3rd August 2004:
The Butler report’s “Review of intelligence on Weapons of mass destruction” – available for download here – was published when I was in London. Given the nature of the (24-hour news) beast – Iraq is already off the news agenda – it seems churlish (not to mention incongruently untopical) to prolong the debate. A final observation, however, is unavoidable.
The British know where to draw the line, hence not a single mention in the report of “intelligence failure”, a phrase which litters the American variant published by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Intelligence failure”? Haven’t we got another, less cumbersome word for that? If I recall correctly, the alternative, non-newspeak term is “Stupidity”.
