A fair reading of the evidence shows that Gilligan was right about the desperate desire of the government to sex up its arguments, of which the 45 minute quote -- by clear and obvious omission -- they knew they were discussing battlefield weapons, not an attack on Britain, but that the British public would react to that stupid term "weapons of mass destruction", one of the most pernicious terms in government parlance -- is a good example. It was a deliberately placed misrepresentation of the situation. The BBC did its job well: its job is not to let this kind of lie go unnoticed on the most important policy issue of a generation: it is involved in journalism, not in judicial statements. It is also a matter of public record that Tony Blair chaired the meetings that decided to out David Kelly. If this is not a whitewash, then what is?

yours,

Peter T.