The briefing paper entitled Iraq: Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation has come to be known as the Dodgy Dossier. It was issued to journalists by the Labour Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy Alastair Campbell on 3 February 2003 and concerned Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction. The paper was a follow-up to the previously issued September Dossier, and was issued to support UK government policy on the confrontation with Iraq. The Labour Party is the principal centre-left political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell (born May 25, 1957) was the Director of Communications and Strategy for 10 Downing Street. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The possibility that the government of Iraq used, possessed or intend to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was a major international issue in the last dozen years. ... The September Dossier is the name given to a document published by the British government on 24 September 2002. ... Combatants United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Poland Iraq Commanders Tommy Franks Saddam Hussein Strength 263,000 375,000 Casualties {{{notes}}} The 2003 Invasion of Iraq began on March 20, consisting primarily of United States and United Kingdom forces; 98% of the forces came from these two countries, although numerous other...

The term "Dodgy Dossier" was coined when Channel 4 News examined a copy of the dossier in Microsoft Word format. By reading the file contents directly they discovered that much of the work had been taken from various uncredited sources, most notably from a postgraduate thesis published on the internet by a student at CSU Monterey Bay. Whole sections of student Ibrahim al-Marashi's article on "Saddam's Special Security Organisation" were repeated verbatim (with some typographical errors included), and minor modifications had been made which strengthened the wording - for example: "monitoring foreign embassies in Iraq" became "spying on foreign embassies in Iraq", and "aiding opposition groups in hostile regimes" became "supporting terrorist organisations in hostile regimes". The inclusion of this text was criticised by Channel 4 News as plagiarism. Channel 4 News is the title of different television news programs in different countries. ... Microsoft Word is a word processing application from Microsoft. ... Quaternary education or postgraduate education is the fourth-stage educational level which follows the completion of an undergraduate degree at a college or university. ... A thesis (literally: position from the Greek θέσις) is an intellectual proposition. ... Students attending a lecture at the Helsinki University of Technology Etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stŭdērĕ, which means to direct ones zeal at; hence a student is one who directs zeal at a subject. ... California State University, Monterey Bay, in the California State University system, is located in the city of Seaside, California, on the Monterey Peninsula. ... Ibrahim al-Marashi is a research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies where he researches on the diffusion of weapons of mass destruction and missile technologies in the Middle East, particularly Iraq and Iran. ... Typographic work Typography (from the Greek words typos = form and graphein = to write) is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type using a combination of typeface styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing to produce typeset artwork in physical or digital... Plagiarism is a form of academic malpractice specifically referring to the use of anothers information, language, or writing, when done without proper acknowledgment of the original source. ...

The report itself claims in its opening paragraph to draw "upon a number of sources, including intelligence reports". Ahead of the document's release it had been praised by Tony Blair and Colin Powell as further intelligence and quality research. A day after Channel 4's allegations, Downing Street issued a statement, admitting a mistake was made in not crediting its sources, but that this error did not alter the quality of the report's content. The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. ... Colin Luther Powell, KCB, (born April 5, 1937) was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving from January 20, 2001 to January 23, 2005 under President George W. Bush. ... Channel 4 is a public service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ... Downing Street For a wider coverage of London, visit the London Portal. ...

The claims of both the "September" and "Dodgy" dossiers were called into question after the 2003 war on Iraq, when Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) had failed to be used or found, and the dossiers were encompassed in an enquiry by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee. The Committee subsequently reported that the sources should have been credited, and that the dossier should have been checked by ministers before being released. The dossier had only been reviewed by a group of civil servants operating under Alastair Campbell. The committee stated that the publication was "almost wholly counter-productive" and in the event only served to undermine the credibility of the government's case. Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and is now the dominant branch of Parliament. ... A Select Committee of the British Parliament is a committee made up of a small number of members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

The controversy over the "Dodgy Dossier" was mentioned frequently in the government's fight with the BBC over the September Dossier that Iraq could deploy biological weapons within 45 minutes of an order to do so, and the controversy surrounding the death of Doctor David Kelly. Andrew Gilligan, who was responsible for a report which claimed the September dossier had been deliberately exaggerated, stated in evidence to the Hutton Inquiry that remembering the story of the February dossier had led him to file his story based on his interview with David Kelly without getting any confirmation from other sources. This article is an overview article about the Crown chartered British Broadcasting Corporation formed in 1927. ... Dr. David Christopher Kelly CMG (May 17, 1944 – July 17, 2003) was an employee of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), an expert in biological warfare, and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. ... Andrew Gilligan Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968, Teddington, Middlesex, England) is a journalist best known for his report, while defence and diplomatic correspondent for BBC Radio 4s The Today Programme, about the British Governments dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. ... The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ...

See also

• September Dossier
• Hutton Inquiry
• Butler Review
• Downing Street Memo
• Yellowcake forgery
• Plame affair

The September Dossier is the name given to a document published by the British government on 24 September 2002. ... The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ... On February 3, 2004 the British Government announced an inquiry into the intelligence relating to Iraqs weapons of mass destruction which played a key part in the Governments decision to invade Iraq (as part of the U.S.-led coalition) in 2003. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Downing Street memo The Downing Street memo (occasionally DSM), sometimes described by critics of the Iraq War as the smoking gun memo, contains an overview of a secret 23 July 2002 meeting among United Kingdom Labour government, defence and intelligence figures, discussing... The term Yellowcake Forgery refers to falsified documents which appeared to depict an attempt by Iraqs Saddam Hussein regime to purchase yellowcake uranium from the country of Niger, in defiance of United Nations sanctions. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...

External links

• PDF version of the February dossier
• Article by Ibrahim al-Marashi on "Iraq's Security and Intelligence Network"
• Foreign Affairs Select Committee report on the decision to go to war in Iraq (PDF)
• Original Channel 4 News report on the dodginess of the dossier
• Guardian articles on the subject