The Dunsmore Dossier

The British-supplied dossier on WMDs was what the Americans were looking for to justify invading Iraq. President Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Dr. David Dunsmore was relieved as an U.N. weapon's inspector in Iraq and went back to work for the Ministry of Defense at the government's biological warfare facility. "We're at the brink of war, and I have betrayed my friends," he said. "Do you know how they deal with people who betray them? I will probably be found dead in the woods if the Americans invade Iraq."

After Saddam's defeat no WMDs were found, and the government was pressured to explain its deception. The blame was defrayed to Dunsmore, and he was ordered to reveal the names of those he had disclosed classified information to. The night before he was to testify he was found dead in the woods near his home, as he had predicted. The government concluded that Dr. Dunsmore's "suicide was regrettable."

The unanswered question remained: Who were the "friends" Dr. Dunsmore believed he had betrayed?