• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Blair accused of exaggerating arms finds in Iraq

IRNA

London, Dec 17, IRNA - Prime Minister Tony Blair was accused Wednesda 
of exaggerating the findings of investigators looking for weapons of 
mass destruction in Iraq. 
"We are back to what happened last year, where the Prime Minister 
uses language in order to create a particular impression and hopes 
that when he is challenged, he can say he didn`t actually mean that," 
the Conservative`s shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said. 
Former chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix accused Blair of using 
"innuendo" in his radio address to UK troops on Tuesday, when he 
suggested laboratories found by the US-led Iraq Survey Group (ISG) 
were weapons of mass destruction. 
Speaking on British Forces Broadcasting Service, the British 
premier claimed that the ISG report in October had uncovered "massive 
evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories, workings by 
scientists, plans to develop long range ballistic missiles." 
Referring to previous accusations that Blair had exaggerated 
Iraq`s arms threat to justify the war, Ancram said that he was once 
again "using language and playing fast and loose with language. 
"I went and looked up what the ISG actually said, and what it 
actually said was that a clandestine network of laboratories and safe 
houses had been found, suitable for continuing chemical and biological
weapons research," he said. 
"There was nothing about `massive` and certainly nothing giving 
the indication that was given yesterday," the shadow foreign secretary
said in an interview with BBC radio`s Today programme. 
He suggested that Blair was "back into this old spin again" and 
referred to evidence given to the inquiry into the death of former 
Iraq arms inspector David Kelly about "over-egging the information." 
"A Prime Minister should use language in relation to intelligence 
material with great care. This Prime Minister does not and I think he 
hasn`t learnt the lesson that he can`t live by spin," Ancram said. 
Speaking in Sweden at the launch of a new independent commission 
on WMD, Blix said it was "increasingly clear" that Saddam had not had 
any when he was ousted by US and British forces. 
"My guess is that there are no weapons of mass destruction left," 
he said. 
HC/211 
End