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Be 'combative' on war, Blair told
LONDON, England -- Tony Blair's communications chief Alastair Campbell urged the prime minister to become "more combative" in dealing with critics over Iraq, newly released documents show. A lengthy briefing note from Campbell to Blair setting out how to handle lawmakers' concerns was among hundreds of previously undisclosed documents released Saturday. The senior judge investigating the apparent suicide of a weapons expert David Kelly posted the documents, containing about 9,000 pages of evidence, on the inquiry's Web site. The evidence comes just days before Blair and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon are to testify before the inquiry, led by Lord Hutton. The newly released documents give an insight into the mood in British government in the weeks leading up to Kelly's death. In his briefing note ahead of a Commons appearance by the prime minister, Campbell accused the BBC of trying to "contaminate" Blair's success as a war leader in Iraq. The note was dated June 3 -- five days after a BBC report quoting an anonymous official as claiming the government exaggerated its evidence on Iraqi weapons. Kelly was later identified as the BBC's source. In his note, Campbell said the prime minister's aim should be to "calm the frenzy" following the BBC story and rebuild support for the government's basic position on Iraq. "A week of denials has not taken us very far forward because the media, particularly the BBC, are trying to create a 'no smoke without fire' atmosphere," he wrote. "As to the manner in which you deal with it, it must be calm, confident, explanatory and thorough. But when you go on to the broader issues, in particular reporting back on Iraq, I think you should display a more combative approach." Campbell warned Blair he was facing rising opposition to the war on all sides. "What is clearly happening here is that the relatively more sober coverage of the war is giving way to the more usual frenzied media, and the aim of our opponents is to contaminate the success you had as a war leader in Iraq," he said. "So those who opposed you then want to justify the opposition then -- that goes for some of our MPs, BBC, the left-leaning press. Those who supported you, like the right-wing press, want to look for reasons to regret their support and detach you from Bush."
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