MPs clear Campbell of doctoring dossier

[ze_dscherman]

· Ministers did not mislead parliament
· 45-minute claim given undue prominence
· Labour/Tory split on clearing Campbell and PM

Downing Street's communications director, Alastair Campbell, was today cleared by MPs of exerting 'improper influence' on the drafting of the government's intelligence-led dossier on Iraq.
The Commons foreign affairs committee said he played no role in including a controversial section saying Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction were deployable within 45 minutes.

Long rant: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,993135,00.html

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As it was to be expected.

[AngryWhiteDemocrat]

1. My take on this....

...obviously, they're trying to distance themselves from the altering of the dossier.

But how will they distance themselves from PRESENTING the altered dossier???

[dudeness]

2. "and the all white jury agreed"

what a sad joke..blair is history..

[rjbcar27]

3. What makes you think that?

No evidence here in the UK that Blair is history yet.

[Democat]

4. When did evidence start to matter?

:)

[Kipper58]

5. Give it time for the report to sink in

Read the fourth paragraph of the Guardian article:

"And the committee was scathing in its criticism of a second dossier, published in February, with the MPs saying Tony Blair had "misrepresented its status" to MPs."

Or in other words - he lied to Parliament and the British people about the reasons for the invasion. What clearer reason could there be for him to go? Our soldiers and airmen died for a lie - and Blair new it.

[Capt_Nemo]

6. Yes but in the Campbell affair and a host of other issues

the comitee's conclusions and recommendations are not endorsed
by the New-Labour MPs.

And the "proof" the Labour MPs put forward for "exonerating"
Mr. Campbell is nothing more than heresay from Mr. Straw.
So the comitee came out looking pretty pathetic issuing
a document with contradictory conclusions and not endorsed
by opposition members when it came to atributting responsabilities
for the whole debacle.

[DrBB]

7. So what are the chances of a full judicial inquiry

...if I've got the term right? A number of commentators anticipating this outcome from the MPs were saying that because that inquiry had been so hobbled and restricted, and since it was obvious that the really hard questions had not been asked or probed, that this wouldn't clear the air about the issues and only a judicial inquiry would do it. Can any of you Brits give me a read or correction on that? Do Blair and Campbell get to declare themselves exonerated and move on?