The BBC and WMD Lies...

Posted By Blackfive

The Telegraph has the fall out from BBCs lies about Tony Blair's presentation of the reasons to go to war...essentially, all claims that Blair "sexed up" the existence of WMD and the ability of Saddam to use WMD have been debunked. There were lies - all from the BBC.

..."Unfounded" he pronounced on Andrew Gilligan's assertion that the 45-minute claim was not in the original draft because it was single-sourced and intelligence agencies did not believe it. "Wrong" he proclaimed on Gilligan's allegation that the Government probably knew the 45-minute claim was wrong.

"Unfounded". . . "at fault". . . "defective". . . "failed to". . . "to be criticised for". . . on and on, each criticism stamping "failed" in red-ink diagonally across the BBC lawyers' carefully constructed mitigations.

For a full 20 minutes he dissected the BBC's arguments, dispassionately tossing them aside. And with each precise paragraph one could almost see another head roll.

His report sliced through the corporation's hierarchy, exposing a clear vein of weakness running from the very top right down to the bottom, from the governors' lofty position right down to Gilligan on the ground.

Each damning sentence was made more lethal by his unemotional delivery, his native Northern Irish accent now barely perceptible after years at English public school, then Oxford University, then the Bar and then the judiciary - a lifetime, in fact, steeped in the "establishment".

But however matter-of-fact his delivery, there were times when he could not disguise his distaste.

"Sexed-up" was a phrase he obviously most loathed. It was clear in his slow, deliberate pronunciation of it ending with an exaggerated "p" and a tiny, disdainful uplifting of his chin. He might as well have raised his hands and drawn quotation marks in the air.

Already a crude phrase, it was one made even more base by his launching into a dictionary definition. "The term 'sexed-up'," he said, spitting out the "p", "is a slang expression, the meaning of which lacks clarity in the context of the discussion of the dossier".

Then he launched into different interpretations of the phrase. The message was clear. Such pop terminology had no place on a serious BBC broadcast.

Noticeable too was his clipped pronunciation of "Mr Gilligan" - it seemed to get shorter and shorter each time.

Yet he drew on a different lexicon when it came to Mr Blair, officials at Number 10 and the Ministry of Defence. The Government had "acted reasonably" he judged, in issuing a press statement that ultimately led to Dr Kelly being identified to the public.

"Having considered a large volume of evidence, I consider that there was no such dishonourable or underhand or duplicitous strategy devised by the Prime Minister and his officials," he said of claims that the Government had deliberately "outed" Dr Kelly.

The Chairman resigns from the BBC. How soon before the BBC is trusted again?

I would bet it will be too soon.

Now, if we had an independent review of the "Bush Lied" and "Blood for Oil" B.S., maybe a few irresponsible people that fabricated those myths would be reprimanded as well...or at least unemployed.

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The BBC and WMD Lies...

The Telegraph has the fall out from BBCs lies about Tony Blair's presentation of the reasons to go to war...essentially, all claims that Blair "sexed up" the existence of WMD and the ability of Saddam to use WMD have been debunked. There were lies - all from the BBC.

..."Unfounded" he pronounced on Andrew Gilligan's assertion that the 45-minute claim was not in the original draft because it was single-sourced and intelligence agencies did not believe it. "Wrong" he proclaimed on Gilligan's allegation that the Government probably knew the 45-minute claim was wrong.

"Unfounded". . . "at fault". . . "defective". . . "failed to". . . "to be criticised for". . . on and on, each criticism stamping "failed" in red-ink diagonally across the BBC lawyers' carefully constructed mitigations.

For a full 20 minutes he dissected the BBC's arguments, dispassionately tossing them aside. And with each precise paragraph one could almost see another head roll.

His report sliced through the corporation's hierarchy, exposing a clear vein of weakness running from the very top right down to the bottom, from the governors' lofty position right down to Gilligan on the ground.

Each damning sentence was made more lethal by his unemotional delivery, his native Northern Irish accent now barely perceptible after years at English public school, then Oxford University, then the Bar and then the judiciary - a lifetime, in fact, steeped in the "establishment".

But however matter-of-fact his delivery, there were times when he could not disguise his distaste.

"Sexed-up" was a phrase he obviously most loathed. It was clear in his slow, deliberate pronunciation of it ending with an exaggerated "p" and a tiny, disdainful uplifting of his chin. He might as well have raised his hands and drawn quotation marks in the air.

Already a crude phrase, it was one made even more base by his launching into a dictionary definition. "The term 'sexed-up'," he said, spitting out the "p", "is a slang expression, the meaning of which lacks clarity in the context of the discussion of the dossier".

Then he launched into different interpretations of the phrase. The message was clear. Such pop terminology had no place on a serious BBC broadcast.

Noticeable too was his clipped pronunciation of "Mr Gilligan" - it seemed to get shorter and shorter each time.

Yet he drew on a different lexicon when it came to Mr Blair, officials at Number 10 and the Ministry of Defence. The Government had "acted reasonably" he judged, in issuing a press statement that ultimately led to Dr Kelly being identified to the public.

"Having considered a large volume of evidence, I consider that there was no such dishonourable or underhand or duplicitous strategy devised by the Prime Minister and his officials," he said of claims that the Government had deliberately "outed" Dr Kelly.

The Chairman resigns from the BBC. How soon before the BBC is trusted again?

I would bet it will be too soon.

Now, if we had an independent review of the "Bush Lied" and "Blood for Oil" B.S., maybe a few irresponsible people that fabricated those myths would be reprimanded as well...or at least unemployed.

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