Blood Splashed Over Blair Government

In spite of the intelligence service, in the file the government disclosed to the public in September, it is stated that it intentionally exaggerated Iraq’s capacity to produce biological weapons.

And with this news there was a great tumult!

The British Ministry of Defense immediately declares the news false. Blair’s press adviser Alastair Campbell goes even further and asks the BBC to apologize to the prime minister because of this news and to disclose the source. The BBC neither apologizes nor tells them the source. The secret of Campbell’s style to go more into the event, which exceeded their tolerance level, was published in a Sunday newspaper, in the wake of a statement Gilligan made on June 1. Because Gilligan met his source on May 22 at Charing Cross Hotel in London, and he told Gillian, "Iraq has the capability to produce biological weapons in 45 minutes," Alastair Campbell was the reason for this to be included in Blair’s speech and also to be added to the report. Therefore, he happened to accuse Blair of lying to the public, and Campbell of describing what is in the files.

For this reason, the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission starts an investigation. What is interesting about this is that, the American media seeing this, wakes up, and the same process starts against [President George W.] Bush. CIA Director George Tenet apologizes for reporting to Bush about Iraq’s uranium ambition, without having any concrete information, and takes responsibility for the mistake, stating that it was the Pentagon that circulated the information about Iraq’s capability to produce biological weapons in 45 minutes, not his agency.

Differently from Britain, Bush makes a speech which is tantamount to, "our goal was to see Saddam fall, the rest is not important." For now the American people are giving Bush the answer as the public trust in the U.S. president plummets to 46 percent in the latest poll. In the meantime, on the other side of the Atlantic, with the power of Labor Party, cousin Blair is living through his worst days ever. Because he is struggling with the BBC, which started in 1922 with the motto: "Trust is everything for me," with its independent-neutral-honest broadcasting, the entire world’s example and with a public opinion which knows so much so as not to be held hostage by the September 11 trauma. Literally, the more he [Blair] rows against the current, the more the trust in him (29 percent) crumbles to the ground, and what is even more serious, is that blood has been splashed on his sparkling political career.

Gilligan says that his commission source, who called him to listen himself on the June 19, had been in contact with him for a long time, worked for the government, is reliable about chemical weapons and is an authorized person. Meanwhile, witch-hunting began in the Ministry of Defense. Dr. David Kelly who worked for long years at the United Nations (UN) as an expert on chemical weapons, who knew Iraq like the palm of his hand, the Ministry of Defense adviser, felt uncomfortable about this situation and after getting assurances of confidentiality, told his chiefs that he had a meeting with Gilligan in which they talked about chemical weapons, but that he didn’t say the ‘exaggerated’ part, as is being stated. The Ministry of Defense immediately gets into action and tells the BBC, "We have found your source, let’s have a meeting and you’ll be strengthened as well.’ The BBC says, ‘No way.’ So then, the ministry gives Dr. Kelly’s name to newspaper correspondents.

Kelly gets utterly bewildered and explains the trauma he is going through, saying, "I am shocked. They were not going to give my name." It was understood that the Ministry of Defense, pressured Kelly on how he should present his statement to the commission that called him previously. In other words, the ministry first forces Kelly to deny the BBC report and then makes him the sacrificial lamb him at the first opportunity. Kelly was found dead at a place far away from his house.

Suicide, assassination, murder!

Nobody knows yet. It’s better to look at the way the incident developed than to make speculations. In the meantime, during the Falklands War, leaving the British military in a difficult position in spite the Iron Lady, refraining from even using the statement, ‘our soldiers’ for British soldiers was the duty of the BBC; but it shouldn’t be forgotten now that the BBC could not show the same sensitivity in the Iraq war. Even though the BBC does a more objective broadcasting when compared to the Cable News Network (CNN), it couldn’t present that imperturbable news casting due to the Saddam allergy. Maybe partly because of this, the BBC opposed Blair’s lies with obstinacy. The BBC tried to repair its image, which was bruised by the news ‘Blair exaggerated.’ To be honest they succeeded.

What about the disclosure of Kelly being the BBC source?

Which rule of the journalism renders indispensable the keeping of the source secret, because he died or was killed because his name was revealed, or even posthumously?

While blood splashed on the Blair government and media manipulations, and while this incident is being investigated in detail in England, we shouldn’t put ourselves into a ridiculous situation by sheltering ourselves under conspiracy theories and ideological journalism in Turkey. For once let’s take a lesson…