Learning to Redress Preemptive Deceit: The “Iraq Dossier”

SAGE Open

Christopher Williams¹ 

关键词: leadership;    political communication;    deviance;    public administration;    public policy;    law;    international security;    political behavior;   

DOI  :  10.1177/2158244011427060

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

Deceit is a significant aspect of the misuse of power. This article demonstrates how to identify and redress a “preemptive” form of this misconduct through a case study of the Iraq Dossier. The media claimed that the Dossier was inconsistent with the original intelligence reports, which was not possible to verify. This analysis shows that the Dossier is inconsistent with itself, which was missed because the initial media reaction distracted attention from careful scrutiny. The Dossier’s main text does not make a substantive claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. That claim was only made in altered phraseology within the title, foreword, summary, and conclusions. Relevant omissions within the formal inquiries are identified, and areas of redress are examined, specifically “misconduct in public office.” The case study is then discussed in terms of defining, conceptualizing, and teaching about “preemptive deceit.”

【 授权许可】

CC BY