Harrowdown Hill Revisited

Harrowdown Hill Revisited - by Tony Forest

"I will probably be found dead in the woods" - Dr David Kelly

A few days later, he was found dead in the woods. Let's have a closer look at these woods, the (known) circumstances revolving around Kelly's death, what some people are now saying about it and why it is important to have a new inquiry conducted. But first off, some background information on Dr David Kelly and the events leading up to the day he was found dead.

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David Christopher Kelly, CMG (14 May 1944 – 17 July 2003) was an employee of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD), an expert in biological warfare and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. Kelly's discussion with BBC Radio 4 Today programme journalist Andrew Gilligan about the British government's dossier on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq inadvertently caused a major political scandal. He was found dead days after appearing before the Parliamentary committee charged with investigating the scandal.

The Hutton Inquiry, a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death, ruled that he had died by suicide, and that Kelly had not in fact said some of the things attributed to him by Gilligan. Lord Hutton ruled that evidence related to his death will be kept secret for 70 years.

source : wikipedia

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IRAQ’S
WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION
THE ASSESSMENT OF THE BRITISH
GOVERNMENT

CONTENTS
Page
Foreword by the Prime Minister 3
Executive Summary 5
Part 1: Iraq’s Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Programmes 9
Chapter 1: The role of intelligence
Chapter 2: Iraq’s programmes 1971–1998 11
Chapter 3: The current position 1998–2002 17
Part 2: History of UN Weapons Inspections 33
Part 3: Iraq under Saddam Hussein 43

FOREWORD BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE

RIGHT HONOURABLE TONY BLAIR MP
The document published today is based, in large part, on the work of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC). The JIC is at the heart of the British intelligence machinery. It is chaired by the Cabinet Office and made up of the heads of the UK’s three Intelligence and Security Agencies, the Chief of Defence Intelligence, and senior officials from key government departments. For over 60 years the JIC has provided regular assessments to successive Prime Ministers and senior colleagues on a wide range of foreign policy and international security issues.
Its work, like the material it analyses, is largely secret. It is unprecedented for the Government to publish this kind of document. But in light of the debate about Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), I wanted to share with the British public the reasons why I believe this issue to be a current and serious threat to the UK national
interest.
In recent months, I have been increasingly alarmed by the evidence from inside Iraq that despite sanctions, despite the damage done to his capability in the past, despite the UN Security Council Resolutions expressly outlawing it, and despite his denials, Saddam Hussein is continuing to develop WMD, and with them the ability to inflict real damage upon the region, and the stability of the world.

Gathering intelligence inside Iraq is not easy. Saddam’s is one of the most secretive and dictatorial regimes in the world. So I believe people will understand why the Agencies cannot be specific about the sources, which have formed the judgements in this document, and why we cannot publish everything we know. We cannot, of course, publish the detailed raw intelligence. I and other Ministers have been briefed in detail on
the intelligence and are satisfied as to its authority. I also want to pay tribute to our Intelligence and Security Services for the often extraordinary work that they do.

What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, that he continues in his efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and that he has been able to extend the range of his ballistic missile programme. I also believe that, as stated in the document, Saddam will now do his utmost to try to conceal his weapons from UN inspectors.

The picture presented to me by the JIC in recent months has become more not less worrying. It is clear that, despite sanctions, the policy of containment has not worked sufficiently well to prevent Saddam from developing these weapons. I am in no doubt that the threat is serious and current, that he has made progress on WMD, and that he has to be stopped.

Saddam has used chemical weapons, not only against an enemy state, but against his own people. Intelligence reports make clear that he sees the building up of his WMD capability, and the belief overseas that he would use these weapons, as vital to his strategic interests, and in particular his goal of regional domination. And the document discloses that his military planning allows for some of the WMD to be ready within 45 minutes of an order to use them. I am quite clear that Saddam will go to extreme lengths, indeed has already done so, to
hide these weapons and avoid giving them up.

In today’s inter-dependent world, a major regional conflict does not stay confined to the region in question. Faced with someone who has shown himself capable of using WMD, I believe the international community has to stand up for itself and ensure its authority is upheld. The threat posed to international peace and security, when WMD are in the hands of a
brutal and aggressive regime like Saddam’s, is real. Unless we face up to the threat, not only do we risk undermining the authority of the UN, whose resolutions he defies, but more importantly and in the longer term, we place at risk the lives and prosperity of our own people.
The case I make is that the UN Resolutions demanding he stops his WMD programme are being flouted; that since the inspectors left four years ago he has continued with this programme; that the inspectors must be allowed back in to do their job properly; and that if he refuses, or if he makes it impossible for them to do their job, as he has done in the
past, the international community will have to act.

I believe that faced with the information available to me, the UK Government has been right to support the demands that this issue be confronted and dealt with. We must ensure that he does not get to use the weapons he has, or get hold of the weapons he wants.

source

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THE KEY EVENTS

Jan 2001 : Dr David Kelly first meets Andrew Gilligan in London hotel.

Sept 24, 2002: No10 publishes dossier on Iraq weapons capabilities, including "45-minute claim".

May 29, 2003: Gilligan says a source told him that the Iraq dossier was "sexed up" on Radio 4 show.

June 1: Gilligan blames Alastair Campbell for the claim.

July 7: Dr Kelly is told his name will probably be made public. Campbell cleared of "sexing up" dossier.

July 9: Dr Kelly's name is confirmed to the media.

July 17: Dr Kelly leaves his house in Abingdon in Oxfordshire.

July 18: Body is found.

July 21: The Hutton Inquiry into Dr Kelly's death is opened after then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, suspended inquest into Dr Kelly's death. Inquest is never resumed.

Aug 6: Dr Kelly's funeral.

Jan 28, 2004: Hutton Report clears government of involvement. Yesterday: Doctors demand a full inquest into Dr Kelly's death.

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INVESTIGATION INTO THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE DEATH OF DR DAVID KELLY

70 years

Why 70 years? This does sound familiar. Why would Lord Hutton want to close the books on evidence for such a long time? Most likely, Hutton, you and I will no longer be alive after 70 years. Interest in the subject will have vanished by then. Certain individuals who may be protected by Hutton's ruling are certainly quite happy with the 70 year ruling. Who could they be?

The Location

Kelly was found dead, at the foot of a tree on Harrowdown Hill, about a mile north of Longworth, Oxfordshire.

Evidence: Ten reasons to query the suicide verdict

1. An elbow injury had left David Kelly's right arm too weak to cut his wrist.

2. He had "difficulty swallowing pills" so he couldn't have swallowed 29 tablets.

3. Medical records about the case have been classified for 70 years, implying there's something to hide.

4. There were no fingerprints on the pruning knife used to cut his wrist.

5. He anticipated his own death, predicting he would "probably be found dead in the woods" if Iraq was invaded.

6. Doctors doubt the severed artery would have caused enough blood loss for him to have died of a haemorrhage.

7. The detective who found his body, Constable Graham Coe, said there wasn't much blood, so how could he have died of blood loss after slitting his wrist?

8. Two paramedics at the scene were sceptical the "wrist wound we saw" could have caused his death.

9. There was no evidence he was depressed; he was looking forward to his daughter's wedding.

10. His death certificate was not signed by a doctor or coroner and does not state a place of death.

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15 August 2010

in today's MSM news......

Nine medical experts cast doubts on how government weapons ...

Call for Kelly inquest

Ex-Tory Leader Appeals For Dr Kelly Inquest

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recommended reading.....

• The Hutton Inquiry website


• Dr David Kelly Blog


• Iraq Dossier.com


• The Hutton Report from the BBC News


• Hutton Report from The Guardian


• Hutton Inquiry at the Open Directory Project

Title: The Strange Death of David KellyAuthor: Norman BakerPublisher: MethuenPrice: £9.99Bookshop: Amazon Spartacus Website: David Kelly Category: Crime & Punishment

The death of the weapons inspector Dr David Kelly is considered by many to be "unfinished business". For this book, Norman Baker spent over a year in active research, receiving much new information from many sources. He shows that the Hutton inquiry verdict of suicide is not credible; he has the determination and courage to get to the truth of what really happened. "The Strange Death of David Kelly" looks in fascinating detail at the motives for the unlawful killing of Dr Kelly and the various possibilities of who could have been involved, before concluding with the most likely - but astonishing - scenario, revealed here for the first time. He analyses and criticises the official process after David Kelly's death, and looks into the actions of the UK government, particularly in relation to the Iraq war.

Related Music:

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addendum

from wikipedia;

The 45 minute claim

The 45 minute claim lies at the centre of a row between Downing Street and the BBC. On 29 May 2003, BBC defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan filed a report for BBC Radio 4's Today programme in which he stated that an unnamed source - a senior British official - had told him that the September Dossier had been "sexed up", and that the intelligence agencies were concerned about some "dubious" information contained within it - specifically the claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of an order to use them.

On 1 June, Gilligan expanded upon that claim in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, stating that the government's director of communications, Alastair Campbell, had been responsible for the insertion of the 45 minute claim, against the wishes of the intelligence agencies. Gilligan subsequently gave evidence before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, as did Campbell, who denied ordering the inclusion of the claim, and demanded an apology from the BBC. He subsequently backed this demand in writing.

The BBC refused to apologise, and stood by Gilligan's story. Campbell responded angrily, with an appearance on Channel 4 News. ^[9]

On 7 July the Select Committee published a report which cleared Campbell, albeit on the casting vote of the chairman. In the report, the committee stated that the 45 minute claim had been given "undue prominence".

On 15 September, the head of MI6 Richard Dearlove told the Hutton Inquiry that the claim related to battlefield WMD rather than weapons of mass destruction of a larger range than just battlefield.^[10]

On 28 January 2004, the Hutton Inquiry released its report, which among other things concluded that:

• "Mr Gilligan accepted that he had made errors" about the 45 minute claim; specifically, his report that the government "probably knew that the 45 minutes claim was wrong or questionable", and his report that intelligence officers were unhappy with the insertion of the claim in the dossier, or only inserted it at the insistence of the government, were erroneous.


• Hutton was "satisfied that Dr Kelly did not say to Mr Gilligan" certain dramatic statements about the 45 minute claim, which Gilligan had reported as direct quotations.


• That only one person (Dr. Jones) had expressed any reservations about the 45 minute claim, and that was about the strength of the wording, not its inclusion.

Information surfacing in late 2009 initially appeared to suggest that the source of the 45 minute claim was in fact a taxi driver "on the Iraqi-Jordanian border, who had remembered an overheard conversation in the back of his cab a full two years earlier".^[11][12] Whether or not the taxi driver was the source of the 45 minute claim or instead "something about missiles" remains an open question.^[13]

It is also claimed by Mr Holloway that "When the information was acquired by MI6, a footnote was written on the page of an intelligence report sent to No 10 stating that the claim was 'verifiably inaccurate'.".^[14]

on edit 24 Sept. 2010 - 20:25:57 CET+1      added a few missing vital video clips   -curt