UK Iraq Claims fallout continues

[elf6c]

The continued impact of the alledged “sexing up” of the UK Iraq claims (regarding WMD’s deployed in large numbers ready to go in 45 minutes) and the disasterous claims regarding the crudely faked African nuclear materials, and sad tragedy regarding Dr. Kelly continues:

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s powerful communications chief, Alastair Campbell, announced Friday that he will resign in the next few weeks.

Blair’s closest aide and Britain’s most powerful spin doctor, Campbell has been at the center of media allegations that the prime minister’s office exaggerated intelligence about Iraqi weapons to win support for war.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030829/ap_on_re_eu/britain_blair_aide

Widely viewed as the most important team member and advisor to Blair:

A former tabloid journalist who has worked for Blair since 1994, Campbell is often referred to as “the real deputy prime minister” and depicted by satirists as a shadowy and Machiavellian power behind the government.

His resignation can’t a good thing for Blair and his political slide following the Iraq-Kelly investigations.

UK Dopers (and others), your take?

[elf6c]

More on the “official” reasons:

I had intended to leave last summer, but as the Iraq issue developed, the Prime Minister asked me to stay on to oversee Government communications on Iraq, and I was happy to do so," he said in a statement posted on the Labour Party Web site

"We agreed on April 7 of this year, however, that I would definitely leave this summer and I have now given the Prime Minister formal notice of my decision to leave. "

Mr. Campbell appeared last week before a judicial inquiry looking into the death of government weapons adviser Mr. Kelly, who apparently committed suicide after being identified as the source of a British Broadcasting Corp. report on the government’s Iraq policy.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030829.wblair0829_2/BNStory/International/

I don’t know, call me dubious on that one.

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

He’s let the scapegoat go. I guess the plan is for the press to eat Campbell alive and that will be the end of the story.

If you dig a little deeper though, then a slightly different story emerges. The scuttlebutt is that he’s been openly planning to resign for several months for “family reasons”. Depending on your political/conspiritorial leanings the actual timing may or may not be coincidence.

[elf6c]

More on the timing issue:

Campbell, 46, was seen as the architect of the Labour Party’s rebirth and Blair’s election victory in 1997. Since then he has been the government’s “spin doctor,” handling its public image through the media. (Campbell profile)

But in recent months, Beeston said, Campbell has been seen as the likely “fall guy” over allegations the government “sexed up” a September 2002 dossier on Iraq’s weapons to strengthen the case for war.

He came under increasing criticism after the death of Kelly, who was identified as the source of a BBC report which accused the government of altering the dossier before it was released.

Reporter Andrew Gilligan subsequently named Campbell in a newspaper article as the culprit, an allegation Campbell vehemently denied in the media and before a public inquiry into Kelly’s death. (Full story)

But Beeston said Campbell had become too much a part of the Iraq and Kelly affair, making him a liability to the government.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/08/29/campbell.reaction/

Some additional quotes:

Campbell's resignation: reaction in quotes

[Ben_Hicks]

Yeah, I remember hearing stories about Campbell’s intended resignation a few months before the Kelly saga started. 'Fraid I don’t have any links but hopefully someone will be able to corroborate.

[elf6c]

More on the possible motivations for the resignation, and the WMD-Kelley fallout continuing to effect Blair:

Blair’s government has been put under a harsh spotlight by a judicial inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly and the premier’s court appearance on Thursday was given a distinctly mixed reception on both sides of the Atlantic.

Just 22 per cent of those polled by the Daily Telegraph said the government had been honest and trustworthy. The same poll showed opposition Conservatives – trounced by Blair’s Labour Party at the last two elections – two points ahead of Labour.

Blair, who swept to power on a promise to rid government of sleaze, received disastrous ratings. A 1998 survey showed 74 percent of voters trusted him. That has shrunk to 27 percent.

and, most accurately, IMHO:

Leading political analyst Anthony King, Professor of Government at Essex University, said there were no winners.

Reflecting on the latest poll, he concluded: “Signs are emerging that Dr Kelly’s death and the revelations of the inquiry are inflicting substantial damage not just on Tony Blair’s government but on Britain’s entire political class – journalists as well as politicians.”

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&e=16&u=/nm/20030829/wl_nm/iraq_britain_scientist_dc_14

Very interesting events indeed. Your thoughts?

[Gary_Kumquat]

Sorry elf, but Campbell’s plans to quit are old news. Have a look at most of the pundits reports, and you’ll see he’s been planning to leave for moths.

I met the guy once, 6 months ago. I was particularly surprised at how straight forward he was, compared to the newspapers descriptions of him.

[casdave]

I’m very surprised indeed at the timing, and I would expect a lot of political observers are too.

Campbell has indeed made it known that he would resign, however, given that he has just appeared as a witness in loss of life inquiry, and given that he denies any of the allegations or suspicions about his role in altering intelligence reports or the release to the public of the name of Dr Kelly, I would have expected him to remain in place at least until the inquiry is over and its findings published.

[Sam_Stone]

Well, that’s a llittle one-sides, elf. For one thing, I see you didn’t mention that Gilligan himself has come under fire, and has been relieved of his reporting duties at the BBC. It turns out the one doing the ‘sexing up’ here may have been Gilligan.

And Campbell DID say that he planned to retire last year. It sounds to me more like a routine resignation that the media chose to spin into “fallout from the dossier scandal”.