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Sexed Up
Were claims about Iraq’s weapons arsenal ‘sexed up’ by the British government? Were there any hot WMD-on-WMD shower scenes? ROSECRANS BALDWIN gets the scoop straight from the top.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Ways We're Saving Money (Of Recent Note)
- When It Sizzles (Letters From Paris)
- 2008 Editors' Awards for Online Excellence (Awards)
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- How Everything Turned Out (June 27, 2007)
- What's the Frequency, Musad? (June 15, 2004)
- The Education of Elisabeth Eckleman: Back to School (June 6, 2005)
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Claims about Iraq’s weapons were given too much weight by the government, MPs have ruled—but they have cleared media chief Alastair Campbell of ‘sexing up’ intelligence.
[Foreign Secretary Jack Straw] said the suggestion that the dossier had been ‘sexed up’ was ‘a fundamental attack on the integrity of the prime minister and the government.’
–BBC
An Excerpt From The Foreword By The Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP
In recent months, I have been increasingly alarmed by the evidence from deep, very deep inside Iraq that despite sanctions, despite the damage done to his capability in the past, despite the U.N. Security Council Resolutions expressly outlawing it, and despite his heated denials—reportedly a series of girlish, ‘throaty,’ and gradually louder ‘Nooooo’s’—Saddam Hussein is continuing to develop WMD, and with them the ability to inflict real damage upon the region, and the stability of the world.
Gathering hard intelligence inside Iraq is not easy, but hard intelligence, indeed the hardest, is what we must have. Saddam’s is one of the most secretive and dictatorial regimes in the world, and he is constantly, albeit in coded messages, telling people what to do, how to do it, with exactly how much applied force, and where. So I believe people will understand why the Agencies cannot be specific about the sources, which have Hot Buns formed the judgments in this document, and why we cannot publish everything we know. We cannot, of course, publish the detailed raw intelligence, nor any nude photographs of Victoria Beckham’s implants.
I and other Ministers have been briefed in (sweaty) detail on the intelligence and are (deeply) satisfied as to its authority. I also want to pay tribute to our Intelligence and Security Services for the often extraordinary work that they do. Hours of dedicated gymnasium work, involving many repetitions, are required for top physical performance and long-lasting endurance, and I believe our boys are lock and key to the world’s best-oiled (intelligence) machine.
What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, that he continues in his efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and that he has been able to extend the range of his ballistic missile program, by four inches. I also believe that, as stated in the document, Saddam will now do his utmost to try to conceal his weapons from U.N. inspectors. Melons.
The picture presented to me by the JIC in recent months has become more not less worrying. It is clear that, despite sanctions, the policy of containment with leather cuffs and a tight latex collar has not worked sufficiently well to prevent Saddam from developing these weapons. I am in no doubt that the threat is serious and current, that he has made progress on WMD, and that he has to be stopped. Right after I get mine.
[Foreign Secretary Jack Straw] said the suggestion that the dossier had been ‘sexed up’ was ‘a fundamental attack on the integrity of the prime minister and the government.’
–BBC
An Excerpt From The Foreword By The Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP
In recent months, I have been increasingly alarmed by the evidence from deep, very deep inside Iraq that despite sanctions, despite the damage done to his capability in the past, despite the U.N. Security Council Resolutions expressly outlawing it, and despite his heated denials—reportedly a series of girlish, ‘throaty,’ and gradually louder ‘Nooooo’s’—Saddam Hussein is continuing to develop WMD, and with them the ability to inflict real damage upon the region, and the stability of the world.
Gathering hard intelligence inside Iraq is not easy, but hard intelligence, indeed the hardest, is what we must have. Saddam’s is one of the most secretive and dictatorial regimes in the world, and he is constantly, albeit in coded messages, telling people what to do, how to do it, with exactly how much applied force, and where. So I believe people will understand why the Agencies cannot be specific about the sources, which have Hot Buns formed the judgments in this document, and why we cannot publish everything we know. We cannot, of course, publish the detailed raw intelligence, nor any nude photographs of Victoria Beckham’s implants.
I and other Ministers have been briefed in (sweaty) detail on the intelligence and are (deeply) satisfied as to its authority. I also want to pay tribute to our Intelligence and Security Services for the often extraordinary work that they do. Hours of dedicated gymnasium work, involving many repetitions, are required for top physical performance and long-lasting endurance, and I believe our boys are lock and key to the world’s best-oiled (intelligence) machine.
What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, that he continues in his efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and that he has been able to extend the range of his ballistic missile program, by four inches. I also believe that, as stated in the document, Saddam will now do his utmost to try to conceal his weapons from U.N. inspectors. Melons.
The picture presented to me by the JIC in recent months has become more not less worrying. It is clear that, despite sanctions, the policy of containment with leather cuffs and a tight latex collar has not worked sufficiently well to prevent Saddam from developing these weapons. I am in no doubt that the threat is serious and current, that he has made progress on WMD, and that he has to be stopped. Right after I get mine.
—Published July 8, 2003
