Scotsman.com - Fourth Inquiry over Iraq War

Lord Butler’s review of intelligence on Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction is the fourth inquiry to be held into events surrounding last year’s war.

But unlike previous investigations by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee and former law lord Lord Hutton, it will focus not on politicians’ judgments on the war, but on the reliability of the intelligence they were given.

Former Cabinet Secretary Lord Butler has said that he intends to concentrate more on the structures, systems and processes by which Britain’s intelligence services gather and analyse information than on the actions of individuals in the run-up to war.

The independent review was announced by the Government on February 3, shortly after the publication of the Hutton Report, which cleared ministers of distorting intelligence on Iraqi WMD to bolster the case for war.