Blair: I take responsibility for naming of Kelly

[Nambe]

Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

Tony Blair said today that he took responsibility for weapons expert David Kelly being named as the source for the BBC report that Downing Street had "sexed up" the Government's Iraqi arms dossier.

The Prime Minister said: "I was really not sure what the right way to handle this issue was but I knew that we should not be in a situation where we could be accused of misleading the Commons foreign affairs committee."

He said that he was not trying to shirk his responsibility as Prime Minister and added: "The responsibility is mine, at the end of the day. I take the decision as Prime Minister but I wanted to be able to say that we had played it by the book." ---

[Noordam]

1. Resign NOW

bet you will not.

[dutchdemocrat]

6. I have to laugh

In a way... can anyone here imagine Chimpy trying to 'talk' his way out of something like this?

Not a chance.

Blair might very well do so, but a couple of Brits got whacked today (again) and he is fighting a losing battle on this one.

His eloquence may not be able to save him this time.

[Caution]

2. the buck stops there

would Bush have done this? Blair may be a lapdog but at least occasionally he takes responsibility.

[Cha]

4. Even lapdogs take responsibility!

bush is a sociopath.

[budmo]

5. No way!

Bush would never do what Blair just did! As a matter of fact, just this morning the Bushies are now trying to feed us this concept that it was Saddam who fed the Intellegence community the false info....planting moles to spread false info just so he could be bombed and ripped from power (kind of) ...yeah right!
No, Blair's done the right thing but got caught up with the wrong man...Shrub!

"WASHINGTON — Frustrated at the failure to find Saddam Hussein's suspected stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, U.S. and allied intelligence agencies have launched a major effort to determine if they were victims of bogus Iraqi defectors who planted disinformation to mislead the West before the war.

The goal, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official, "is to see if false information was put out there and got into legitimate channels and we were totally duped on it." He added, "We're reinterviewing all our sources of information on this. This is the entire intelligence community, not just the U.S."

[dutchdemocrat]

7. One Source

Chalabi himself was the main source for a lot of this bullshit. They don't have to look far. He spoonfed the US media with lies so he could head home and rape a country he was exiled from.

[markses]

3. Another asshole who "takes responsibility" without consequences

It's like the old Seinfeld skit with the Rent-a-Car:

The trick is not in taking the reservations. Anyone can take reservations. The hard part is to HOLD the reservations.

Same with these criminals:

The trick is not to take responsibility. Anyone can simply say that they take responsibility. The hard part is to take the consequences of that responsibility.

[Briar]

8. All surface, no substance...

Blair is just playing his, "Trust me, I am an honest and straightforward man" card. This does not mean that he is telling the truth, only that he *sounds* as if he is, and this appearance of conviction on his part tends to prove very persuasive with the hacks who cover his speeches. One should remember that the man is a barrister and that appearing to believe one's case in defence of one's client, however flawed and however guilty, is a vital piece of courtroom equipment.

He is also playing his "I would resign if I was in the wrong" card, paralysing critics (especially within his own party) with the prospect of causing him to do just that. This shrill little Violet Elizabeth response (the "Just William" books have one girl character, a pain in the backside who threatens to scream and scream until she is sick if she doesn't get what she wants) has been tried before - it's what kept most Labour MPs supporting the government in those crucial March war votes. Unhappily I fear they will work again...