Content, War in Iraq

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- Alastair Campbell, the Director of Communication at 10 Downing Street, appeared before the Foreign Affairs committee. He was up to his reputation succeeding to deflect the critics on the BBC. He recognised that he had made some errors in the "dossier" and he apologised for them, but he denied inserting, against intelligence advice, the claim that Iraq could have weapons of mass destruction ready within 45 minutes. He added that the BBC correspondent Andrew Gilligan's comment that he had "sexed up" the dossier was pure lies, and he asked Gilligan and the BBC to apologise. Both the BBC and Gilligan maintained their affirmations. They still believe they were right and, in these conditions, there were no reasons to apologise. The only thing that Campbell did not explain is why the weapons of mass destruction that were supposed to be in Iraq have not been found. On this aspect the dossier was wrong anyway!
- On June 26, 2003, Alastair Campbell, with the blessing of Blair, sent twelve questions to the BBC requesting an answer the same day. The BBC being the independent body that we know refused the ultimatum, and said that they will answer in their chosen time. To act like this, Blair and his "mignons" must really feel that they are in trouble. On the same day a pool commissioned by the Telegraph newspaper showed that the Conservative are now leading on a national basis (37 to 35% with 21% to the Liberal Democrats).
- On June 27 and 28, 2003, the saga between Alastair Campbell and the BBC was getting more and more ridiculous. Campbell, backed by Blair, asked the BBC heads for a formal apology, and the BBC refused, rightly in my opinion. A prime minister assistant, even a director of communication, should not give an ultimatum of this kind to an organisation such as the BBC. A few people begin to see it as a smoke screen to hide the false information given to the country to justify the war in Iraq. And for this assumption there is a proof: Saddam Hussein did not use weapons of mass destruction. So the report, made sexier or not, was wrong!
- On June 30, 2003, we were told that the Foreign Affair Select Committee of the British House of Common, in their report to be soon published, would probably exonerate Alastair Campbell of the charge of "sexing" the dossier used to justify the war in Iraq. According to the committee he did not add that "the Iraqi could deploy weapons of mass destruction" within 45 minutes. Campbell said that he would call for a ceasefire in his war with the BBC. But even if his victory is confirmed, his position as Communication Director at Downing Street appears to be shaky. If the committee says that Campbell did not alter the dossier, it will be a big defeat for the BBC that will be forced to publicly apologise.
- On the opposite, Blair will be given a serious dressing down by the committee for trying to prevent their inquiry into the misuse of intelligence information. On June 29, the BBC offered to admit that the source that told them that Downing Street had "sexed up" intelligence information may have not been entirely correct. But it will do this only if Downing Street admits that airing the story was correct given the circumstances. It is unlikely that the government will agree to this compromise.
- Robin Cook on July 6, 2003, said that the row between Downing Street and the BBC is a "red herring" used by Alastair Campbell to distract the attention of the parliament, and the British people, from Blair's mistakes. He does not think that the government "sexed-up" the dossier, only that they got it wrong and should take responsibility for it instead of hiding behind Alastair Campbell's controversy with the BBC. It is a fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq that, therefore, had no such weapons ready for use in 45 minutes, Iraq did no buy uranium from Niger, no chemical and biological production factories were rebuilt, and there was no nuclear weapons programme. So the government's dossier was wrong, they should admit their mistakes -made in good faith perhaps- to regain their credibility. Robin Cook is surprised that the US was so badly prepared for the post-war. He asked for an independent judicial inquiry on the whole question of the war in Iraq; this inquiry should also look at the legal basis for the war.
- On July 8, 2003, the British Ministry of Defence admitted that one junior official had an unauthorised talk about the Iraq dossier with Mr Gilligan on May 22. This happened one week before Mr Gilligan broadcasted allegations that the government had "sexed-up" the dossier justifying the war in Iraq. They offered to tell his name to the BBC in exchange for the BBC confirming or not that he was their informant. The BBC refused the deal, saying that media never reveal their sources. The official will not be tried under the Official secret Act, but disciplinary action will be taken.
- On July 9, a former senior UN weapons inspector in Iraq in the 1990s, Dr David Kelly, was said to be the man from the Ministry of Defence who talked to the BBC journalist, Andrew Gilligan. Dr Kelly, a known microbiologist, is now an adviser to the British government. He is an expert in biological warfare who, previously, worked at the Porter Down Research Centre. Dr Kelly will give evidence in private to the Common Intelligence and Security committee.
- On July 15, 2003, the Foreign Affair Select Committee interrogated Dr Kelly. He denied being the BBC's primary source and the committee believed him. Some members said that Dr Kelly was "poorly treated" by the Ministry of Defence; they went as far as saying that he was used as a "fall guy". The defence Ministry repeated later on that they believe he was the only source of Mr Andrew Gilligan's story and that, if he was not true, the BBC should say so.
- Mr Gilligan gave a second testimony -this time in private- before the Select Foreign Affairs Committee on July 17, 2003. Afterwards the committee's president said that Mr Gilligan's testimony was not satisfying, and that the journalist changed his testimony. This was rejected by Gilligan who asked the committee to publish the transcript of his deposition. Mr Gilligan said that he was badly treated by the Committee.
- Dr Kelly left his home near Abingdon, Oxon, at about 15.00 on July 17, 2003. As he was not back by 23.00, his family called the police. His body was found the next morning near a small wood known as Harrowdown Hill, about one mile from his home. He had apparently committed suicide by cutting his left wrist after taking some painkiller tablets. This is a bad news for the government. By releasing his name to the press after he admitted meeting and talking to the BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan, the government will be seen as responsible for his suicide.
- Dr Kelly testified before the Select Foreign Affairs Committee of the Common. This, in addition to the media interference in his life, depressed him. He was submitted to a kind of inquisition by the media and the government that used him as a decoy for their lying to the Parliament and the country about the inexistent Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The BBC will also blamed for its part in the drama. Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, and the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon will be asked to resign. They already have said that they have no intention to do it. In clear, Dr Kelly is the victim of political games that he had no chance to win or survive because he did not know the rules. He was a respected scientist and not a member of the political class or the media.
- Dr Kelly's family blamed the government on July 19, 2003, for making his life intolerable and leading him to commit suicide. Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell and Geoff Hoon as well as the BBC and Andrew Gilligan, are morally responsible. Dr Kelly was about to go back to Iraq -where he had been at least 35 times before as UN inspectors- to lead a British team hunting for weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical. He had already contacted some former UN inspectors he wanted on his team. He was acting as the senior British scientific adviser to the Iraq survey group set up by the USA to continue the work of the UN inspectors. He was well accepted by his former colleagues due to his knowledge and qualities as a team leader. He will be missed there. This leads to more questions about the behaviour of the Ministry of Defence in his regard, especially in identify him, giving him in pasture to the politicians and the media, and describing him as a junior official.
- On July 21, 2003, the Guardian said that the BBC blocked a compromise, which may have prevented the suicide of Dr David Kelly. The BBC Chairman, Gavyn Davis, and the director general, Greg Dyke, admitted he was their main source of information before Dr Kelly was named as being the Ministry of Defence official who admitted talking to Andrew Gilligan. Gilligan insisted that he had not misquoted Dr Kelly, and this would mean, if true, that Dr Kelly said more to the journalist that he admitted to the Select Foreign Affairs Committee in his public deposition. Some BBC heads could fall as a result of this sad story.
- On July 21, 2003, the Guardian revealed that a Ministry of Defence press officer named Dr Kelly as the official who talked to the BBC journalist, Andrew Gilligan. He was acting on order from Pam Teare, the head of the Ministry of Defence press office, herself having been told to do it by Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary.
- On July 21, 2003, some policemen are still guarding Dr Kelly's farmhouse, Westfield, in the small village of Southmoore, Oxon. The police continued its inquiry to clarify all the details of Dr Kelly's death. We also were told that Dr Kelly, 59 years old, was a follower of the Baha'i religion, a religion that condemns suicide.
- On July 22, 2003, the Guardian published the result of a poll made on July 18 and 19, after Dr Kelly's death, but before the BBC said that he was the main source of their information on the "sexed dossier." It showed that the Iraq row is reducing the Labour lead over the Conservative party to 2 points (36 against 34 %) and the popularity of Mr Blair is going down. The poll also showed that Blair's reputation for competence, trustworthiness and "being in touch with ordinary people" have gone down steadily these last 3 months. Only 37% of the people are happy with the job he does, while 54% are unhappy. However the Labour voters still like him.
- On July 23, 2003, the British Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, visited Dr Kelly's widow in Southmoore, Oxon. Mrs Kelly wanted to discuss the circumstances that led to the suicide of her husband. Nothing is known of what was said. The details of Dr Kelly's function at the Minister of Defence surfaced today. He was advising the government on Iraq's chemical and biological programmes. To do this he sat on a number of high-level committees assessing intelligence information. He had access to up-to-date intelligence data. He did not personally brief Mr Hoon, but he briefed those who did. He also advised MI6, and was a member of a high-level working group responsible for processing intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme. He had the necessary security clearance to read sensitive intelligence material, but he was not a "senior Intelligence official" as claimed by the BBC.
- On July 26, 2003, the BBC chairman, Gavyn Davies, complained that the Labour government threatened the corporation's independence and that the attack on the BBC was an attempt to put in doubt its integrity. Naming an external regulator would amount to "bring the BBC to heel", and make it do and report what the government wants. In other words, it is an attempt to limit the freedom of information by the media. However, the Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, after saying that the BBC's Charter would be modified, came back on the television to say the opposite, and that the renewal of the charter will not be influenced by the row.
- On July 26, 2003, we were told that David Kelly spoke to his fellow members of the Bahai faith about his concerns over the "interpretation" of intelligence material in the government's September dossier. David Kelly's family met Lord Hutton, the law Lord, in charge of the inquiry on the circumstances of his death and what led to it.
- We have also been told that Mr Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, had a private lunch with Dr Kelly before the Iraq war showing that his description as a middle-ranking official with no access to intelligence was a governmental lie. On July 27, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that Mr Hoon had lunch with Dr Kelly "some months ago" when the scientist insisted to talk to him in the department canteen. There he told Hoon that there was not enough evidence to justify the war against Iraq. This information contradicts completely Mr Hoon's assertion that he never met Dr Kelly. Or Hoon lost his memory or he was lying like when he said that Dr Kelly was a middle-rang official when, in fact, he was the senior scientist advising the Ministry of Defence on chemical and bacteriological weapons.
- Dr Kelly was interviewed twice by officials after admitting he met and talked to the BBC journalist, Andrew Gilligan. Afterwards he was offered "accommodation" in a safe house. Dr Kelly refused.
- On July 29, 2003, Peter Hain, the leader of the Common, defended the British government's treatment of Dr Kelly. He said that he was absurd to believe that his name could have been kept secret in front of such a media high interest. The opposition sees this as an admission that the Ministry of Defence led the journalist to Dr Kelly.
- At the same time the Select Foreign Affairs Committee repeated that the transcript of Andrew Gilligan's private deposition to the committee would be given to Lord Hutton but not to the public. On July 31, Gilligan's deposition was leaked to the media. It seems that Gilligan did not contradict himself in his second appearance before the committee. "Much ado about nothing"!
- The Ministry of Defence was accused in the first days of August 2003 of burning documents relating to the Dr Kelly affair. Apparently security guards called the police when they saw some documents dealing with this subject ready to be incinerated. The ministry agreed that these classified documents should not have been incinerated this way. They admitted that it was a breach of security that was investigated, and not an attempt to destroy some documents linked to Lord Hutton's inquiry.
- Geoff Hoon is even in deeper trouble after it became known that he will not attend Dr Kelly's funeral. Instead he is going on holiday in the USA with his family as planned long ago. The opposition parties are not happy and attack him to put his family holiday before Dr Kelly's funeral.
- On August 4, 2003, Tony Blair's official spokesman, Tom Kelly, admitted that it was him who used the expression "Walter Mitty" when discussing what could have led Dr Kelly to commit suicide. Walter Mitty is the protagonist of a short story by the humorist James Thurber, a suburban commuter that has no prospect of glory, adventure, or high distinction but who daydreams to living a more interesting life. Danny Kaye played the role in a well-known film based on the story. He added that he did not intend to smear the well-known scientist.
- On August 5 John Prescott who is replacing Tony Blair in holidays in Barbados, obliged Tom Kelly, the Downing Street spokesman, to publicly apologise for his "Walter Mitty" remark about Dr Kelly. Members of the Parliament of all parties are calling for his resignation for damaging the government's image.
- Both the BBC and the British government will blame Dr Kelly's conduct when they give evidence to Lord Hutton's inquiry in order to win their war. The BBC will insist that they reported what Dr Kelly said, and Downing Street will say that Dr Kelly spoke about things beyond his direct knowledge. Dr Kelly is unfortunately not there to defend himself, and to say who is right or wrong!
- Dr David Kelly was buried in a private ceremony on August 6, 2003, in the St Mary's church, Longworth, Oxford. John Prescott the deputy Prime Minister represented the government. Lord Hutton was also present. Besides the widow, Mrs Kelly, her daughters Sian, Ellen and Rachel, only friends and relatives were present. Dr Kelly was buried at the north side of the church.
- On August 17, 2003, we were told that the BBC governors were not shown an email sent by the editor of the Today programme, Kevin March, about Gilligan May 29 report blaming him for "loose use of language".
- On August 28, 2003, the destructive confrontation between Downing Street and the BBC showed no sign of coming close to an end as neither Blair nor Gavyn Davis would back down in the dispute that put both sides' reputation into question. Blair said that Gilligan's report that the government was exaggerating the Iraqi threat went to the heart of the government and the intelligence services' integrity, and credibility. The government look like it is using it to hide something about the way the Iraqi war was decided and justified.
- The Observer of August 31, 2003, is publishing an article written by Dr David Kelly before the invasion of Iraq -and never made public until now- in which he supported military actions as "the only way to disarm Iraq". Dr Kelly said that, although the immediate threat presented by Saddam Hussein was "modest", he believed that the only way to disarm once and for all Iraq, and preventing it to build weapons of mass destruction, was to invade the country. According to him, Iraq had failed to account for large amount of chemical and biological agents, and the UN inspectors had found rockets that could deliver them. To eliminate the risk of Saddam Hussein using them directly, or through terrorist organisations, a regime change was necessary. This report was written a few weeks before the war started, but it was not published. Dr Kelly added that Iraq had built weapons of mass destruction in the last 30 years, and although Iraq's current threat was modest in both conventional and unconventional weapons, it has always intended to build an arsenal of such weapons for military and terrorist uses.
- On September 4, 2003, we were told that the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, was present at a meeting in his office, which decided on July 9 how to name Dr Kelly. This contradicts in part Mr Hoon's deposition at the inquiry when he said that he was not involved in the naming strategy. Mr Richard Taylor, special adviser to Mr Hoon, gave this information. Mr Hoon now appears as not having told the whole truth to the Hutton inquiry when he tried to distance himself from the decision to name Dr Kelly. The decision to name Dr Kelly was part of the wider battle with the BBC.
- On January 17, 2004, Geoff Hoon said that Dr Kelly was no martyr and that he killed himself because he feared exposure as a liar after realising he had to come clean about the extent of his unauthorised contacts with journalists. Dr Kelly had been asked to produce a full list of his contacts with journalists and he was working on it on July 17 2003, the day he killed himself. Hoon is ready to resign if the Hutton report criticise him. He added that the "affair" has negative effects on the morale of the key people in his department.