Dodgy Dossier

The briefing paper entitled Iraq: Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation has come to be known as the Dodgy Dossier. It was issued to journalists by the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy Alastair Campbell on 3 February 2003 and concerned Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction. The paper was a follow-up to the previously issued September Dossier, and was issued to support UK government policy on the confrontation with Iraq.

Related Topics:
Prime Minister - Alastair Campbell - 3 February - 2003 - Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction - September Dossier - Confrontation with Iraq

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The term "Dodgy Dossier" was coined when Channel 4 News examined a copy of the dossier in Microsoft Word format. By reading the file contents directly they discovered that much of the work had been taken from various uncredited sources, most notably from a postgraduate thesis published on the internet by a student at CSU Monterey Bay. Whole sections of student Ibrahim al-Marashi's article on "Saddam's Special Security Organisation" were repeated verbatim (with some typographical errors included), and minor modifications had been made which strengthened the wording - for example: "monitoring foreign embassies in Iraq" became "spying on foreign embassies in Iraq", and "aiding opposition groups in hostile regimes" became "supporting terrorist organisations in hostile regimes". The inclusion of this text was criticised by Channel 4 News as plagiarism.

Related Topics:
Channel 4 News - Microsoft Word - Postgraduate - Thesis - Internet - Student - CSU Monterey Bay - Ibrahim al-Marashi - Typographical - Plagiarism

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The report itself claims in its opening paragraph to draw "upon a number of sources, including intelligence reports". Ahead of the document's release it had been praised by Tony Blair and Colin Powell as further intelligence and quality research. A day after Channel 4's allegations, Downing Street issued a statement, admitting a mistake was made in not crediting its sources, but that this error did not alter the quality of the report's content.

Related Topics:
Tony Blair - Colin Powell - Channel 4 - Downing Street

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The claims of both the "September" and "Dodgy" dossiers were called into question after the 2003 war on Iraq, when Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) had failed to be used or found, and the dossiers were encompassed in an enquiry by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee. The Committee subsequently reported that the sources should have been credited, and that the dossier should have been checked by ministers before being released. The dossier had only been reviewed by a group of civil servants operating under Alastair Campbell. The committee stated that the publication was "almost wholly counter-productive" and in the event only served to undermine the credibility of the government's case.

Related Topics:
Weapons of Mass Destruction - House of Commons - Select Committee - Civil servant

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The controversy over the "Dodgy Dossier" was mentioned frequently in the government's fight with the BBC over the September Dossier that Iraq could deploy biological weapons within 45 minutes of an order to do so, and the controversy surrounding the death of Doctor David Kelly. Andrew Gilligan, who was responsible for a report which claimed the September dossier had been deliberately exaggerated, stated in evidence to the Hutton Inquiry that remembering the story of the February dossier had led him to file his story based on his interview with David Kelly without getting any confirmation from other sources.

Related Topics:
BBC - David Kelly - Andrew Gilligan - Hutton Inquiry

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