LONDON, May 12 (UPI) -- Statements made about the Iraqi weapons program under Saddam Hussein were tailored to make a case for war, a former British intelligence official said.
Michael Laurie, a member of the British Defense Intelligence Staff, in documents released Thursday by a London inquiry into the Iraq war said officials in the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair crafted their arguments in order to make the case for war.
Alastair Campbell, the former communications director for Blair, told the inquiry last year that claims regarding Iraq's alleged weapons program were not "sexed up" in order to make the case for war.
The inquiry in 2009 examined the so-called dodgy dossier that claimed Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. The dossier was used by London during the early stages of the Iraq discussions to advocate military force to overthrow Saddam's regime.
Laurie in his testimony to the inquiry said the purpose of the dossier was to make a case to invade Iraq.
"We knew at the time that the purpose of the dossier was precisely to make a case for war rather than setting out the available intelligence," he said in the released statements.
Campbell said he had "nothing" to add to his previous testimony, the BBC notes.
A report from inquiry Chairman John Chilcott is expected later this year. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered the inquiry in 2008 to examine the legality of the Iraq war.
