THE 45 MINUTE CLAIM

Red’s ambition was to become the head of KM6¾, but it was one of those age discrimination problems.  An internal candidate had to be under age 55, so he was no longer in the running.  However, there was another possible route, in being an external candidate.  So he was more than happy to move outside those hallowed quarters (albeit temporary) and take on the role as head of MK3¼ with a direct reporting role to Uppington Street.

Therefore, it was with great relish that he took on board a request from Uppington Street in 2002, for him to arrange a report on the potential dangers of 4 countries, namely: Iran, Iraq, Libya & North Korea.  This was duly presented to Uppington Street, however Scarecrow was not impressed and commented that the paper has to show an exceptional threat from Iraq and  it does not do this yet. 

At this point Red suggested that the report would be more appropriate  to just focus on Iraq.  With this in mind he sent a memo to Libra’s FAA, Ladding referring to the benefits of obscuring the fact that in terms of  WMD in Iraq is not that exceptional.  By this time the second version was already underway, but was put on hold since there was not a strong enough case.

It was only 6 months later a 2nd draft was prepared and this time only focusing on the potential risks of Iraq.  However, within 12 days of presenting the report to Camel (one of the Uppington Street team), he sent Red several memos, with 15 suggested amendments in order to harden the dossier’s language.  Plus the fact that both Libra & himself were worried about that  countries nuclear capability, since the dossier gave the impression that there was nothing much to worry about.  Camel then suggested a claim that in certain circumstances they could produce nuclear weapons in less than a year.  However, the team drafting up the dossier and other seniors could find no evidence of planes, missiles or equipment related to the 45 minute claim, it appeared as though much pressure was applied for strong wording to reach a conclusion that would normally be drawn from such facts.

Then an accommodating piece of information was supposed to have hit the decks at the tail end of August, relating to a claim that Iraq could deploy and activate chemical weapons within 45 minutes of an order being given.  Some say it was that it was not included in the 2nd dossier version, since it was only from a single source, which the intelligence agencies did not really believe.  However, this claim was definitely included in the 3rd and final dossier version, which was issued nearly a month later, post Camel’s suggestions. This final version included a forward from Libra endorsing his concerns about the potential risk.

It is interesting to note at this point that when Camel was questioned about his involvement with the drafting of the dossier, he produced a revised set of memos and the 45 minute claim was not included.  In addition and most importantly the dossier was actually owned by Red as the head of the MK3¼ and not by the team in Uppington Street.

This final dossier had the desired effect for Uppington Street’s plans.

Subsequently, Red and Camel became great ‘mates’ and Red received his desired accolade and was promoted to head his old team at KM6¾.

Having summarised this sorry saga, I made contact with David again to check I had included the important points, plus the source of the infamous 45 minute claim.  Yes you were correct in thinking it’s source was from two individuals: Camel and Libra.

My next blog will cover the real source of Gina’s radio transmission and hope you will join me.