investigating the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Campbell said he could defend "every single word" of the document written by Sir John Scarlett, who later headed the intelligence agency MI6, The New York Times reported. Campbell said he did not "beef up" Scarlett's findings to justify Britain's role in the invasion.
Campbell defended Blair.
"You seem to be wanting me to say that Tony Blair signed up to say, 'Regardless of the facts, regardless of WMD, we are just going to get rid of the guy," he said. "It was not like that."
Blair is expected to testify before the commission in the next few weeks. The panel was set up by his successor, Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Campbell was unapologetic about the war, the Time said.
"I think that Britain, far from beating ourselves up about this, should be really proud of the role that we played in changing Iraq from what it was to what it is now becoming," he said.
