What's going on over there?

[A rope leash]

From what I'm seeing on the web, Tony's getting his ass handed to him by some parlimentary inquiry. There's hardly a word about it in the American mainstream news. Would anyone from Britain like to explain what's happening there?

If you want to know what's happening in the USA, here's a stark little description:

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modu ... le&sid=474

[Gillibeanz]

Nothings going on....im being real good - honest!!

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

It's a simple story of a journalist craving a headline, and 'sexing up' his report to embarass the government, who call for a witch hunt and somehow the 'source' get's named.

Said source is then hounded and pilloried till he takes his own life - at which point every one else involved takes 2 steps back and says 'wasn't me!'.

The initial embararssment concerns the veracity of the Iraq 45 minute deployment claim which may, or may not, have 'intelligence' to back it up.

Heads may roll, but too late for Dr Kelly!

[laughingcrow]

What I wanna know is if this 'sexing up' was based on some postgraduate thesis...what the hell was the student studying?

How many A-level points do you need to study 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' at undergraduate level....and what are the student nights out like? Explosive.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I want the government to come out off this as badly as possible, they really deserve it. All these years of excess spin and manipulation and 'directing communications', they deserve to lose the trust of all and the next election with it. Sorry, Tony, voted for you twice, was so happy that day in May 1997, but you can fuck off now.

[A rope leash]

Well, this is still thick to me.

I thought the intelligence dossier was "sexed up", not the journalist's story. What the heck are you referring to, LaughingCrow? A thesis? Otis, I see that you are rather dismayed by it all, but what do you think will be the outcome of the investigation(s)? Could Tony be thrown out? What do the polls look like? Are people pretty mad at him?

My disgust with this "coalition" grows to new dimensions everyday. I hope people here in the States are beginning to wake up to this gigantic mass deception.

Gilli, ..."sweet and innocent", eh? We have ways of making you talk!

[bobster]

NPR has been covering this story reasonably well (today in particular -- also, one our L.A. "Minnesota Public Radio"/NPR station carries the BBC and CBC late at night, so I've been hearing bits about this for some time).

As I understand it -- and I'm still a bit muddy on it here in Lah-Lah land, apparently there is at least a possibility there was some, er, mutual "sexing up." The initial use of the phrase was in the quote of an anonymous source (not sure if it was the scientist who killed himself), saying that he had been asked to "sex up" his info.

However, according to the apparently fairly unbiased British journalist I heard on NPR talk show this afternoon ("Talk of the Nation"), the original story was run with out any corroboration, a pretty bad infraction of basic journalistic practice since the only source was (at the time) anonymous.

Still, that doesn't make the Iraq war and U.S./UK foreign policy any less a bad joke. It's pretty obvious that both administrations started with the premise that Iraq needed to be attacked, and then did whatever they could to create the information to back that thoroughly wrong premise.

(Otis -- boy, your quote about TB is almost exactly a mirror of my feelings about Bill Clinton. Well, mine were sorta mixed to start with, but when he defeated George I, it was a sweet day. Then, 8 years of mostly nothing and worse -- though we've had far, far worse than "nothing" since he left. Sigh...)

[so lacklustre]

Readytoheartheworst posted

Said source is then hounded and pilloried till he takes his own life

Allegedly!

Otis posted

Sorry, Tony, voted for you twice, was so happy that day in May 1997, but you can fuck off now.

Agree that TB has failed socialist Labour supporters but the alternative is unthinkable, do you not remember all those years under the milk snatcher?

Basically the story before Kelly's death was a load of bollocks that had been blown out of all proportion so that the government could deflect attention from the failure to discover WoMD.

[martinfoyle]

Basically the story before Kelly's death was a load of bollocks that had been blown out of all proportion so that the government could deflect attention from the failure to discover WoMD

I could not think up a more succinct summing up. The Hutton enquiry taking place now is nothing more than navel gazing, being given undue coverage by the media during the silly season. Yesterday's tragedies in Baghdad and other places quickly put it into perspective, maing it the 3rd or 4th item in the news where it deserves to be. Tony Blair's biggest asset still is the complete lack of any viable opposition.

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

I thought the intelligence dossier was "sexed up", not the journalist's story

Sorry if my weak attempt at irony confused you Rope. It is alledged that the dossier was 'sexed up' but it seems that the journalist is guilty of the same thing with his report.

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

... and as for the thesis: it has been suggested that the source of the 45 minute deployment claim is actually an under graduate thesis and not true 'intelligence' (so laughable that it could be true) ...

[A rope leash]

I'm having a hard time understanding why Dr. Kelly would kill himself over this. I guess there's no explaining any suicide.

My left-wing news source is convinced that the pretense for war was blown up like a big bo-frog. No WMDs have been found, Saddam's forces didn't use any against us, and it may take years to get the situation under control. This war is costing a billion dollars a week! Has anyone read anything about the depleted uranuim bombs we've been dropping over there? It's an environmental nightmare! It's an awful mess that's also helping to ruin our economy, and GWB just sort of lingers around like he soiled his pants and he's afraid mama's gonna find out. Another year of this guy might be too much!

Bobster, I know what you mean about Clinton. I was never really in love with him, but the economy under him really was fun. I heard an Al Gore speech the other day. He quite eloquently skewered GWB. He's an exrta-smart guy, and he should be president. I predict the Demo nominee will be Gephardt.

[Otis Westinghouse]

It was sexing up the reasons to take out Saddam that has led directly to yesterday's tragedy, the issues at the heart of the Hutton enquiry are very serious, I think. It won't lead to the downfall of the government, but I'm sure many people beyond disaffected left-wing trad Labour supporters have given up on Blair. The alternative in the form of useless Tory boy Ian Duncan-Smith is no opposition, thank God, and I would love to see the Conservatives just slide away from any sort of prominence, but I think the Lib dems will make big progress next time, and they will deserve it.

Kelly allegedly committed suicide (or did Campbell order it?) because he was scared of being revealed as the source of quotes about the government's sexing up, and there was the threat that he would be interrogated by a select committee over it. Pretty sad really.

[A rope leash]

I wouldn't kill myself over something like that. He felt ashamed? Otis, you suspect he might have been taken out? Drugged, then cut? Wow.

Try this article. The internet is a good thing. Without it, we would all be so easily duped!

http://www.citypages.com/databank/24/11 ... e11417.asp

[bobster]

OW -- Well, at least take comfort that you have three viable parties over there.

Mostly, we have a choice between a center-right party and a increasingly far-right party. The only real progressive running (D. Kucinich) is, I'm sorry to say, a goofball (and who's pro-choice bonafides are in question, which makes him unelectable even in the primary!).

Dean is a decent man and brave and gets my vote, most likely, but he's actually a Jimmy Carter-style conservative democrat even if he's labelled as the liberal's hope. Which brings me to my next point.

AWL -- I sure hope you're wrong because Gephardt is the worst of both worlds, a non-entity (though one with pro-labor leanings) who's guaranteed to lose! The only candidate I like less is Lieberman, who would make a very nice Republican but as a Democrat, makes me want to vomit.

Dean's may be our only real hope to try and take our country back, though I guess I could live with Kerry, though not happily.

[A rope leash]

Gee, I'd like to see Dean get the nomination, but I think that if it looks like he might win the election, somebody will shoot him. He's a real Democrat, which the DNC will have trouble supporting.

Gephardt already has the support of some labor unions, and he has always been a friend to the working class. But you're right, Bob, he's not too much different from a Repub, and GWB is going to have to be looking pretty bad for Gep to beat him.

Leiberman should get out before he gets kicked out.

[shabbydoll]

I'm having a hard time understanding why Dr. Kelly would kill himself over this. I guess there's no explaining any suicide.

That is what I keep thinking. I do not think suicide can be someone else's fault, but in the case of physical torture it would be, so I guess mental torture can be just as bad for some. I attempted suicide when I was very young, but thought better of it at the last minute. That was because I was emotionally bullied at school, so yes, I guess it could be someone else's fault he killed himself. Such a difficult subject.