Former MI6 chief says Britain was 'dragged' into Iraq war

[Peter Presland]

From UK Daily Telegraph 3rd May 2009

Former MI6 chief says Britain was 'dragged' into Iraq war

Britain was "dragged into a war in Iraq which was always against out better judgment" the former deputy head of MI6 has claimed, in a remark that will reignite the debate over political interference in the war.

By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:25PM BST 03 May 2009
Former MI6 chief says Britain was 'dragged' into Iraq war

The comments, made by Nigel Inkster [Now working at the IISS], who was deputy director of MI6 at the time, make clear there were reservations over the war at a very senior level within the Secret Intelligence Service.

MI6 was blamed for the failure of intelligence that took Britain to war after helping produce a dossier in which Tony Blair claimed that Iraq was ready to use weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.


The dossier, said to have been "sexed up" by Downing Street, also mentioned controversial intelligence that Saddam Hussain was seeking uranium from Niger.

In a speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research, Mr Inkster blamed weakness at the Foreign Office for allowing Britain to get dragged into a war over which officials had serious doubts.

"The Foreign Office no longer does foreign policy," Mr Inkster said. "It acts as a platform for a multiplicity of UK departments and the lack of a clearly articulated sense of our strategic location in the world explains how we got dragged into a war with Iraq which was always against our better judgment."

His views on Iraq, expressed for the first time in public, may also explain why he was passed over as the head of MI6 in favour of Sir John Scarlett, who took responsibility for the dossier during the Hutton inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly.

Sir John, the current director of MI6, was head of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the start of the war and was criticised for being too close to Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, and Alastair Campbell, his spin doctor.

The Butler Report into the intelligence that took Britain to war, concluded that "more weight was placed on the intelligence than it could bear", and that judgements had stretched available intelligence "to the outer limits".

The comments by Mr Inkster come in the week that the six-year British mission to Iraq ended after the death of 179 British servicemen and thousands of Iraqis.

In his speech, he also criticised the current mission to Afghanistan, saying Britain has been attempting to implement an agenda that is "ludicrously at variants with the resources allocated to that task."

Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University, who has advised the government on failing states, said there had been a "massive mistake" in Afghanistan where Britain had believed there could be a "magical flip from the middle ages to Scandanavia in one go."

Mr Inkster said the world was moving from "being policed by America to be policed by nobody" and the danger of an increasingly unstable world meant populations were likely to fall back on the "snake oil and voodoo" of religious and nationalistic movements.

When it came to the conflict between Russia and Georgia last summer, he added, Britain was caught "completely flat footed" and used a strategy that "amounted to little more than moral indignation, which is not a strategy."

Mr Inkster, who now works for the International Institute of Strategic Studies, worked for MI6 from 1975 until 2006 in posts including Asia, Latin America and Europe.

He spent seven years on the board of the intelligence service, the last two as assistant chief and director for operations and intelligence under Sir Richard Dearlove, who had originally groomed him as his successor.

[Peter Lemkin]

From UK Daily Telegraph 3rd May 2009

Former MI6 chief says Britain was 'dragged' into Iraq war

Britain was "dragged into a war in Iraq which was always against out better judgment" the former deputy head of MI6 has claimed, in a remark that will reignite the debate over political interference in the war.

By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:25PM BST 03 May 2009
Former MI6 chief says Britain was 'dragged' into Iraq war

The comments, made by Nigel Inkster [Now working at the IISS], who was deputy director of MI6 at the time, make clear there were reservations over the war at a very senior level within the Secret Intelligence Service.

MI6 was blamed for the failure of intelligence that took Britain to war after helping produce a dossier in which Tony Blair claimed that Iraq was ready to use weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.


The dossier, said to have been "sexed up" by Downing Street, also mentioned controversial intelligence that Saddam Hussain was seeking uranium from Niger.

In a speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research, Mr Inkster blamed weakness at the Foreign Office for allowing Britain to get dragged into a war over which officials had serious doubts.

"The Foreign Office no longer does foreign policy," Mr Inkster said. "It acts as a platform for a multiplicity of UK departments and the lack of a clearly articulated sense of our strategic location in the world explains how we got dragged into a war with Iraq which was always against our better judgment."

His views on Iraq, expressed for the first time in public, may also explain why he was passed over as the head of MI6 in favour of Sir John Scarlett, who took responsibility for the dossier during the Hutton inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly.

Sir John, the current director of MI6, was head of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the start of the war and was criticised for being too close to Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, and Alastair Campbell, his spin doctor.

The Butler Report into the intelligence that took Britain to war, concluded that "more weight was placed on the intelligence than it could bear", and that judgements had stretched available intelligence "to the outer limits".

The comments by Mr Inkster come in the week that the six-year British mission to Iraq ended after the death of 179 British servicemen and thousands of Iraqis.

In his speech, he also criticised the current mission to Afghanistan, saying Britain has been attempting to implement an agenda that is "ludicrously at variants with the resources allocated to that task."

Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University, who has advised the government on failing states, said there had been a "massive mistake" in Afghanistan where Britain had believed there could be a "magical flip from the middle ages to Scandanavia in one go."

Mr Inkster said the world was moving from "being policed by America to be policed by nobody" and the danger of an increasingly unstable world meant populations were likely to fall back on the "snake oil and voodoo" of religious and nationalistic movements.

When it came to the conflict between Russia and Georgia last summer, he added, Britain was caught "completely flat footed" and used a strategy that "amounted to little more than moral indignation, which is not a strategy."

Mr Inkster, who now works for the International Institute of Strategic Studies, worked for MI6 from 1975 until 2006 in posts including Asia, Latin America and Europe.

He spent seven years on the board of the intelligence service, the last two as assistant chief and director for operations and intelligence under Sir Richard Dearlove, who had originally groomed him as his successor.

Sorry to hear about the British 'weakness' that leaves you so vulnerable to the USA's every command.....nice poodle!What will they think of next in excuses?
You can be sure, come the next war or covert op, the British will be wagging their tails to help out and come along, while the British People will again be against it - as they were this last time....but then neither you nor we have a democracy....the People never want war unless they are lied to or forced into it...the Goering quote comes to mind here.....

[Peter Presland]

Peter

I agree with your sentiments in their entirety. The reason I posted the piece though was for what it doesn't say which is: what exactly lies behind a recent former DH of MI6 volunteering 'information' to the media? That is an especially pertinent question here in that, as a current member (Employee?) of the IISS he is ultra-establishment and no doubt still has his eye on a future 'honour' (Knighthood whatever). The likelihood of him saying or doing anything inimical to the agenda of Deep State interests can therefore be completely discounted. 'What are we being prepared for?' is the question this prompts from me.

Can't find that it has been reported in any other MSM outlet (yet) either, which may or may not be significant, although a cursory search doesn't reveal anything special about Duncan Gardham, the Telegraph's Security Correspondent.

[Jan Klimkowski]

Nigel Inkster, who sounds like a terrifically cheesed off at being passed over mandarin clone of Sir Humphrey from the Yes Minister comedy sitcom, is talking amoral tosh.

Inkster opines:

"The Foreign Office no longer does foreign policy," Mr Inkster said. "It acts as a platform for a multiplicity of UK departments and the lack of a clearly articulated sense of our strategic location in the world explains how we got dragged into a war with Iraq which was always against our better judgment."

WRONG. Tony Blair effectively abandoned cabinet government for a foreign policy determined unilaterally by himself. A clear example was when, in 2006, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw muttered something along the lines that war with Iran was inconceivable. Blair immediately replaced him with a test crash dummy named Margaret Beckett. Gotta remind the talking mannequins that independent thought is not allowed.....

The New Labour propaganda machine's putdown for anyone offering a smidgin of independent thought is to state that they've gone "off message". :thefinger:

Blair had a very "clearly articulated sense of (Britain's) strategic location in the world": his vision was America right or wrong. Which is why he shamed Britain by doing pretty much whatever the nutcase neocons of the Bush regime wanted.

Inkster's version of how we got into the Iraq War is just so much guff.

In his speech, he also criticised the current mission to Afghanistan, saying Britain has been attempting to implement an agenda that is "ludicrously at variants with the resources allocated to that task."

Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University, who has advised the government on failing states, said there had been a "massive mistake" in Afghanistan where Britain had believed there could be a "magical flip from the middle ages to Scandanavia in one go."

Mr Inkster said the world was moving from "being policed by America to be policed by nobody" and the danger of an increasingly unstable world meant populations were likely to fall back on the "snake oil and voodoo" of religious and nationalistic movements.

Borderline racist tosh from Inkster - the mandarin who seems oh so proud of his intellectual and cultural superiority.

I'm reminded of the quote in Magda's signature:

"I think it would be a good idea." Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization.

Finally, Inkster claims:

When it came to the conflict between Russia and Georgia last summer, he added, Britain was caught "completely flat footed" and used a strategy that "amounted to little more than moral indignation, which is not a strategy."

NATO & the neocons conducted a hamfisted destablization operation in Georgia and got their ass handed to them by Putin. The blame for the fiasco lies with western intelligence and wannabe machiavellian western politicians.

The line dissing morality made me guffaw. Amorality is a sine qua non for the deep black operators.

Meanwhile, Nigel has clearly already made plans for Nigel - a sinecure at the spooky thinktank, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, whose raison d'etre is to be a:

primary source of accurate, objective information on international strategic issues for politicians and diplomats, foreign affairs analysts, international business, economists, the military, defence commentators, journalists, academics and the informed public. The Institute owes no allegiance to any government, or to any political or other organisation.

:damnmate:

[Peter Lemkin]

WRONG. Tony Blair effectively abandoned cabinet government for a foreign policy determined unilaterally by himself.

But don't forget he (as with W) would run it past God first - or felt the diety spoke and acted through him - so it was a 'team' effort - of the deluded and criminally insane.

[Magda Hassan]

There is some quite good medication available these days which help people from hearing voices in their head. Blair and Bush should try it some time. Or perhaps they have been prescribed it already and they just aren't taking their medicine properly.

[David Guyatt]

Blair immediately replaced him with a test crash dummy named Margaret Beckett.

The Daily Bellylarf has always been a favourite outlet for Britain's spooks. And like Peter my first reaction was to ask what was the purpose of the piece.

[Peter Presland]

Jan may well be right and in any case, satire and caricature are tonics. 'Yes Minister' is still a favourite of mine.

OTOH, if there are moves afoot to shift the official narrative in preparation for a change of government then this would fit the bill as a contribution in the direction of the Conservative Party's confused and self-serving stance on the matter.

Also, the guy's profile makes him an unlikely candidate to be airing sour-grapes 'independence'. He appears to be still working, and for an institution that would not take kindly to criticism of the SS's that might sour their cosy relationship.

[Jan Klimkowski]

OTOH, if there are moves afoot to shift the official narrative in preparation for a change of government then this would fit the bill as a contribution in the direction of the Conservative Party's confused and self-serving stance on the matter.

Also, the guy's profile makes him an unlikely candidate to be airing sour-grapes 'independence'. He appears to be still working, and for an institution that would not take kindly to criticism of the SS's that might sour their cosy relationship.

I agree.

A quick google of Nigel Inkster reveals he was Director of Operations at MI6. So, not just a pen pusher. Indeed, a man who knows deep black secrets.

Although I do have strange flashes of Harry Palmer's (Michael Caine) boss in those classic movies such as The Ipcress File. (I'm thinking Col Ross, as played by the world weary Guy Doleman.)

Given that the IISS was founded by the, um, very well connected Denis Healey and Michael Howard - what truly surreal bedfellows - it can presumably swing both ways.

Or perhaps any which way but loose....

Howard's machiavellian protege, Gove, will probably have a big say in forming Tory foreign policy (or what passes as such), so Sir Nige may soon be a major player once again.