Britain's government, parliamentand public broadcaster clashed today over claims that PrimeMinister Mr Tony Blair's office talked up the threat posed by Iraqto justify launching an unpopular war. Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw, in his second such grilling bya parliamentary committee, said ousting President Saddam Husseinwas justified - even if the very Iraqi weapons of massdestruction used as a pretext to battle were never found.
"Whether or not we do (find them), the decision to takemilitary action was justified on March 18th on the basis ofperfectly public information," Mr Straw told parliament's ForeignAffairs Committee, which is investigating the case for war.
The failure to discover any weapons of mass destruction inIraq - the primary British justification for war - hasundermined Mr Blair's credibility and renewed accusations of agovernment that cares more about message than meaning.
The row escalated after the British BroadcastingCorporation, citing an intelligence source, accused Mr AlastairCampbell, Mr Blair's communications supremo, of "sexing up" aSeptember dossier on Iraq's weapons.
Parliamentarians are furious at the idea they may havebacked a war the voters did not want on a false premise. Mr Strawangered them further today by refusing access to anintelligence chief or key documents for their investigation.
The BBC's source said Mr Campbell had inserted a claim thatIraq's weapons could be deployed in 45 minutes into theSeptember weapons dossier, against the wishes of theintelligence services, to make it "sexier".
Mr Campbell -- a tabloid journalist turned communicationsmaestro -- has accused the BBC of lying, demanding an apologyand questioning its reporting.
The world-famous broadcaster stands by its story."The reason why we are taking this so seriously is that itcalls into question the integrity of the prime minister, thesecurity services and the government," Mr Blair's spokesman said.
Straw said the now infamous 45-minute claim was a lateaddition to a series of documents, but stressed the claim camefrom intelligence agencies and was not inserted by Mr Campbell.
Nor was it key to the decision to go to war, he said.