Jon Snow interviews Alastair Campbell over Iraq WMD report being sexed up (2003)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 พ.ค. 2015
- 27 June 2003: Alastair Campbell's remarkable interview with Channel 4 News over the government's row with the BBC about its Iraq coverage.
The Downing Street Director of Communications was questioned live by Jon Snow, in an interview which has only increased the tension between the government and the BBC.
Mr Campbell had accused the BBC of lying, after a 'Today' report claimed he had 'sexed up' a government dossier about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
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Remember when the media used to robustly hold the government to account? And when government officials would take interviews and robustly defend their position? Nostalgic watching this in 2021 when both media and government are far more disingenuous
No, I remember them toeing the line on the stuff they're allowed to ask about.
Did you not just witness Sky News basically destroy Liz Truss's creditability? Why are you suggesting things have changed? We have an absolute free press, any time the government screws up, reporters are outside number shouting criticism to everyone who walks out the front door
@@jakel8627 firstly, Liz Truss destroyed Liz Truss’ credibility. Secondly, Truss can attend a press conference, give the same BS answer to only 4 questions with no follow up or further scrutiny. There are good journalists asking tough questions (see the local media round) of truss but the environment is set up to not allow proper scrutiny or to expect a reasonable attempt at answering the question. Thirdly I wrote this a year ago but it’s as true then as it is now
I think the main thrust of the point here is how high quality the intellectual combat is and how high quality is the territoriality of fighting for the details between these two during a tight time frame. They both get in long reach punches that are exactly on point and it's electrifying. Then how twenty years later this seems archaic, sadly. A free press and shouting at passing ministers as they depart their office all stands, but the calibre and content of present day discourse is greatly diminished, likely due to prevalent styles of attention as informed by smartphones which were not around back then.
Hardly proves your point when Blair sent out his Spin Doctor to answer questions for him…
Whatever side you're on, it's a shame we don't see this kind of debate now. Instead, we get answers to every question something like "I think what the public want to know is..." And reframe the question to some nonsense like "getting Brexit done"
Absolutely. Vague claims that rarely have any standards by which to judge. "Getting Brexit done"...And today for example (Sept 2023) "
What does that even mean? At least we (or journalists) can ask the government to account in detail for the extra £350m per week that has been poured into the NHS. Those were the days when good, solid numbers were promised.. Anyone for Red Bus to Peppa Pig World? Flying Pig World seems more accurate.
Agreed, I like Alastair but it’s good to see him. Being held to account
Campbell still employed that sort of rhetoric towards the end in saying that what the public really cares about is public services, the economy etc
The reason is it came to nothing, neither Blair or his government were prosecuted for the war crimes they committed.
bit irrelevant to compare Brexit to an illegal war though isn't it. Actually the most glaring difference is how pro-war most of our parties are, there isn't even the room for the debate now unless you want to be expelled from party politics and branded a "Putin-appeaser". Just as there isn't any actual scrutiny into the allies of UK that get funding and military aid. Then there's the issue of how reliant UK is on genocidal human rights abusers like Saudi Arabia, I guess our political establishment just stopped caring about the human rights abuses carried out by Islamist dictators in the early 2000s.
Watched these journalists go toe to toe live. It was electrifying. Jon Snow was superbly vociferous in his questioning and Alistair Campbell was fiercely defensive. It was completely unprecedented for an unelected official to appear on air like this. I recall the coverage in the press at the time and AC apparently just marched up to Channel 4 uninvited to make his case.
Jon snow is highly intelligent and held Alaister Campbell to ransom & rightly so I wish he could have done the same with Boris
Agreed! Can you imagine if we had that same journalistic rigour today in 2022? Not only would it be entertaining but more importantly I think we'd have better politicians as a result.
Jon Snow was compulsive viewing. None of the others are in his league. The build up and start of the Iraq War,he was the one to watch. Enjoy your retirement Jon.
Correct all round! What a special performance from a colossal liar & bully. Read Alistair Campbell by Peter Oborne. He is well out of control at this point of his role with Tony Blair. For years he forgot he wasn't the Prime Minister & this proves it.
What backing can you give for what was put forth by you with Alastair Campbell that "apparently just marched up to channel 4 uninvited to make his case? " If your unable of providing evidence in relation to what you have written, I'd refrain from such claims If I were you. You are to be held accountable for your remarks if Alastair is to be undermined the way he is with your comment.
I think The Thick of it was built of this entire interview
Jon Snow was always at his best when shooting from the hip, and this interview is him at his finest. Campbell showing up unannounced thinking he could catch him off-guard.....Snow was having none of it. 🤣🤣🤣
Some truth in that.
You know Alistair Campbell is on another level when at 3:35 he has the capacity of thought to Chuck a side dig at Blackburn Rovers as a lifelong Burnley fan. Whilst fighting the most serious of fires in his job role at the time.
Haha, so true
Oh he's another level alright. Half a million dead Iraqis, that's another level
His best friend is a War Criminal. Even though I personally like Alistair Campbell, I think his support of the War Criminal Tony Blair is a mistake.
@@MosesDeLaRoses While a valid - and now always deeply upsetting - point, I would like Alistair Campbell's ability to argue a case. He didn't take the country to war on a flimsy, fundamentally non-existent, premise. He was just the Press Officer. (Not an elected official,, which makes the interview even more curious but others discuss that aspect elsewhere.)
@@JohnPreston888A “press officer” who, though orders in council, was given the power to give orders to civil servants. For an individual to hold such power without formal office was unprecedented since the reign of Henry VII
DR DAVID KELLY R.I.P
And Robin Cook found dead on a mountain, Blairs face when he realised he would die if he didn't go along with the war is priceless, says it all.
What a journalist! A consummate professional, he got the importance of even-handed journalism in a world of fog and spin. He always stood up to the plate (remember an apoplectic Alistair Campbell bursting into studio demanding an interview over claims of a 'sexed-up' Iraq dossier?) He was serious, but shorn of pomposity - always fun and self-effacing. Forget the war zones he used to report from, and the 'evil spin doctors in the dark', he routinely made some of the bravest sartorial choices one could imagine. His socks (and ties) were estimably loud. Long live Jon Snow! THE journalist's journalist. Truly the end of an era. I pray his replacement his as much integrity. without people like Snow you just have a cabal of vultures who are unnervingly pally with the PM, and act as the propaganda wing of Downing St. Snow was unique, had personality to spare and was steadfastly independent of the established order
I have to give it to Alastair, he is so sharp in this interview, he knows and understand every detail. If only government ministers/officals were this sharp and talented today
I remember watching this, it was astonishing.
David Kelly RIP
Blood on campbells hands
@@CapricornLetsplays How? He was just the press officer he wasn't someone who actually started the war.
Jon Snow is a legend.
He just leads them into the web and snares them.
“And you’ve got proof of that have you?”
Jon “Funnily enough I’ve got it right here it was available years ago”
#priceless
I missed that bit. :D Do you have the timestamp? I'd really like to see it.
How this man can sleep at night is beyond me?
Two Titans going at it. It's so tame these days. Just client journalists.
The best part of this was when Campbell was in full flow on his high horse and Jon Snow cuts him down in no uncertain terms - th-cam.com/video/GBWE7QzADe8/w-d-xo.html
Have they found the WMD yet?
Yes. Drums of Washing Powder.
@@kevindouglas8652 in 1980
Interesting to see Jon Snow clearly a bit nervous
Not a criticism, just shows how important it was
Considering that Campbell literally burst into Ch4 studios unannounced! Snow obviously was shooting from the hip and did a darn sight better job than most journalists who would have actually prepared! Snow's colleague; the appalling Guru Murthy, comes to mind!
I mean this was a month after the war started so everyone is freaking nervous 🤷🏾♂️
@@yottwr6108This was brilliant off the cuff!
It was the stakes. He was a bully. I think he has grown since, but he may have depression previously but based on his work on the Iraq war he forced us into, he deserves to not sleep well at night. As does his boss.
Interviewing Malcolm Tucker, ballsy.
Malcolm of based on Campbell pure and simple, we can see it here
Alastair Campbell's response: "You know nothing Jon Snow"
Campbell goes on about "conflation" of dossiers - as though there were errors in one and not the other. There were errors in both. This is the key part of his spin. It's simply not true that there were "no errors of fact in the WMD dossier in September 2002", as he claims.
Well done Jon Snow.
Slithering little snake uses one inconsistency to try and dismantle the case against him.
Oh, deary, deary me... how at odds Campbell's assertions are with the findings of the Chilcot Report.
Back when the media actually held the government to account, these days they just let them run wild
What on earth do you mean, all I ever hear and see on the television and social media is the government getting scrutinised and criticized to the hilt (and rightly so)
@@hithere981 they really are not, that is how boris and liz truss happened, people believed the BS because they were not held to account
Never knew that the Night Watch has other responsibility like interviewing someone.......
I was too young to understand what was happening at the time… can some please explain to me what reason the UK had to get involved in Iraq? Did they lie about WMDs just to take down Hussain? Why were the British public so against it?
9/11 fundamentally changed western countries foreign policies. Previously the west left the middle east alone and didn't ingage in military operations, what happened was that middle eastern dictators would use their countries as a playground for terrorists who would go on to attack the West. In the midst of all of this western intelligence agencies right around the world believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, UN investigators were sent in to investigate and when Iraq didn't want to work with the investigators, the US grew impatient and killed Suddam. After the invasion they found no weapons of mass destruction and the debate is, was the intelligence faulty or did governments over exaggerate/lie about the intelligence.
Western countries left the Middle East alone? They occupied and ransacked it ( along with Africa ) for 2 centuries before 😂 . What terrorists were there in irAq ? Saddam was a Baathist party leader who would not have supported any form of dissent whether Islamic/ shia / Kurds and even his own members ( purge in the early part of his reign).
The war on terror was a war to attack any country america felt like. It was a war of ideologies. Look at American wars before .. Vietnam etc. and so the taliban were attacked and so was irAq for no apparent reason.
Look at Guantanamo bay? How many do the hundreds rounded up were actually sentenced? Most were found innocent and sent to 3rd countries to live a life of misery.
And if America is so pro democracy in the Middle East why didn’t it support the Bahrain revolution of 2011 for example!? And what about the authoritarian regimes still in place in the Middle East ? As long as they supply oil they will be fine.
The war on terror has indeed created many terrorists - on both sides of the divide.
@@andrewa8161
The Nigerian Yellow Cake scandal which is referred to in this interview revealed that intelligence services knew Iraq was unlikely to have Uranium but also demonstrated that UK and USA governments worked together to insist that the same evidence be interpreted to indicate the opposite. The author of the report in the CIA blew the whistle and the Bush Government sought to punish her and her Diplomat husband, successfully. Even still, we pushed forward with this WMD fabrication.
In the end, Saddam was just terrorising his own subjects, which is bad, but he had nothing to do with global terrorism. And now we have Islamic terrorist groups popping up everywhere. When we scrutinise the economic incentives (to invade Iraq) to the individuals in the Blair Government and the individuals in the Bush government, what we see is that they became billionaires at our expense and at the expense of millions of Iraqis who we killed or displaced in the conflicts that followed the invasion in 2003. The world is not a safer place now. But Blair is unbelievably wealthy.
Apparently the evidence that Tony Blair used to send the UK to war and kill UK forces personnel and Iraqis did not justify his decision. Neither did they find any justification after the war.
What actually happened was the US weren't happy that Iraq had dared to move sales of petrol from the petrodollar to the Euro. The US weren't happy as it hurt their currency. WMDs was just an excuse to get backing for an illegal invasion. Research Dr David Kelly. He's the one who outed the sexed up dossier and later died/murdered under really suspicious circumstances.
This disgraceful liar continues to court life in the public eye.
If Campbell had an ounce of decency in him (he does not) he would step back from any publicity and out of people’s sight.
A despicable man with the blood of many people on his hands.
Campbell complains he can’t finish his point but cuts Jon Snow off throughout the interview.
Jon Snow totally brilliant here
I'm sure all of what Campbell says is spin and half truth... but his communication here is immense. The eye contact and body language, the ability he has to use the most salient/cutting word in his opponent's argument and dismantle it, "robust", etc. A formidable display from an undoubtedly talented political operator.
Trying to bully his way out, throwing "impactful", emotive language around as he has been media-trained to do. In the end, his only argument was, "you're wrong and you should take my word for it that you're wrong; you should therefore be ashamed that you're wrong and apologise for being wrong and that apology is in itself an admission that I am right and you are wrong." If you and others are swayed by such empty, emotionally charged barbs, then god help us. The man and Blair are pure evil.
He’s objectively a fantastic strategist and communicator. The Iraq war was clearly a disaster for which Campbell holds immense responsibility, but get off your high horse about how you’re too clever to fall for it all when we’re two decades down the road.
It doesn’t take a genius to see through the clouds when they’ve had 20 years to clear.
@@teb7426 You and I view political events through different lenses. You're stuck in a Blue vs. Red moral paradigm, whereas I'm quite happy admiring AC purely for his theatric value. I don't care about any kind of moral consideration in this. This is *entertainment* for me. Though, actually, there was considerably more meat on his argument than simply just "you're wrong, feel bad"... your sloppy characterisation aside, this is about AC's incredible force of character. Verbally drubbing a seasoned reporter like this - when you are accused of falsely taking the country to war - is actually insane. If that was you, accused of the same thing, you'd melt like an ice cube on the surface of the sun. If you cannot appreciate that then I genuinely feel sorry for you. But yeah, boo Blair, boo Iraq... whatever lol.
So all this has now since been admitted by the Labour party - why is this guy still walking about, in full view, giving his opinions on the media of today?
Get Campbell to show you his “legally sane” badge
Despite his comic ingenuity re Blackburn Rovers and maliciously adroit swift and powerful foot-forward self defense, Alastair Campbell fails to meet the simple logic in the questions put forward and reinforced impressively by Jon Snow. Although I'd like to be persuaded, I step away seeing Campbell as a phenomenally talented BS artist, and he leaves the impression from his maneuvering in this discussion that he was very much involved in and very clearly did have something to do with sexing up the dodgy dossier, even if for whatever foible - he appears to believe himself that's not what they did. Every point Snow puts forward, that this fight with the BBC is a distraction, that Campbell takes it personally, that a more thorough alternative process to investigate the matter was cast aside in favour of a comfortable one for the PM, that the intel was 'horlicks'... Every one remains undefeated - indeed reinforced - by Alastair Campbell's muscular ballet around the red tablecloth
Very well said
Excellent bit of prose. I do wonder if it was AC's "belief", or his job? "muscular ballet"...wonderful description. It is not his place to be interviewed to defend political decisions, but far more deserving of respect than Pledge Repitition (see Michael Spicer for more on that).
And yet ITV give him a job to present the news, 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I wish we have journalists like Jon Snow in America. Love this guy and you better be prepared when he is on you.
You should watch Jeremy Paxman.
He was a thorn,in the side of the Establishment.
Channel 4 news (where Jon snow worked until his recent retirement) still has great journalists (eg Krishnan Guru-Murthy)
@@chilldude30 Alastair Campbell's podcast The Rest is Politics just started to be shown on Channel 4!
Malcolm, you are now part of the story 😂
From the man who did more to destroy trust in politics than any other
I'm no fan of Jon snow but to say he was the primary culprit of destroying trust in British politics is going too far.
@@Mr-Benn-1970s Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Are you referring to Snow or Campbell?
You can see where Armando Iannucci got his inspiration for the legendary Malcolm Tucker character who would be seen for the first time two years after this interview. I can imagine Tucker sitting there opposite Snow, but far more expletive
Alastair Campbell and this generation of politician were far more intelligent than the entire Conservative Party today
Let's just ignore they were war criminals. And NEVER forget what happened to Dr David Kelly and Campbell was behind his identity as the source being outed.
Of the five Tory PMs that followed, the only one to get involved in a dubious military adventure was Cameron going into Libya to overturn Gaddafi. Libya is now such an ungovernable territory that it serves as a key staging post in trafficking people to Europe. But the Blair Campbell adventure in Iraqi produced worse outcomes such as Isis taking over from a dictator who had by Middle Eastern standards had been one of the more progressive leaders.
😂😂😂😂 good joke this guy and Blair are real life psychopaths.
Ahh memories....when C4's Jon Snow was actually a real journalist soley intent on doing his job.
What happened to David Kelly?
the difficulties with having the government being able to interfere with the BBCs journalism. What an awful man
Slimy arrogant man, he and Blair have a lot to answer for. RIP Dr David Kelly, and all the lads and lasses and innocents that got killed or maimed in the Iraqi war, well done Jon Snow
And those in iraq who died. The Iraqi children etc. sad all round
Iraq was a horrific blunder
If they wanted to remove saddam they didnt need to obliterate the people
They just opened pandoras box nuff said
Chief enabler of War Criminals. 1.5m died this person should still be in prison.
People seem to forget this man had no elected office and there if there was a modern equivalent of him, he'd be the most hated man on Earth!
1:25 ".. you can say anything you want on the television, doesn't matter if it's true, doesn't matter if you check it, doesn't matter if it's corroborated.." If you substitute "in a dodgy dossier" for "on the television", Alastair Campbell could be talking about himself.
Venomous snake still at large in our country. We'll done John Snow!
Last of the great questioners
When your explanation needs 19 million words you have lied and made a mistake... To Blairs Pitbull is a horrid job. Why hasn't Blair popped on TV and explained his story and illegal war?
Because he's too busy making millions doing interviews all around the world 😂
let me say this about that. I'm not going to say anything about that. I will however say this.
Remember him on QT when Galloway called him Blair's Goebells and needed answers for David Kelly's death? The sneaky git went green
Didn't he quote Galloway's obsequious words to Saddam back at him?
Both he and Blair are Haunted. They know damn well,what they did. Campbell thinks he's untouchable,with his Spin. Jon Snow knows the real deal.
Alastair’s friends had david killed. Galloway is a wrongun but I’m sure he knows the truth on that.
Yes Campbell the biggest spin doctor of them all
Another term for liar
He works for Israel.
I legit thought this would be a shitpost where this Alastair will be cut into GOT episodes where Jon Snow speaks with sir Alastair.
Alastair Campbell will eventually wake up to his role in the immense suffering caused by his complicity in the lies regarding weapons of mass destruction. He’s a haunted man.
They knew Iraq has no WMD. Blood is on their hands.
9:42 is that who I think it is? “So you are saying” 😂😂
She's quite famous for stuff other than that interview so yeah
Listening to Alastair's diaries on audible at the moment - completely fascinating.
How so?
@@johermeah7787 I guess it opened my eyes to what went on during that time in politics, such as the massive efforts to do something about the situation in Ireland leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. Also their relationship with Princess Diana I found interesting. And learning a bit about what it is like being part of a general election campaign. It's worth a listen but the book is no doubt a lot better as this is abridged.
@@katytaylor681 An election cycle seems like carnage from the outside, as a member of the general public. Must be more so for those internally! Thanks for the recommendation
Alastair Campbell is holding an unsharpened pencil, it has no point
was this before Dr David Kelly went for a walk........?
Now we know there were no WMD...so what is Alistair trying to defend..???
Out! Out! Out! Damn Spot! But the blood lay thick on the floor and up the walls and flowed out until it covered the very country itself . . .
First of all, great interview - very robust from both sides, yet respectful. Second, I have no idea who was right about that issue in 2003, but I went on Wikipedia to read about the then-BBC journalist that accused Campbell and that was accused by Campbell, and it turns out that, after leaving the BBC, he worked only for right-wing journals and then became Boris Johnson's advisor. Plus, it seems like his major investigative reports were always against Labour politicians. So... Maybe Campbell was right.
No the Iraq inquiry has since proven that Campell instructed staff to have the dossier be altered to "one that complements rather than conflicts with" US claims. Despite knowing these changes were inaccurate lies.
And yet both Campbell and Blair still get airtime. ..
The butchers of Baghdad...
They lied, plain and simple, no mistakes just complete and utter deceit.
come on guys, we are just talking about hundreds of thousands of assassinations, a dodgy PM, Oil business and the success of a tyrant Kosher state... Lets talk about gardening and tea instead.
Alistair Campbell- the only one in the uk with a certificate to prove he is sane...w⚓️
If only the BBC hadn't caved under Campbell's right-wing, authoritarian pressure.
War criminal
When the BBC did real journalism? Rip journalism.
2:21 a liar in full flow, look at the eyes and the clever use of words.
What do you mean?
A client of mine flew in the raf over Iraq after the war... he said he saw no evidence of wmd.. just a few military outdated buildings of which the plans were available readily...
This Campbell needs bringing to justice not interviewed.
S*** got real with this interview, thank you Jon Snow legend 👏
What I don`t understand is why nobody mentions the ease with which Hans Blix was turned away by Saddam`s people from several factories of interest . Nor do I understand why nobody has explained why it would have been better for the Middle East for Saddam to stay in office.
You can always tell when Campbell is lying....his lips are moving
No, your thinking of Boris Johnson
I commend Mr. Snow for practicing professional journalism.
Alistair Campbell what a CLOWN
Jon Snow ultimately proved right. This will over shadow the Blair goernment forever. Either tricked up or not robustly enough interrogated
Sorry, of course I meant Prime Minister Blair!
Slimy Alistair would be a great Bond villain as he's a shifty character who was Blair's crony and did his dirty work
THRUST ME MY NAME IS ALASTAIR CAMPBELL SIDE KICK TO THE MAN OF WAR BLAIR😶🌫😶🌫😇😇😇
Its 2022 and the actions of the Labour party and this man and his wars are still very much being felt today, mass terrorsim in Europe, mass refugees puring into Europe, huge debts, still people being killed in wars that were started in neighbouring countries.
I will never forget what Labour did.
Keep voting Tory you clown.
I'd rather my mother froze to death through Tory austerity than vote Labour, blah, blah, blah.
You one of those voters?
New Labour had the fortunate to come into power as the economy was picking up again. To gain voters trust they continued with Tory policies which helped the economy to grow. But then they joined the Cheney /Rumsfeld crusade into Iraq and duffed up the economy leaving the country in an awful state n 2010. That said, this time the Tories look like leaving a big mess for Labour to sort out next year. If Iraq was about Labour lying to the country, Brexit was about the Tories lying to it.
Most of the Conservative MPs at the time voted for it as well though
@@riverscumo Oh this old chestnut again. Glad you're completely ignoring Parliament was lied to about the reasons to go to war.
But yeah you keep ignoring that little fact....so not only did Labour take us to war they lied about why.
How pathetic you must be to justify them starting wars
Jon Snow .. I have so much respect for man.
However deep and dark the depths of depression Campbell personally sinks to they will never be deep enough or dark enough to justify his pivotal role in the Iraq war.
Campbell has always been a problem . . .
Campbell can dish it out but he is incredibly thin skinned.
Like all bullies.
He is calling out the impotence of the British media
I miss grown up conversations
Clash of the Titans.
Well he was clearly lying.
I would say that Campbell started the demise of BBC journalism. His threats created fear in the upper echelons of the BBC and the conservative government continued that pressure
And now the man has a snarky centrist podcast while a million Iraqi civilians lay dead and the region in complete chaos
Never ever rated Alastair Campbell, & the fruit didn't fall far from the tree with his awful daughter & her desperation for attention at all costs...
The 'journalists' we've got now are Fiona Bruce and Stacey Dooley
Campbell has no concept of truth!
Blair's attack dog. Attack dogs bite anyone they are pointed at and told 'seize him'
he wasn't fit for government #hot head
Campbell is a snake, a deadly snake, a blake mamba.
45 minutes = information warfare.
the politics of journalistic smut and spin dr. porn.
You all called Boris a liar this was his Teacher, he's very good
Boris was lying as far back as a child