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A crisis for Blair — or for the BBC?

9 comments on A crisis for Blair — or for the BBC?

A crisis for Blair — or for the BBC?
: The Guardian headline paints the suicide of UN weapons inspector David Kelly as a crisis for Tony Blair’s government.

Looks more like a crisis for the BBC to me.

Was Kelly the source for Andrew Gilligan’s BBC’s “sexing up” story?

Did Kelly lie?

Did the BBC lie?

For that matter, what dirt exists surrounding not only the BBC but also the U.N.?

Conspiracy theorists were all ready to point to Blair on this — until it clearly turned out to be suicide.

So I don’t see how Kelly’s death points to Blair.

It points to the BBC.

What was so awful in this that would make the man commit suicide except that he would be revealed as a player in this drama — a player in the BBC’s web?

9 responses to “A crisis for Blair — or for the BBC?”

  1. paul Avatar
    paul

    Cspan showed Kelly’s comments before some British parliament committee last week, days before his death. He was full of contradictions–he claimed that some of Andrew Gilligan’s information may have come from their meetings, but equivocated on being the “primary source.”
    He would NOT state that the dossier (argh, French) was “sexed up”;he stated that he “did NOT question the accuracy of (it).” Not exactly what he told Gilligan, apparently.
    Kelly was questioned as to why he didn’t include the intelligence that he, himself, stated he believed–that Iraq had detonated a dirty bomb in 1988. He gave no good reason. He also stated that “Iraq was a threat to its neighbors and UK interests.”
    These statements may have been part of the controversy:
    -he believed there was a 30% probability of Iraq containing chemical weapons.
    -he questioned whether Iraq could use chemical weapons within 45 minutes. Something about bad weather and the storage to deployment time.
    Andrew MacKinlay pressed Kelly hard for names of other journalists with whom he had met. At first, Kelly refused. He finally agreed to provide a list by Thursday, I believe he said. Friday he was dead.

  2. jgc Avatar
    jgc

    Jeff, you make some brilliant points. If you truly have the inside media star power, use it to influence editorial staffs with this point of view quickly, before it’s too late and the world caves in on its own anti-Bush hysteria.

  3. Moe Avatar
    Moe

    I don’t see what’s so clear about the so-called fact that it was suicide.

  4. dan Avatar
    dan

    i dont understand how the bbc is responsible for this situation,
    it was blair who dragged us towards war on the coat tails of the idiot son’s neo conservative agenda.
    it was blair who spun the intelligence untill he got the case he needed.
    it was blair who ignored the will and opinion of the british people.
    it was blair who decided we were going to flout the will of the un.
    it was blair who sanctioned the diversionary sideshow with the bbc to avoid scrutiny.
    it was blair who ultimately allowed Dr Kelly to be hung out to dry.
    and it should be blair who takes responsibility for the situation he finds himself in now.
    for the rest of this rant…
    http://www.bright-sky.co.uk/dan/archive/000177.html
    and
    http://www.bright-sky.co.uk/dan/archive/000174.html

  5. dan Avatar
    dan

    just heard the news about dr kelly being the source. makes my previous comments about the bbc appear rather crass…

  6. adam Avatar
    adam

    yeah dude, no one has ever dressed up a political hit as suicide before. nup, never happens. it’s “clearly” suicide.

  7. Abiola Lapite Avatar
    Abiola Lapite

    “yeah dude, no one has ever dressed up a political hit as suicide before. nup, never happens. it’s “clearly” suicide.”
    Uh oh, tinfoil hat alert! Seriously, how dumb would the British government have to be to decide to kill Mr. Kelly at the most inopportune possible time, and in such an ambiguous manner? Wouldn’t it have been more astute to have arranged an “accident” of some sort?
    The problem with conspiracy theorists is that they never let facts or plausibility get in the way of their imaginations. Cheer up son, no one’s coming for your precious bodily fluids just yet!

  8. Abiola Lapite Avatar
    Abiola Lapite

    “yeah dude, no one has ever dressed up a political hit as suicide before. nup, never happens. it’s “clearly” suicide.”
    Uh oh, tinfoil hat alert! Seriously, how dumb would the British government have to be to decide to kill Mr. Kelly at the most inopportune possible time, and in such an ambiguous manner? Wouldn’t it have been more astute to have arranged an “accident” of some sort?
    The problem with conspiracy theorists is that they never let facts or plausibility get in the way of their imaginations. Cheer up son, no one’s coming for your precious bodily fluids just yet!

  9. adam Avatar
    adam

    for all i know he probably did kill himself. my comment was merely a challenge to jeff’s arrogance in asserting that it was clearly suicide, which would seem to fly in the face of established facts re some politically sensitive deaths.