Early June 2003: British Official Says Intelligence Services Have Evidence Showing Government Pressured Them over Iraqi WMDs

A senior British source tells the Independent of London that British intelligence has kept records of its communications with Tony Blair’s staff, demonstrating that they were under pressure to produce reports that supported Blair’s claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. “A smoking gun may well exist over WMDs, but it may not be to the Government’s liking,” one senior British official will say to the Independent a few months after the invasion. “Minuted details will show exactly what went on. Because of the frequency and, at times, unusual nature of the demands from Downing Street, people have made sure records were kept. There is a certain amount of self-preservation in this, of course.” [Independent, 6/8/2003]