Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=7-18-03

TYPE=INTERVIEW

NUMBER=3-737

TITLE=BRITAIN-IRAQ

BYLINE=DAVID BORGIDA

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTRODUCTION

U.S. President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair held a news conference in Washington defending their use of controversial, pre-war intelligence. Meanwhile British police found a body that matches the description of a defense ministry advisor missing since Thursday evening. The official has been identified as a possible source for a disputed report on Iraqi weapons. Toby Harnden, of the London Newspaper The Daily Telegraph discusses these events.

MR. BORGIDA

Now joining us is Toby Harnden, Washington Bureau Chief of the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph, to discuss all this. And what a 24-hour period. Prime Minister Blair is greeted warmly by U.S. lawmakers in the U.S. Congress and then this story breaks about Dr. Kelly. What can you tell us about how this atmospherically is working out.

MR. HARNDEN

Well, absolutely a great moment for Tony Blair in Congress yesterday. One of the highlights of his premiership really. He was on sparkling form, great acclaim from all the American politicians. It may be played slightly differently at home. But then you have the tragedy of this man's death, and Tony Blair plunged into one of the biggest crises of his premiership. His communications director, Alastair Campbell, who is at the center of this very public battle between the BBC and the government over the intelligence claims about weapons of mass destruction, he's already flying back from Tokyo to London, which shows just how serious this is.

MR. BORGIDA

And you mentioned it might be playing, referring to the Blair remarks yesterday, a little differently in London than here in Washington. How so?

MR. HARNDEN

Well, it slightly reminded me of the time last October that former President Bill Clinton went to the Labor Party conference in Blackpool in England. And he [received] wild applause, adulation, and it was a similar way for Tony Blair. He's under a lot of pressure domestically. His own party was against the war with Iraq. He's facing lots of questions about intelligence. Yet, in America, there is this feeling that he's been standing shoulder to shoulder with the President. And on both sides of the aisles last night there was absolutely unstinting admiration for Tony Blair.

MR. BORGIDA

Let's talk for a moment -- I want to get to the Kelly story again in a moment -- but the relationship between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. Do you see it as a genuine friendly one or is it a meeting of minds of politicians who need each other?

MR. HARNDEN

Well, it's absolutely fascinating, and I never would have predicted it, because Tony Blair is just sort of a third wave soul mate of Bill Clinton. And here you've got two, on the surface, very different men, a Republican Texan from the West, this sort of middle England man at the left from Britain, and you would have thought that they wouldn't have hit it off at all. And I think initially it was very much the transatlantic alliance and sort of an alliance of convenience for the two men. But I think, as time has gone on, these two really have been through a lot together. And I think it's become a genuine sort of friendship and meeting of minds on a certain level.

Now, they don't go out to the pub and share a beer together -- I mean, President Bush doesn't drink anyway -- but I think there is a very strong bond, and the personal nature of the relationship is not to be underestimated.

MR. BORGIDA

Now to the Kelly story. How would you think that this will be covered and handled in the days ahead? This is just beginning to surface and develop here, but in England it's a different story.

MR. BORGIDA

Oh, it's a very, very big story, and a sort of real body blow to Blair. I was speaking to our correspondent, Andrew Sparrow, who is in Tokyo and who had been traveling with the Prime Minister and he was in Washington yesterday, and he said that Blair was visibly shaken when he heard this news. Alastair Campbell, the communications director, was immediately dispatched back to London. Tony Blair, even before the body has been identified, was saying we're going to have an independent judicial inquiry. The judge has been named, Lord Hossen. It's been decided that the inquiry should take about six weeks, to look into the circumstances of the death.

So the Prime Minister has moved very, very quickly, which just shows what a danger this is to him.

MR. BORGIDA

And can this be a fracture, too, in the U.S.-British relationship over this?

MR. HARNDEN

Well, it complicates matters undoubtedly, because what you've had that was unfortunate for Mr. Blair and for Mr. Bush was sort of a disconnect between the accounts over the Niger uranium claim. And that was unfortunate, after weeks and months of standing together. All of a sudden you had the Americans sort of disowning the claim and the British saying, well, we still stand by it and we've got different intelligence. So they were off different scripts. They were sort of back together again yesterday, and now you've got this development in Britain, which may mean that more will come out about the whole story about the intelligence and weapons of mass destruction.

Because now it's a tragedy what's happened, but we've already got to look at the political indications. If this man turns out to have been the source, then a lot more can be said about what he said and who he met, and the BBC has got to say whether he was the source or not. So there are big implications for Tony Blair and therefore for George W. Bush.

MR. BORGIDA

Indeed it is a personal tragedy, and we wouldn't want to forget about that. But certainly it has political repercussions.

Toby Harnden, Washington Bureau Chief of the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph, here to join us to talk about this. Thanks so much for your insight. We appreciate it.

MR. HARNDEN

I'm pleased to be here.

NEB/PT