Philip Bobbit, author of the excellent Shield of Achilles writes a thought provoking piece in todays Guardian. He talks about WMD, the media and the intelligence services. He is really siding with Tony Blair on this one, is he not?
I venture no opinion on the merits of this matter. I have complete confidence in the integrity of the select committee investigating this matter, and in the statements of Scarlett and his colleagues on the JIC. And I have no opinion on the behaviour of the BBC, whose journalists have, like their counterparts in the commercial press, taken up the role of “critique” of all governments, liberal or conservative, that was once the province of the left parties. This development is unavoidable, even if its worst excesses of contempt for politicians and civil servants can perhaps be mitigated by thoughtful editors and presenters, of whom the BBC has many.