MI6 concluded by February 2003 that their source on Iraqi chemical weapons had been lying, one month before the invasion.
“ Iraq's weapons programme. [ 44 ] However, it was noticed that the agent's description of glass containers, not typically used for chemical munitions, resembled the nerve gas inaccurately depicted in glass beads or spheres in The Rock . By February 2003 – a month before the invasion of Iraq – MI6 concluded that their source had been lying ”
Blair conceded he should have challenged intelligence reports before using them to justify military action in Iraq, the day after a report involving Dearlove was published.
“. [ 11 ] The day after the report was published, Blair conceded that he should have challenged such intelligence reports before relying on them to justify military action in Iraq. [ 12 ] Dearlove was elected Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge , on 1 August 2004. [ 6 ] He accepted an invitation to become the Chairman of Trustees of the Cambridge Union Society in 2006. [ 3 ] As Master of Pembroke , Dearlove was ex officio chairman of the board of Trustees of Pembroke House, a community centre in Walworth , London , via the college's patronage of the advowson of St Christopher's, Walworth ( CofE ). [ 13 ] [ 14 ] As of 2017 [ update ] , he is still the President of Pembroke College Boat Club (Cambridge) . [ 15 ] In February 2008, Dearlove gave evidence at the inquest of Princess Diana 's death, responding to Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed who said that MI6 had murdered Diana. [ 6 ] Dearlove is a signatory of the Henry Jackson Society principles. [ 16 ] He is also a ”
Dearlove passed unverified intelligence about Iraqi WMD directly to Tony Blair without confirming accuracy, and the informant was later found to be lying.
“ to high levels in the Iraqi government directly to Prime Minister, Tony Blair , without first confirming its accuracy. [ 10 ] The investigators found that references to this intelligence in government reports were over-certain and did not adequately stress uncertainties and nuance. The informant was later found to have been lying. The Chilcot report stated that ”
Dearlove's memo suggested US intelligence on Iraq was deliberately falsified rather than mistaken, and alleged that weapons inspections were manipulated for legal pretext while pre-war air strikes were ramped up before Senate authorization.
“ of removing Saddam Hussein from power, which was interpreted to show that US intelligence on Iraq prior to the war was deliberately falsified, rather than simply mistaken. [ 5 ] As this issue began to be covered by American media ( Los Angeles Times on 12 May 2005, The Washington Post on 13 May 2005), two other main allegations stemming from the memo arose: that the UN weapons inspection process was manipulated to provide a legal pretext for the war, and that pre-war air strikes were deliberately ramped up in order to soften Iraqi infrastructure in preparation for war, prior to the October U.S. Senate vote permitting the invasion . [ 6 ] Some elements of the U.S. media have portrayed the document as faked or fraudulent, and Dana Perino referred in her daily White House press briefing on 4 December 2008 to the fact that the Bush administration has ”
Dearlove directly challenged CIA briefers in front of President Bush, stating there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.
“It was clear there was a wish in the Bush administration to ascribe 9/11 to a linkage with Saddam Hussein. We in the UK violently disagreed. At a briefing in the White House with the president I challenged the CIA briefer and said he was talking nonsense, that there was absolutely no linkage, and that I could say authoritatively we knew there was not one.”