
	Where results make sense

Topic: Butler Inquiry

Related Topics

Peter Inge, Baron Inge

John Morris

United States

In the News (Thu 10 Dec 09)

Northern Trust

Marvin Harrison

Peter Chernin

Gary Locke

Match Play

Penelope Cruz

Mickey Rourke

AR Rahman

Danny Boyle

Hugh Jackman

	Butler Review - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The inquiry also dealt with the wider issue of WMD programmes in "countries of concern" and the global trade in WMD.
		Although Tony Blair had always insisted it was not necessary to set up an inquiry, he was forced to do so because of pressure from comments made by former leader of the Iraq Survey Group David Kay, as well as the political fall-out of the Hutton inquiry which was regarded as a whitewash by many.
		Conservative leader Michael Howard said that this was because Lord Butler of Brockwell's interpretation of the terms of reference were "unacceptably restrictive".
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Butler_Inquiry (1230 words)

	BASIC Papers, July 2004
		The Butler Inquiry remit states that it is to examine "discrepancies" between the intelligence evaluated by the government and the findings of the weapons inspectors in the US-led Iraq Survey Group.
		Butler simply says that his remit "inevitably has led us to areas of UK/US cooperation" but fails to go further on the grounds that the actions of the US intelligence are "being covered by the Presidential Commission" (para 10; also see para 428).
		While the Butler report exonerates the British government from "deliberate distortion or culpable negligence" it fails to address the possibility of non-culpable negligence by Downing Street, when it strengthened the language of the JIC assessments and presented it to the public in the form of the September 2002 dossier.
	www.basicint.org /pubs/Papers/BP46.htm (7117 words)

	Butler Inquiry exonerates Blair government on Iraq war lies
		The Butler inquiry was set up in February, in the immediate aftermath of the inquiry by Lord Hutton into the death of leading weapons inspector and whistleblower Dr. David Kelly in July 2003.
		Hutton’s inquiry was meant to draw a line under the scandal surrounding the exposure of government lies justifying the Iraq war—particularly given the failure to find any evidence of Iraqi WMD programmes—and to heal the divisions that had emerged between the government, the civil service and MI6.
		The Butler inquiry is the fourth parliamentary investigation to exonerate the Blair government of any wrongdoing in dragging Britain into an illegal war of aggression on the basis of lies.
	www.wsws.org /articles/2004/jul2004/butl-j15.shtml (1658 words)

	British government to proceed with Iraq inquiry despite opposition walkout
		In particular, Howard said there was "no justification" for Butler to focus on "structures, systems and processes" and not the actions of individuals in the run-up to the US and British invasion of Iraq on March 20 last year.
		Setting up the Butler inquiry marked an embarrassing U-turn for Blair, who had cited Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's long-running pursuit of weapons of mass destruction as the prime reason for Britain joining the United States in invading Iraq.
		Butler, a one-time aide to Margaret Thatcher, Conservative prime minister during the 1980s, now sits in the House of Lords, the upper house of parliament, after retiring as one of Britain's top civil servants.
	www.spacewar.com /2004/040301170647.wrttkfyp.html (414 words)

	Online NewsHour: Investigating Prewar Intelligence
		The inquiry committee also pointed out that if it believes an individual is laid open to criticism as a result of the inquiry, that person will be allowed to respond before the final report.
		During that inquiry, he famously noted that "half the picture can be true," words which critics may apply to his viewpoint on the current intelligence inquiry.
		Butler and the other committee members will be granted access to all intelligence reports and assessments and will call witnesses to give evidence in private.
	www.pbs.org /newshour/bb/middle_east/iraq/intelligence/britishinquiry.html (1383 words)

	Whose Head Will The Butler Serve Up? - [Sunday Herald]
		Lord Butler’s inquiry into the use of intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq has also turned up proof that in March 2002 a meeting of government officials in Downing Street decided that available intelligence was not strong enough to support the case for war.
		Butler is likely to note that the claim had no caveat attached – and also that Blair asserted in the foreword of the dossier that Iraq’s continued production of WMD was “established beyond doubt”.
		The Butler report might also pack a punch for Campbell, who told the Hutton inquiry that he was asked by Downing Street to bin work on a dossier into “axis of evil” states North Korea, Libya and Iran and to concentrate instead on Iraq.
	www.sundayherald.com /43327 (1747 words)

	Butler Inquiry Arab News (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
		The WMD inquiry in Britain led by retired top civil servant Lord Butler has concluded after a careful investigation of the facts that the evidence on which the Blair government joined in the US invasion of Iraq was almost entirely wrong.
		Butler also of course finds that the contemporary concerns of senior intelligence experts about the accuracy of the WMD dossier being assembled were entirely valid.
		Butler ascribes the inability of the intelligence community to sort of the wheat from the chaff to the long chain of communication through which items of intelligence have to pass.
	www.aljazeerah.info /Opinion%20editorials/2004%20opinions/July/15%20o/Butler%20Inquiry%20Arab%20News.htm (533 words)

	Telegraph \| News
		However, the inquiry member also revealed that on the day he published his report, Lord Butler was preparing publicly to distance himself from Mr Blair if asked at his only press conference whether the PM should resign.
		Under the rules governing inquiries, any individual who has been criticised or fears he may be criticised has the right to be shown sections of the draft in advance with a view to giving a response.
		Members of the Butler inquiry have privately expressed frustration that the early reaction to the report included allegations of "whitewash", but they believe the evidence contained in it is damning.
	www.telegraph.co.uk /news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/18/nbut18.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/18/ixnewstop.html (847 words)

	Butler inquiry into Iraq intelligence: Blair prepares another whitewash
		The inquiry was convened after the collapse of the trial of three Matrix Churchill businessmen charged with illegal sales of computer-controlled lathes that would enable Iraq to make its own conventional and chemical artillery shells.
		The inquiry elicited many revealing statements to this effect, including Ian McDonald of the Ministry of Defence explaining that “Truth is a very difficult concept.” But it was Butler who was the archetypal proponent and defender of official duplicity.
		The Butler inquiry is such an obvious fraud that the Liberal Democrats concluded that they could not take part in it without being tainted by association with the government.
	www.wsws.org /articles/2004/feb2004/blai-f05.shtml (1399 words)

	Intelligence errors were made in good faith, Butler inquiry finds
		The inquiry found that the JIC was not influenced by political considerations, but the climate in which the dossier was drawn up had led to "strains" on the JIC's ability to present intelligence in a dispassionate fashion.
		The inquiry also found that the government’s decision to take a stronger line on Iraqi disarmament in early 2002 was "not based on any new development in the current intelligence picture on Iraq".
		In the spring of 2002, as the UK moved away from a policy of containment regarding Iraq, the Butler report found that "there was no recent intelligence that would itself have given rise to a conclusion that Iraq was of more immediate concern than the activities of some other countries".
	www.4ni.co.uk /nationalnews.asp?id=31210 (958 words)

	The Scotsman - Opinion - Butler Inquiry's flaws begin to rebound (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
		THE decision by the Conservative Party to withdraw from the Butler Inquiry into the performance of the intelligence community over Saddam’s weapons threatens to derail the government’s attempts to return to a domestic agenda.
		It is important, amid this plethora of intersecting rows, not to ignore the stated reason for the Tory withdrawal from the Butler Inquiry.
		Meantime, Mr Blair is defending the narrow interpretation of Lord Butler’s brief on the grounds that any judgment on whether or not military action was justified in Iraq is one for politicians and Parliament.
	thescotsman.scotsman.com /opinion.cfm?id=244472004 (1309 words)

	Politics \| Tories withdraw from Butler inquiry
		However, although the Tory leader said he was withdrawing from the inquiry because he disagreed with the terms of reference for the committee, he added that the Conservative member of the committee, former minister Michael Mates, may remain on the body "in his personal capacity".
		The spokesman said it was right for the inquiry to concentrate on structures and procedures, rather than the actions of individuals.
		The committee's line-up under Lord Butler was Mr Mates, senior Labour MP Ann Taylor, Sir John Chilcot, a staff counsellor for the security and intelligence services, and Field Marshall Lord Inge, a former chief of the defence staff.
	politics.guardian.co.uk /print/0,3858,4870385-111381,00.html (903 words)

	Butler Review -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
		Despite the apparent certainty of both governments prior to the war that Iraq possessed such weapons, no such weapons were found, although 'trace evidence' of WMD were uncovered by the (Click link for more info and facts about Iraq Survey Group) Iraq Survey Group.
		The inquiry also dealt with the wider issue of WMD programmes in "countries of concern" and the global (The skilled practice of a practical occupation) trade in WMD.
		The Butler Review followed procedures similar to the Franks Committee inquiry into the (Click link for more info and facts about Falklands War) Falklands War.
	www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/b/bu/butler_review.htm (1245 words)

	The Observer \| Special reports \| Butler inquiry targets Niger uranium claim
		The revelation that Lord Butler, the former cabinet secretary in charge of the inquiry, is homing in on this issue could cause problems for Blair.
		Butler asked ElBaradei for details of the Iraqi explanation, which the IAEA is believed to have now supplied.
		Lynne Jones, a Labour backbencher who, along with fellow Labour MP Llew Smith, submitted a dossier of evidence to the Butler inquiry, has said that there was no longer a shred of evidence to substantiate Blair's claims that Iraq sought uranium from Africa.
	observer.guardian.co.uk /iraq/story/0,12239,1248453,00.html (730 words)

	The Spectator.co.uk
		To be fair to Lord Butler, he has made some relevant criticisms of the government and its methods.
		Andrew Gilligan’s story was in essence that the intelligence world was alarmed at the way some of their data was being treated; they were sometimes ignored and tougher language was put in at the behest of Downing Street.
		His political life has been on the line, and Lord Butler, conceiving that it is not his job to end the Prime Minister’s career, has stayed his hand.
	www.antiwar.com /spectator/spec344.html (786 words)

	Crosswalk.com - Butler Inquiry: Australian PM Maintains War Was Justified
		While a lot of attention has been paid to Butler's discrediting of the claim that Saddam could deploy WMDs in 45 minutes, less notice has been given to his finding regarding Iraqi-Niger contacts relating to uranium.
		But in his report, Butler said Iraqi officials did visit Niger in 1999, and that Britain had received "credible" intelligence from several sources "indicating that this visit was for the purpose of acquiring uranium."
		Butler reached the conclusion that Saddam Hussein did not have significant stocks of WMDs, if any, prior to the war.
	www.crosswalk.com /news/1274007.html (852 words)

	CNN.com - Q&A: The Butler inquiry - Jul 13, 2004
		The Hutton inquiry examined only the circumstances surrounding the death of scientist David Kelly, who killed himself after being named as the source of a press report that the government "sexed up" the threat from Iraq.
		The inquiry found Blair had not exaggerated the case for war.
		Butler had access to intelligence reports and interviewed the secret services, ministers and civil servants in private.
	www.cnn.com /2004/WORLD/europe/07/13/butler.qanda (348 words)

	CND - Press Release- War crimes in Basra
		It again urged the Government to widen the remit of the Inquiry to include a full investigation into the political decisions to go to war, and reiterated its demand for a full independent public inquiry.
		CND believes that the Government must be accountable for their actions to the public, and must answer the legitimate questions of the British people.
		CND has maintained throughout this conflict that the war on Iraq was illegal and immoral, and believes that the Government must now be held responsible for their actions, starting with an immediate and full public inquiry.
	www.cnduk.org /pages/press/130204.htm (289 words)

	BBC NEWS \| Programmes \| Newsnight \| The Butler Inquiry
		I have admitted that, but the critics must also admit the rest of what he has said, which is that he's also said, however, he has found evidence of weapons of mass destruction programmes, capability, Saddam's intention to develop those weapons and the breaches of the UN resolution that that entails.
		The other members of the Butler committee are Sir John Chilcott, a former top civil servant with Northern Ireland experience and two senior backbenchers: Ann Taylor of Labour and the Conservative Michael Mates.
		I think that if Robin Butler and his colleagues were convinced that after their investigation that ministers had taken an incorrect view on the basis of what they were told, they would probably say so.
	newsvote.bbc.co.uk /1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3455859.stm (1166 words)

	BBC NEWS \| Politics \| Iraq WMD inquiry details unveiled
		Conservative leader Michael Howard said changes he had suggested to the remit meant the inquiry would address the government's use of the intelligence, not just how it was gathered.
		News of the inquiry follows the announcement of a US inquiry into its Iraq intelligence and Mr Straw said Lord Butler would work closely with the American commission.
		An inquiry was needed because it now appeared the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) could take months to produce its final report on the search for banned weapons in Iraq, he said.
	news.bbc.co.uk /1/hi/uk_politics/3453305.stm (834 words)

	Downing Street Says...: Butler Inquiry
		Asked if the Opposition Leader had requested the words "use of intelligence" to be included in the Butler Inquiry's remit because he had thought that it meant an examination of individual actions, the PMOS said that it wasn't his job to comment on party political matters.
		Questioned as to whether the Inquiry would be able to continue to preserve its credibility, the PMOS repeated that the Committee was carrying out an independent inquiry, the remit of which was to look independently at the issue of intelligence.
		Asked to explain how the Inquiry could possibly survive when even the Government's intention to model it on the Franks Committee was now impossible, the PMOS said that the Butler Inquiry's remit was to "follow the procedures of the Franks Committee" not model itself on it.
	www.downingstreetsays.org /archives/000282.html (1973 words)

	The Social Affairs Unit
		Butler's Dilemma: Lord Butler's Inquiry and the Re-Assessment of Intelligence on Iraq's WMD
		Butler, however is likely to produce far more important conclusions than those reached by his distinguished predecessor...
		Butler's Dilemma: Lord Butler's Inquiry and the Re-Assessment of Intelligence on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction
	socialaffairsunit.org.uk /digipub/content/view/13/27 (263 words)

	Introduction (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
		On 8th June 2000 the Government published the report of an Inquiry by His Honour Gerald Butler QC into the prosecution of the case of Regina v Doran and Others, together with the Government’s response to the recommendations in the Report.
		The Butler Inquiry was the second Inquiry in recent years to examine aspects of a criminal prosecution involving HM Customs and Excise, which had been stayed by the Judge.
		In its response to the Butler Report the Government agreed that consideration should be given to the issue raised in recommendation 26 and established a Review conducted by His Honour John Gower QC, assisted by Sir Anthony Hammond KCB QC to examine the relevant issues and to make recommendations.
	www.lslo.gov.uk /procrev/introduction.htm (899 words)

	BBC NEWS \| Politics \| 'Serious flaws' in Iraq intelligence
		Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said the remit of the Butler inquiry had made it impossible for it to deal with the most important issue of the political judgment that informed the decision to go to war.
		The Butler Report also criticised the "informality" of decision-making in No 10, with oral presentations relied on which made it impossible for Cabinet ministers to have advance notice of issues to be discussed.
		In January Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly cleared the government of inserting material it "probably knew to be wrong" against the wishes of the intelligence community in its dossier on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
	news.bbc.co.uk /1/hi/uk_politics/3890961.stm (1060 words)

	Blair 'accepts' Butler inquiry (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
		The findings of an inquiry team led by former top civil servant Lord Robin Butler was "comprehensive and thorough...
		Butler's report, published earlier on Wednesday, condemned as unreliable much of the British intelligence on Iraqi WMDs before the war to remove Saddam Hussein.
		However Blair stressed that Butler had in no way found himself or his government guilty of deliberate exaggeration.
	www.news24.com /News24/AnanziArticle/0,,2-10-1460_1557549,00.html (159 words)

	Guardian Unlimited \| The Guardian \| Inquiry into missing Iraqi WMD calls first witnesses
		Essentially the team has two lines of inquiry: One involves the dearth of information and problems caused by "dodgy dossiers" on whether Iraq had WMD.
		Unlike Lord Hutton's inquiry the process is being conducted in total secrecy, with hand-picked privy counsellors.
		One of Lord Butler's tasks will be to find out how these forgeries came to be given to MI6 and what this additional information was.
	www.guardian.co.uk /guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1183200,00.html (835 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)