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What's up with the Hutton inquiry?

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  • What's up with the Hutton inquiry?

    As I see it, it's supposed role is to invesitage the case of the "Campbell" Irai WMD Protfolio and the events leading to the death of Dr. E. Kelli.


    Now I udnerstand that obviously the truthfulness of the "campbell" portfolio must be established, and that a single 'victor' in the "government vs. BBC" case must arise.

    But from the evidence gathered so far (and I follow it quite closely on SKY) I see that the BBC practically admits the reporter was biased, jumped to conclusions and infact "sexed up" his own report.

    From the evidence of Dr. Kelli himself, and other people who interviewed him, it is obvious that he never thought the government was lying, nor did he think that the BBC report could have possibly be based on his leaksm since the BBC report was exagurated, inexact and over-confident.

    The BBC accused the government of knowingly presenting fake data or data which the government was sure was incorrect.

    The inquiry has so far shown the government to be clear of such blame. Even the source, Dr. Kelli supposedly did not usggest any of that, but rather was unpleased that info such as the 45 minute claim, was presented, since it was not double-sourced.

    So infact, the so called 'intelligence expert' (which he wasn't) only claimed that the info was less than 99% correct. Not that it was 100% incorrect.

    So why are there still demonstration by dumbasses on the streets, who call Blair, Campbell, and the Minister of Defense (forgot his name) "liars" and "spin doctors" when it is by now clear that the only lie or spin was the part of BBC reporting?



    Furthermore, since it is obvious that Dr. Kelli had commited suicide, most probably following the media pressure on him, following his own decision to leak out things to BBC, what is there to investigate about his death?

    Was Dr. Kelli unaware that leaking such things would undoubtedly lead to very high media attention? Was he not aware that it will cause him troubles in his employment with the MoD?

    I fail to see the point of establishing who or why was his name published. For what reason is there not to publish his name?

    If he was the source of the information leaked to the BBC (as it is accepted), on what grounds does he have a right to avoid public attention and cross-examining, and defend his point of view?

    I'm sorry, but if he felt "threatened" by the questioning by the ministerial committe, maybe he should have thought of that before he went on talknig to the press. And if he's so damn shy that fear of the media drove him to suicide, what the hell got him talking to journalists in the first place?


    If he was unstable and took his own life, having been exposed as a source of a leakage, well I'm sorry, but it's no ones fault or responsability other than his own.


    I see no reason be it legal or moral, for his identity to be kept secret. Infact only the revealing of his identity could have shed light on the question whether there was truth in the BBC reprot, or (as we are wittnessing) there wasn't.


    So could someone living in Britain explain to me what the whole damn fuss is all about?

  • #2
    Remember - SKY wants to kill the BBC, it's coverage is very anti-BBC because it sees this row as a way to get the government to change the way the BBC is funded. So take everything on Sky news with a pinch of salt.

    Both the BBC and the Government are both in the wrong, the government are getting the better of a lot of the press because much of the right wing press see the BBC as having a left wing bias and want to kill it, for various reasons.
    Jon Miller: MikeH speaks the truth
    Jon Miller: MikeH is a shockingly revolting dolt and a masturbatory urine-reeking sideshow freak whose word is as valuable as an aging cow paddy.
    We've got both kinds

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    • #3
      The other thing is that it's not clear that the only lie / spin was from the BBC. Both sides seem as bad as each other.
      Jon Miller: MikeH speaks the truth
      Jon Miller: MikeH is a shockingly revolting dolt and a masturbatory urine-reeking sideshow freak whose word is as valuable as an aging cow paddy.
      We've got both kinds

      Comment


      • #4
        I htink the dossier was spin but thats what governments do its gone on since the Romans. Dr Kelly broke the rules so i don't see what they did wrong to him.

        The BBC embelished the story they had.

        Sky hare the BBC more than anything else in the World so I wouldn't take what they say too literally.
        Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
        Douglas Adams (Influential author)

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        • #5
          Old news Siro... it was already shown that your position is wrong.
          To us, it is the BEAST.

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          • #6


            You are watching a classic of the British political system in action.

            You have to look back to what was going on when this all started. There was increasing questioning of "where are these WMD's in Iraq" and the BBC story was part of that. Gilligan probably went a bit too far, unlike his Newsnight colleague who was more cautious.

            So far no problem. Radio 4 isn't the most listened to radio station in the UK.

            Then the rest of the media picked it up, decided it was juicy enough to run with, and Alistair Campbell went out of his tree. His interview on Channel 4 news was a perfect example of how not to present your side of the story. As Campbell isn't popular with the media - by the nature of his job he can't be - they were happy to exploit this.

            Pretty quickly it turned into No 10 vs the BBC and neither would back down, regardless of who was right or wrong. Then Kelly topped himself. Cue more media fuss and Tony needed to step in and quieten things down. Standard political answer is an inquiry with carefully drawn up rules - enter Lord Hutton.

            The Hutton inquiry is going nowhere IMO and will conclude that none of the major players acted unreasonably or maliciously. There will be a few rapped knuckles and that will be all. Kelly, who is no longer here to defend himself, will be implicitly blamed for getting out of his depth and it will be left at that.

            As for what is going on, there is an underlying issue of those opposed to Tony Blair's government or its methods looking for any excuse to criticise and try and damage the government and Blair. They thought this might be the big one that would bring Tony down. It isn't so things will go quiet for a while and then they will try something else. The major players are moving on, only the dross are left shouting for blood.

            There are also issues around the way the BBC, funded by the taxpayer, operates in a commercial market which are coming to the surface.

            This is really just domestic British politics. The more hot air, the less important it becomes.

            There is currently very little questioning in the British media of whether any WMD's have, or will ever, turn up. So an issue the government apparently could not win on has been eclipsed by one they can't lose.
            Never give an AI an even break.

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            • #7
              The BBC I think are probably going to have to be careful as it is quite clear their war coverage was biased. This is a shame as they are an effective check on the power of the govt if they report objectively
              Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
              Douglas Adams (Influential author)

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              • #8
                The bigger issue of the role and scope of the BBC is going to be interesting when their charter is reviewed. Both the government and the Tory party have inquiries running on this.

                Yes, they were biased. However it is fair to say that all media organisations approach any story from a preset point of view and their reporting reflects that. The BBC may get away with it if they can argue that their presentation , whilst biased in itself, contributed to counterbalancing other media bias to allow a balanced overall range of views.
                Never give an AI an even break.

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                • #9
                  I can except a certian bias, but I think giving eqaul weight to Iraqi news sources is just wrong
                  Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
                  Douglas Adams (Influential author)

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                  • #10
                    Have they mentioned how exactly Kelly offed himself? Just curious.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Field Marshal Klesh
                      Have they mentioned how exactly Kelly offed himself? Just curious.
                      He cut his wrists and bled to death.
                      Never give an AI an even break.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by TheStinger
                        I can except a certian bias, but I think giving eqaul weight to Iraqi news sources is just wrong
                        It is legitimate to show how the other side is reporting the stories, but it has to be done carefully. They probably needed to be more explicit about the ources and credibility of what they showed. It is also worth remembering that during the actual invasion very few media organisations had embedded reporters who could say anything about what was actually going on with the American units. If the Iraqis were the only ones releasing pictures about US incursions into Baghdad then the BBC had to show them, regardless of the source or accuracy. Reporting nothing wasn't an option.
                        Never give an AI an even break.

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                        • #13
                          So why are there still demonstration by dumbasses on the streets, who call Blair, Campbell, and the Minister of Defense (forgot his name) "liars" and "spin doctors" when it is by now clear that the only lie or spin was the part of BBC reporting?
                          You said it yourself they're dumbasses.
                          Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by MikeH
                            Remember - SKY wants to kill the BBC, it's coverage is very anti-BBC because it sees this row as a way to get the government to change the way the BBC is funded. So take everything on Sky news with a pinch of salt.

                            Both the BBC and the Government are both in the wrong, the government are getting the better of a lot of the press because much of the right wing press see the BBC as having a left wing bias and want to kill it, for various reasons.
                            I'm not watching what the sky commentators say, though I must say that from what I seen when I had BBC, SKY is regularly less biased and more reliable, on pretty much every issue.

                            The BBC seems to be anti-everything, but themselves. And they happily twist facts around to suit their cause.


                            I am talking about the e-mails between BBC executives, and the inquiry of their reporter, who admitted he used "improper wording". LOL.


                            Originally posted by Sava
                            Old news Siro... it was already shown that your position is wrong.


                            Great post. You both convinced me and have proven your unbound intelligence.

                            Last edited by Sirotnikov; August 28, 2003, 11:45.

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                            • #15
                              I'm not watching what the sky commentators say, though I must say that from what I seen when I had BBC, SKY is regularly less biased and more reliable, on pretty much every issue.
                              Ah, a right winger.
                              Jon Miller: MikeH speaks the truth
                              Jon Miller: MikeH is a shockingly revolting dolt and a masturbatory urine-reeking sideshow freak whose word is as valuable as an aging cow paddy.
                              We've got both kinds

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