Source for a 'sexed up' report found dead

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/07/18...elly/index.html

 

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police have found a body matching that of UK official David Kelly, who denied being the "mole" in the Iraq weapons of mass destruction dossier row.

 

On Friday Prime Minister Tony Blair's officials said an independent judicial inquiry would be held into the circumstances leading up to the scientist's death, if confirmed.

 

Kelly, a former U.N. weapons inspector and microbiologist who had visited Iraq dozens of times under Saddam Hussein, went missing from his home on Thursday afternoon after telling his wife he was going for a walk, police said.

 

His family, who live in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of London, alerted police when he failed to return by 11:45 p.m.

 

The body was discovered at Harrowdown Hill, Oxfordshire, about five miles from Kelly's home. No formal identification is expected until Saturday.

 

"What I can say is that the description of the man found ... matches the description of Dr. David Kelly," Acting Superintendent David Purnell of Thames Valley Police told reporters.

 

A Downing Street spokesman traveling with Blair in Japan said the prime minister had offered condolences to Kelly's family. The judge leading the inquiry would have access to all government papers, he added.

 

Kelly, 59, became involved in the storm over the intelligence on Iraq's alleged banned weapons when the government said he was the source for a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation that officials hyped, or "sexed up" data in a September 2002 dossier to justify war. (More)

 

 

Police watch an ambulance leave Harrowdown Hill, in Oxfordshire, where body found 

BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan cited a single, unnamed source as saying Blair's press chief Alastair Campbell had insisted on including a claim Iraq could launch chemical and biological weapons at 45 minutes' notice. A Parliamentary probe later cleared Campbell of that allegation. (More on dossier)

 

Kelly gave evidence Tuesday to a parliamentary committee regarding the government's dossier and the BBC report. During the committee meeting, it was suggested Kelly was being made a "fall guy" for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

 

He admitted talking to the state-funded BBC but said he had made no such assertions about government officials, including Campbell.

 

The MoD said it had at no point threatened Kelly with suspension or dismissal as a result of his admission that he had spoken to Gilligan. He was told he had broken civil service rules by having unauthorized contact with a journalist, but "that was the end of it," the MoD said.

 

Kelly was given five days to think about his options before the MoD issued its statement on Tuesday July 8 to say that an unnamed official had spoken to Gilligan.

 

Committee Chairman Donald Anderson wrote to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw saying committee members believed it was "most unlikely" Kelly was the source.

 

 

On Friday, a close friend said Kelly's wife had told him the scientist, who had three grown-up daughters, was deeply unhappy about his role in the political row about WMD and was under great stress.

 

TV journalist Tom Mangold told ITV News: "She told me he had been under considerable stress, that he was very very angry about what had happened at the committee, that he wasn't well, that he had been to a safe house, he hadn't liked that, he wanted to come home.

 

"She didn't use the word depressed, but she said he was very very stressed and unhappy about what had happened and this was really not the kind of world he wanted to live in."

 

I'm sure it'll be a suicide I mean, a guy who's report was overhyped ending up dead? I wonder what the "cause of death" would be?

 

Dead men tell no tales.

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

Ah, he's just ripping off Vince Foster

[Guest Idiot Hive]

I really dont post here, like um..ever. but...

 

I knew this man, his daughters babysat me. Its very sad.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

All in all, this is a rather unfortunate time for him to die. If this is a normal death, nobody is really going to believe it. Face it, people will think that this guy was killed. Unless you just think he killed himself somehow.

 

Hive, that's sad to hear.

 

Hopefully George Tenet won't go on any canoe trips.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Actually, it more than likely IS a suicide. This is a huge story in the UK right now, and basically the British government, the investigative parliamentary committee, AND the BBC all have this guy's blood on their hands by trying to make him a fall guy for the 'dodgy dossier' WMD controversy. It's just the latest in a long line of PR disasters that are seeing Tony Blair, as popular as he seems to be in America, come closer and closer to facing a leadership challenge or vote of no confidence from within his own party. I'll write more on this later, as there's a LOT to cover.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Here are the bullet points of this story, as I've been watching it develop:

 

--BBC defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan accused the British government about two months ago of "sexing up" the dossier on Iraq's WMDs due to information from a 'senior British official'.

 

--Gilligan expands on his claim, stating that Tony Blair's chief spin doctor Alistair Campbell personally inserted the claim that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to launch WMDs on 45-minutes notice, a statement British intelligence had not cleared for inclusion, for the express purpose of 'scare tactics'.

 

--Alistair Campbell appears before the foreign affairs committee investigating the legitimacy of the Iraq War on June 25th and denies inserting the 45-minute claim in the dossier, and furthermore demands an apology from the BBC for their false accusations, thus taking the focus of the story off himself and onto the BBC who he claims reneged on their trademark impartiality by reporting with a definite anti-war bias throughout.

 

--The BBC stands by its claim and refuses to apologise to Alistair Campbell.

 

--The foreign affairs committee clears Alistair Campbell of doctoring, or 'sexing up', the Iraq WMD dossier put out by Tony Blair. Despite this, the BBC still stand by their accusation.

 

--Enter the late Ministry of Defence official Dr David Kelly (approximately two weeks ago), who admits to having spoken to the BBC's Andrew Gilligan about the dossier, but denies suggesting that Alistair Campbell inserted his own spin to the official intelligence reports. The BBC refuse to say whether or not Dr Kelly was their source.

 

--Dr David Kelly is called before the foreign affairs committee last Tuesday (July 15th) where he claims he could not be the source of Andrew Gilligan's accusations against Alistair Campbell. The BBC again refuse to reveal their source. The Ministry of Defence cast doubt on whether there really was another source, or whether Gilligan himself had 'sexed up' the discussion he previously had with Dr Kelly.

 

--Prime Minister Tony Blair tells the British parliament on July 16th the BBC should be made to reveal whether or not David Kelly was in fact the source of their accusation against the government.

 

--In light of Dr Kelly's denials of being the source, the BBC's Andrew Gilligan is recalled in front of the foreign affairs committee on July 17th. His case seems to fall apart and he is dismissed as an 'unsatisfactory witness' because fundamental aspects of his testimony keep changing.

 

--Dr David Kelly is found dead near his home on July 18th having told his wife he was going for a walk the previous evening and never returning. Friends and colleagues claim he had entered into a spiral of depression over the past two weeks since his conversation with Gilligan became the centre of the ongoing row between the government and the BBC over the Iraq WMD dossier which threatened to totally destroy Tony Blair's credibility.

 

He probably did kill himself. Probably.

 

But then again, why would he?

 

--If there was another source, then he was innocent and cleared of all blame.

 

--If Andrew Gilligan indeed exaggerated their conversation and fingered Alistair Campbell as the culprit of his own accord, it was the BBC & Gilligan in the shit-house, not Kelly. The Ministry of Defence had already said there was no question of Dr Kelly's being fined or suspended.

 

The only other alternative (if still nothing sinister is to be assumed) is that Dr Kelly did in fact make those accusations to Andrew Gilligan during their conversation, and realised he had said too much and was in over his head, casting as it has severe doubt over the tenability of Tony Blair to continue in office, or at the very least Alistair Campbell to continue as Blair's director of communications.

 

This story hasn't ended yet, by a long way.

[Zorin Industries 0]

I think this is it for Blair, the last thing he needed was for anymore bad press and he is well mixed up in this whole situation.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

I think the next elections will be very interesting. I don't think there's any politician that the British people want to see as PM.

 

Also, it's been reported that Dr. Kelly died from blood loss caused by slitting his wrists, and was found with painkillers. So, yeah. suicide it is I guess...

[Zorin Industries 0]

I think the next elections will be very interesting. I don't think there's any politician that the British people want to see as PM.

I think Gordon Brown maybe, but he's the only one I can think of. None of the rest of the Labour Cabinet stick out.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Gordon Brown is the only choice if Blair goes sooner rather than later. But if he hangs on a few more months, Peter Hain will almost certainly be in the beginnign stages of a leadership bid. His apparent 'gaffs' in the past few months were almost certainly made on purpose to shore up support with the Unions and hardline old school Labour voters, who already want him to replace Blair. Either way, I find it highly unlikely Our Tony's going to see in the next General Election.

 

EDIT: What sucks most about this is that what was essentially a professional dispute between politicians and journalists has ended up causing the death of a well respected scientist and government advisor, simply because he seemed an easy target for both sides to blame. Politics really is a dirty game.

[Zorin Industries 0]

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/...1002424,00.html

 

This is bad for the BBC as well, if Tony is smart he'll use this sort of thing to his advantage and try to pass the blame on to the BBC.

 

Another intersting piece in the Guardian today about the Ministry of Defence giving out Dr. Kelly's name to the press. I've thought for a long time there needs to be a shake up in the MoD, and this whole situation is just confirming that in my mind.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Someone needs to take the fall for this ever happening. I have a feeling Blair will emerge unscathed as usual (although all these stories working against him keep mounting up and will suerly have a lasting damage on him).

 

Now that the BBC have admitted Dr Kelly was their source for the accusation, Andrew Gilligan looks to be in the shithouse for 'embellishing' their conversation as Dr Kelly insinuated to the foreign affairs committee. Problem is, the BBC are claiming Dr Kelly was quoted accurately, and he's dead now, so he can't pass further rebuttal.

 

Basically, either Gilligan (plus possibly the BBC bosses who supported him) for dishonest journalism OR Alistair Campbell (for dishonestly inserting the 45-minute claim) will take the fall depending on what, if any, further evidence can be established.

 

The MOD is a different matter entirely, because it doesn't relate to establishing the truth behind the accusations. Either way, they were in the wrong for 'outing' Dr Kelly as the source and someone has to take the fall for that.

 

Zorin, when you say the MOD needs a shakeup who are you referring to? Geoff Hoon (who the buck ultimately stops with) or others further down the food chain, who probably play a more active role in the running of things? Who in your opinion would have been directly responsible for leaking Kelly's name out into the public arena?

[Zorin Industries 0]

Zorin, when you say the MOD needs a shakeup who are you referring to? Geoff Hoon (who the buck ultimately stops with) or others further down the food chain, who probably play a more active role in the running of things? Who in your opinion would have been directly responsible for leaking Kelly's name out into the public arena?

I meant in a general sense, i feel the MoD needs to be more open and cuplable (though I feel this way about all of the government.)

 

Take a look, for example, at the recent furor at the deaths of the soldiers at that military base (I forget the name), the family want answers and the MoD is being very secretive about the whole matter.

 

There has been to many incidents in the past of cover ups and possiable cover-ups and i for one am sick of having to listen to politicans worming there way out of situations like this.

 

I think Campbell's head will roll for this as he has too many enemies, both in and outside the government. Blair however will take a lot of damage from this as well, i don't see him lasting past the next election. Not sure about the BBC, but I think it will be bad for them too, especially with the Murdoch papers trying to do a hatchet job on it.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Take a look, for example, at the recent furor at the deaths of the soldiers at that military base (I forget the name), the family want answers and the MoD is being very secretive about the whole matter.

 

There has been to many incidents in the past of cover ups and possiable cover-ups and i for one am sick of having to listen to politicans worming there way out of situations like this.

 

Do you mean the Deepcut deaths? Isn't this the Army itself which has proved so reluctant to investigate the deaths, or have the MOD been muddying the waters with the investigation too? I kind of lost track of this story a little.

 

I think Campbell's head will roll for this as he has too many enemies, both in and outside the government. Blair however will take a lot of damage from this as well, i don't see him lasting past the next election. Not sure about the BBC, but I think it will be bad for them too, especially with the Murdoch papers trying to do a hatchet job on it.

 

It's difficult to know how it will go. Campbell swears he did not insert the claim, Gilligans swears Dr Kelly inferred he did. The only one that can say either way was Dr Kelly himself, who inferred he did not but cannot now confirm that. Accordingly, Gilligan & the BBC are off the hook even if they did embelish the quote because it cannot be proven.

 

Campbell WAS off the hook when the foreign affairs committee cleared him, but could be put back ON it again due to the independent Hutton Inquiry set up following the death. Like you say, a lot of people want to see Campbell go.

 

The Hutton Inquiry could take a while though, and someone needs to go now to give some closure to the whole sorry affair. Prime candidate: Geoff Hoon. A shame, because he probably (probably) had very little to do with Kelly's name getting leaked out in the first place.

 

Long term though, you're right about this being very damaging to Blair. He's already been cast in constant doubt by the public since the Iraq War, and now as well as having blood on his hands abroad, he has blood on his hands at home too. The fallout from Iraq had put a huge smear on his legacy.

 

If he's going to go, it has to be before the next election. The Tories and Lib Dems are not strong enough to beat Labour in the near future, so they either need to oust him soon or get behind him and stop whining cause going into an election this divided with no real opposition will just be a joke.

[Zorin Industries 0]

Blair does seem somewhat obbsessed with his legacy I feel, so i'm not sure if he would think it would be a good idea to leave office soon or try and hang on and rebuild his reputation (an impossible task I think).

 

If he does stay on, I could see the rift between Old and New Labour getting a lot worse, which would be awful for the party as a whole.

 

Do you think the Torys could use this to their advantage or do you think the Torys are still too looked down upon?

[Guest DeputyHawk]

I don't think the Tories will be in a position to make any sort of political impact for at least another five years. The Lib Dems I think missed a golden opportunity to leapfrog themselves into a genuine opposition party by refusing to take a hard anti-war stance in the run-up to Iraq, faffing around instead with the whole pro-UN but pro-our-boys-in-the-Middle-East-at-the-same-time crap. Have some sack and stand up for what you believe in, Kennedy! I had been (and still am) a Lib Dem myself but have taken very little part with party activity since the local elections because I feel they shot themselves in the foot bigtime over the issue. The country was crying out for a strong opposition voice during the run-up to war and Charles Kennedy proved himself totally incapable of being that voice. I personally felt very let down by the party and let them know about it.

 

So yeah, I think neither opposition party is strong enough to win the next election and I also think you're right about the rift between old and new labour growing. It may eventually split the party. I can see Gordon Bown launching a leadership challenge against Blair in the not-too distant future and probably Peter Hain and John Prescott throwing their hats into the ring too. Who wins that tussle I have no idea, but whatever happens the next Labour government is going to be a very ineffectual, very divided one to say the least.

[Zorin Industries 0]

I agree with you completely about Charles Kennedy, I thought that he was going to take a decent stand on the issue, but then damaged himself by backing off. Then again, the tabloids would probably have crucified him for not supporting the troops.

 

Speaking of the tabloids i can see this whole row getting REALLY dirty between the BBC and the tabloids, mostly the Sun. I was surprised that the Mail seemed to take most of it out on Blair, i guess there waiting till later to get the knife stuck into the BBC.

 

Plus, where's Chave? I know he's in the U.K, i'd like to hear his views on this.

[Zorin Industries 0]

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/polls/story...1003342,00.html

 

Looks like this situation is already staring to hit Labour hard

[Guest Pilgrim]

Thought i'd just chip in with my opinion on the matter.

 

First Campbell v BBC, looking at all the statements coming out at the second i'd say that the BBC correspondant Gilligan's main source was Kelly but he either used Kelly's views in conjunction with another minor source or he deliberatly inserted the "sexed up" accusation. To be honest they both have to go, Gilligan because he has in the past used dubious sources and even copied other peoples work word for word. Campbell because he has become the story, yes he has had a high profile since the last election, but now he is directly in the media spotlight which certainly compromises his position and only damages the government. (Plus his wife who is an advisor to the PM's wife is leaving her job soon, which i think will only make the decision easier for Campbell)

 

As for Blair he can and will survive this but it further weakens his position. When i say that i don't mean that come the next election the tories or lib dems will beat labour because in all fairness neither of the opposition parties can connect with the voters like Bew Labour/Blair can. The danger to the PM is from his own party, Gordon Brown looks to me to be the main contender and with 6 years experience of being the Chancellor will probably appeal to both voters and the party grass roots. Peter Hain has been gaining a lot of attention recently and as someone mentioned above is trying to solidify support from the left and the trade unions. However he still has a lot of work to do before he becomes a credible threat. One punch Prescott is a personal fave of mine, and i think that he will step forward if there is a leadership contest but with Hain moving in on the support of the left i'm not sure whether he could make the jump from deputy to Prime Minister. The factions moving in for the kill

 

Who knows Blair might even step down and choose his sucessor before the next GE. (Yeah right El Presidente would have to be in the country for that)

 

If anyone should go over Dr Kelly's death it should be Hoon, this happened on his watch and in his department, he should of been watching out for Kelly not pushing him into the spotlight. The BBC management had to stand their ground, and in my mind were right not to name Kelly even if it was just to keep the integrity of not naming a source. It was the government and the MoD who made him the fall guy.

 

That's my once a month post done.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

yeah, but opinion polls and votes are two different beasts entirely. there's a lot of anti-blair labour supporters who would sooner not vote at all than vote tory. it's much easier to mouth off in the street than to drag themselves down to the polling booth on election day. i honestly think the tories have no legitimate chance whatsoever until at least the next again general election, and probably not even until they eventually just put william hague back where he belongs as party leader.

 

but anyway, looks like geoff hoon is going to be the boy with his head on the block after all. he and kevin tebbit (MOD's chief civil servant) apparently decided to effectively out Dr Kelly as the source in an attempt to discredit Gilligan in particular & the BBC as a whole for their anti-government, anti-war bias during the run-up, execution and aftermatch of GULF WAR TWO . tony blair & alistair campbell live to spin another day. [alanis] like a death row pardon two minutes too late [/morissette]

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Plus, where's Chave? I know he's in the U.K, i'd like to hear his views on this.

Hello.

 

As far as I'm concerned, I think that the Lib Dem's could overtake the Tories as the opposition at the next General Election. I think that they're doing the right thing by just stepping back and letting Labour and the Tories shoot themselves in the foot, before (hopefully) stepping up next year as a legitimate alternative to the main two. The problem they have over the war in Iraq is that it is a "Yess or No" situation in that people are either for or against war in Iraq. If they took a stand either way, they could potentially isolate voters, whereas stepping back and making a move later on more universal topics could give them more support.

 

As for the Dr. Kelly saga, I'm not touching that with a 10 foot barge pole. Suffice to say that Blair has enough people to take the blame for him so that he stays in power. However, the longer this goes on (and the more he goes up against the media) the less popular he will get, and the more likely we will get PM Brown or PM Presscott in the near future...

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Mrs Kelly (the widow) summoned Geoff Hoon to come to her home and answer questions about his part in the information leak. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation.

 

Meanwhile in his private jet somewhere over south-east Asia, Tony puts 'It Wasnt Me' on the decks and does the reggae-pop happy dance. Again.

[Zorin Industries 0]

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/stor...1005563,00.html

 

If true looks like Campbell's getting out before the pressure builds up anymore.

 

Did anyone ctach Geoff Hoon at that Foreign Ministry press conferance yesterday? I'd say its a safe bet that he's taking the fall for this one.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

FUCK! Hoon AND Campbell on their way out?

 

This really leaves Tony with precious few allies.

 

Jack Straw, and, uh ... hmm. Oh dear. Even IDS has turned on him.