From Yahoo News:
LONDON (AFP) – British Prime Minister Tony Blair was directly involved in talks that led to the naming of David Kelly as the source of a BBC report alleging that intelligence on Iraq was “sexed up,” the judge who conducted an inquiry into Kelly’s suicide revealed.
“The prime minister and a number of very senior officials became directly involved in the discussions relating to what actions should be taken by the government in relation to Dr Kelly’s statement to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that he had spoken” to BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan, Lord Brian Hutton said Wednesday.
The discussions ultimately led to the ministry’s press office confirming Kelly’s identity to reporters who, working from a set of clues, correctly guessed his name.
“The decision by the MoD to confirm Dr Kellys name was not part of a covert strategy to leak his name, but based on the view that it would not be sensible to try to conceal the name,” Hutton said.
Okay, let’s review. Blair was directly involved in the decision to release Kelly’s name, but only because it was the “sensible” thing to do. And, as discussed yesterday, the WMD report was — to paraphrase Lord Hutton ever so slightly — “sexed up” — but only subconsciously, so no one’s really to blame.
All right, then.