Posted on 07/19/2003 8:29:48 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Tony Blair was under unprecedented pressure last night as the suicide of Dr David Kelly, the weapons expert, plunged his Government into its gravest crisis.
The Prime Minister, clearly shaken, reacted with shock to accusations that he had "blood on his hands" over the death of Dr Kelly, who police yesterday revealed had slashed his left wrist and bled to death, possibly after taking a large dose of painkillers.
In a dramatic development last night, the Ministry of Defence admitted that it had privately given Dr Kelly's name to three newspapers on July 9. This contradicted earlier claims by Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, that there had been no such breach of confidentiality.
A former Labour minister called for Mr Blair to resign, as the mystery of Dr Kelly's death deepened, with the revelation that he sent friends emails hours before his death, talking of being haunted by "many dark actors playing games". Dr Kelly's claim, sent to Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter, is certain to be key evidence in the judicial inquiry into the affair - announced by Mr Blair - to be chaired by Lord Hutton, a law lord.
Dr Kelly said he felt that ministers and government officials were responsible for exposing him to the unprecedented public scrutiny which his family and friends believe led to his suicide.
Ms Miller said the email she received gave no indication that Dr Kelly, 59, was depressed. In another email he sent on Thursday, the day of his death, about three hours before he left his home in Oxfordshire to go for a walk, the scientist responded to Professor Alastair Hay, a friend who had expressed the hope that he was dealing with the pressure.
Dr Kelly wrote to him: "Many thanks for your support. Hopefully it will soon pass and I can get to Baghdad and get on with the real job."
Prof Hay, an environmental toxicologist at Leeds University, said yesterday: "I find it extraordinary that David was identified by the MoD. He was being used as a scapegoat."
Dr Kelly's family spoke for the first time about his suicide, saying he had been placed under "intolerable pressure". Two days before his death, he was questioned forcefully by the Commons foreign affairs select committee over whether he was the source for a BBC report alleging that a dossier on Saddam Hussein's bio-chemical capabilities had been "sexed up" by the Government.
Dr Kelly allegedly felt betrayed that his name had been leaked to the press, it was reported last night.
In an interview with The Sunday Times on July 9, the day before his name appeared in several papers, Dr Kelly said that he had been assured by the MoD that "the whole thing would be confidential". But he had just received a phone call warning him that his identity would be in the following day's papers. He added: "I feel as though I have been through the wringer."
Last night, Pam Teare, the MoD's director of news, admitted that far from protecting Dr Kelly's identity, she had confirmed his name to reporters who rang her on July 9.
"As we have said all along we didn't release the name but we made it clear to media callers and to Dr Kelly that if someone put the right name to us we would be obliged to confirm it - end of story."
Ms Teare conceded that, the day before, press officers had provided journalists with information that would help them identify Dr Kelly.
The latest developments will fuel speculation over whether Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's director of communications, or Mr Hoon had forced Dr Kelly's name into the public arena against his wishes.
At his appearance before the committee last week, a clearly anxious Dr Kelly denied being the main source for Andrew Gilligan, the defence correspondent of Radio 4's Today programme.
After his death, his wife Janice told friends that the pressure of the hearings had led him to believe that this was "not the kind of world he wanted to live in". Dr Kelly's death has placed the Government under growing pressure. Mr Campbell has told friends, however, that he had no intention of resigning, saying: "I don't believe I have done anything wrong."
Last night, Glenda Jackson, a former Labour transport minister, said that Dr Kelly had been treated "shamefully" by the Government and added that Mr Blair should step down. "The Prime Minister should really be reconsidering his position," she said. "I don't see how the Government is going to be able to function adequately. This is going to be hanging over the Government for the whole period of the judicial inquiry."
Mr Blair, who was in Tokyo yesterday as part of his Far East tour, said the inquiry prevented him answering questions about Dr Kelly's death. In a voice apparently cracking with emotion, Mr Blair spoke of his "deep sorrow" at events.
Asked whether Dr Kelly's death was on his conscience, he said: "What is important now is some due process. The reason for having an inquiry is so that the facts can be established. I don't think it is right for ourselves or anybody else to make a judgment until we have the facts."
Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, demanded the recall of Parliament. He wants the judicial inquiry widened to include government handling of intelligence before the Iraq war.
At the BBC, a senior editor said: "We were in a war of spin and that poor guy got ripped apart in the middle. So, yes, we had a role. But we do not believe we could have handled things differently."
The corporation will clarify Dr Kelly's role as a source for Mr Gilligan - possibly as early as today. Richard Sambrook, the BBC's head of news, is believed to have authorised the move.
Peter Mandelson, the Labour MP for Hartlepool and a close confidant of Mr Blair, pointed a finger of blame at the BBC over Dr Kelly's death.
"It was the BBC's obsession with [Mr Campbell] that led more than anything to the breakdown in relations between the Government and Britain's principal public service broadcaster, with the result we have seen," he said.
They padlocked Kelly's office, too?
yitbos
Commies have no problem eating their own. The toon has sown Blair, now he reaps him.
yitbos
News
DARK ACTORS PLAYING GAMES
|
||||
|
SUICIDE scientist Dr David Kelly warned a friend that "dark actors" were working against him just hours before his death. Dr Kelly revealed his fears shortly before killing himself after being dragged into the row over the Government's justification for war in Iraq. In an email to American author Judy Miller, sent just before he left his home for the last time, he referred to "many dark actors playing games". But, according to Miller, Dr Kelly gave no indication he was depressed or planning to take his own life. He told her he would wait "until the end of the week" before deciding his next move following his traumatic appearance before a House of Commons select committee. Yesterday, Miller said she believed the "dark forces" Dr Kelly was referring to were in the secret services and Ministry of Defence. They have already been accused of using Dr Kelly as a "scapegoat" in a bitter row between the Government, whose offensive was led by Tony Blair's spin doctor Alastair Campbell, and the BBC. Miller, who lives in New York, said: "Based on earlier conversations with Dr Kelly, the words seemed to refer to people within the Ministry of Defence and Britain's intelligence agencies with whom he had often sparred over interpretations of intelligence reports." Friends fear he could not cope with the ordeal of being publicly outed as one of the expert sources used by BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan for a story claiming Government spin doctors had hyped intelligence reports to justify war. Yesterday, it emerged he had been threatened with criminal prosecution and the loss of his pension if he did not co-operate with a Ministry of Defence inquiry sanctioned by Downing Street. And, days before his death, he had been dragged before a Parliamentary committee, questioned ferociously and ordered to identify every journalist he had ever met. He killed himself just days after his traumatic appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee, which his wife claimed had made him "very stressed and angry". Dr Kelly's body was found near his home in Oxfordshire on Friday. Police said yesterday he had bled to death from a wound on his left wrist. A knife and an empty packet of Co- Proxamol painkilling tablets were found beside his body but police would not confirm that a letter was also discovered. Speaking at Wantage police station, Acting Superintendent David Purnell confirmed the body found on Harrowdown Hill at 9.20am on Friday had been formally identified as 59-year-old Dr Kelly. He said: "A post-mortem has revealed that the cause of death was haemorrhaging from a wound to his left wrist. "The injury is consistent with having been caused by a bladed object. "We have recovered a knife and an open packet of Co-Proxamol tablets at the scene. "While our enquiries are continuing, there is no indication at this stage of any other party being involved." Dr Kelly died just three days after his televised appearance before the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee. He had been summoned to give evidence after being named by the MoD and Downing Street as the source of the controversial story by BBC correspondent Gilligan. The story claimed the Government had deliberately "sexed up" a document, giving its justification for invading Iraq by claiming Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction in just 45 minutes. At the committee hearing, Dr Kelly, appearing ashen and barely audible, said he did not believe he had been Gilligan's main source. The MoD has always insisted Dr Kelly volunteered to appear before the committee after admitting to MoD bosses that he had spoken to Gilligan before his story was aired at the end of May. The MoD claimed it had reprimanded Dr Kelly for speaking to a journalist but said that had been the only action taken against him. And they claimed he had voluntarily come forward after realising he may have been Gilligan's source. But he was only questioned by his bosses after a colleague alerted Dr Kelly's line manager. And, yesterday, it also emerged that Dr Kelly had been warned by MoD bosses that he could be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act and could lose his pension - a year before his planned retirement. Shortly before his death, Dr Kelly returned from an MoD safehouse where, it is claimed, he was again grilled by MoD bosses. He provided a list of journalists he had spoken to, as requested by the Foreign Affairs Committee. It was in the last few hours before he set off on a walk from his home in Southmoor, near Abingdon, telling his wife that he was "stretching his legs", that he sent his final emails. In one, to Professor Alastair Hay, he said he was looking forward to returning to Baghdad where he worked as a weapons inspector. The email said: "Many thanks for your support. Hopefully it will soon pass and I can get to Baghdad and get on with the real job." Another associate, who received an email from Dr Kelly shortly before he left the house, said the message was "combative". He had told the friend he was determined to overcome the scandal and again spoke enthusiastically about returning to Iraq. And to Ms Miller, who he helped write a book on the threat of biological weapons, he sent the email mentioning "dark players", which gives damning evidence to the scandal he had been embroiled in. Ironically, it also emerged yesterday that Dr Kelly, one of the leading authorities on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, believed Saddam posed a real threat. However, he had told colleagues that although he believed Saddam had a biological weapons programme, Britain and America would not be able to find the weapons "bolted together". And he is believed to have told a colleague that the Government claim that Saddam could deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes was totally inaccurate, as it would take handlers the same time to even start filling shells with biological compounds. Yesterday, the judicial inquiry announced by Tony Blair hours after being told of Dr Kelly's death was branded a delaying tactic intended to postpone the "blame game". The tactic of announcing an inquiry to stall further discussion on embarrassing issues has been tried several times by governments desperate to sweep something under the carpet. But it spectacularly failed to save Blair's pal Peter Mandelson, the former Northern Ireland Secretary who found himself embroiled in a particularly nasty row over passport applications from the wealthy Hinduja brothers. Mandelson was forced to quit the Cabinet over the row - only to be cleared by the Hammond Inquiry of the accusations he acted improperly. |
The reference in the initial thread article is to him not being the "main source" in an article. Are we then to assume he was a minor source? Or was he a source at all?
And whether he was a minor or major source, then he leaked information to the press, and if he leaked to the press, then he was out of line and apparently unconcerned about how he betrayed the trust placed in him. Does he then have any right to be outraged that someone else did the same thing and leaked to the press about him?
Was he concerned about the people he could hurt by leaking information which is supposed to be confidential?
And if he leaked on this, was he just as talkative to the Iraqis? Could he be trusted not to reveal any info which would betray an IRaqi weapons scientist, for example, should one try to help inspectors?
If he wasn't a source for leaking anything, much less this, then that's one thing, he had a right to be outraged. But if he was a "minor source," there is nothing noble in it, and in all probability, he was acting illegally by leaking information on the UK's intel.
Taking a look at the second article, it looks as though it was not at all uncommon for this guy to contact the press. People who only get calls from curious journalists have no need to store the journalist's e-mail addies since such a person would only respond to questions they sk; a simple reply would do. This guy emails them.
Most people try to avoid them, engineers in particular in my experience. I would think weapons scientists would be very close-mouthed and keep their distance from journalists.
It looks like his relationship with some media people was quite friendly, and detailed enough to express personal concerns. This doesn't seem like a person who is "leakproof," but rather, one who might be a security risk.
And he felt "betrayed" by a leak?
He apparently was unconcerned about the "intolerable pressure” times 1000, that he put Messrs. Blair and Bush under.
This wasn't just a random unsolicited letter to the press. According to the article I posted in #26 above, Kelly had helped Judith Miller with one of her books, on biological weapons. (Presumably the assistance he had provided to her had been approved by British intelligence.) Miller also mentioned "earlier conversations," which must have been quite recent, as they were on the same subject.
It would appear that Kelly and Miller may have communicated on a regular basis.
You are right.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.