Blair Under New Fire Over Dead Scientist Slur
Tue Aug 5,12:40 PM ET
By Katherine Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) - A top aide to British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news
- web sites) apologized on Tuesday for comparing the dead Iraq (news - web
sites) weapons inspector at the center of his government's worst political
crisis to Walter Mitty.
The suicide of Iraq weapons inspector and
scientist David Kelly days after he appeared in
front of a parliamentary panel, investigating
whether the case for war in Iraq was
exaggerated, has turned into a test of the
government's credibility.
Blair's official spokesman, Tom Kelly,
apologized for linking the scientist to Walter
Mitty just hours before the funeral of the
respected government weapons inspector who
made dozens of trips to Iraq to search for the
banned weapons, which British and U.S.
officials made their prime cause for war.
American author James Thurber created the
Mitty character in "The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty," in which a hen-pecked man of modest
means and talents persistently daydreams
about a much more exciting and glamorous life
than his own.
The admission, which comes a day after Blair's
office denied anyone had made the remark with
its approval, drove the government deeper into
turmoil and further undermined its credibility at
a time of plummeting public trust.
Former minister and outspoken critic of the Iraq
war Glenda Jackson said attempts by Blair's
Downing Street office to discredit David Kelly
hours before his funeral were "obscene."
"It's the opening salvo by Number 10 in an attempt to turn the victim into a
villain," she told Sky News.
Tom Kelly said the comment had been made in a "private conversation" with
a reporter and was not designed to discredit the scientist David Kelly, who
is to be buried on Wednesday.
"I now recognize that even that limited form of communication was a
mistake, given the current climate," Tom Kelly, who is not related to the
scientist, said in a statement.
"I therefore unreservedly apologize to Dr Kelly's widow and family for having
intruded on their grief."
SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL?
David Kelly slit his wrist after being outed as the source of a BBC report
alleging the government had exaggerated evidence of Iraq's banned weapons
to justify an unpopular war.
The Blair government's reputation for "spin," and the failure to find the
banned Iraqi weapons which British and U.S. governments had made their
main reason for war, have caused the prime minister's trust ratings to
collapse. The handling of the David Kelly affair has exacerbated the crisis.
The latest opinion poll on Tuesday showed that 52 percent of the public trust
Blair, who is on holiday at a British pop star's villa in Barbados, very little or
not at all.
Members of parliament said the civil servants like Tom Kelly should not be
involved in any sort of political meddling.
"It isn't their job to put a political spin on government information," said Kevin
Brennan, a senior parliamentarian in Blair's Labour Party.
Last Friday, the government launched a judicial inquiry into the
circumstances surrounding the suicide. Senior figures including Blair will be
called to testify in coming months.
Blair's spokesman said he had linked David Kelly's name with Walter
Mitty in an off-the-record briefing about potential lines of inquiry into the
scientist's suicide.
"It was meant as one of several questions facing all parties, not as a
definitive statement of my view, or that of the government," he said.
The Independent newspaper attributed the comment to an anonymous
government source and suggested it was part of a government strategy to
imply David Kelly had exaggerated his own role in assessing Blair's case
for going to war.
(Additional reporting by Kate Kelland and Alex Richardson)
Who is Walter Mitty?
politics.guardian.co.uk |
