Film - Anthrax Wars - Interview With Filmmaker

[Peter Presland]

Looked at that way, doesn't the piece on the BMIC just amount to some intelligent credibility-building?

Could be; but a dangerous and ultra-sensitive area to be credibility building in with its potential to open a BIG can of worms. OTOH It could be that the Neocon cheerleading (though I agree natural enough to the personality type) was that much more dedicated and intense as a sort of quid pro quo for the earlier transgression, with the denouement inevitable when her usefulness had expired. OK, I accept that the left delight in taking credit for having exposed her methods, but the history of the left is one of being near effortlessly co-opted and deceived in such matters.

I've never got round to finishing Baker's book after listening to him solemnly hypothesize that Iraqi agents terminated Kelly. Good grief, what an insult.

My overall impression of Baker, through the book, is one of credulous naivety. He makes daring forays into the 'world of conspiracy theories' but is always quick to qualify his own position. The credulousness is apparent in his obvious acceptance of the official narratives of major historical events and the role of the police and security services in them. I guess that, like anyone coveting esteem and a fond self-defined role in national politics, he instinctively understands the limits of allowable discourse. That is what handicaps him the most, but there is also an unmistakable air of naive niceness about the man. His conclusion that the deed was done by Iraqis is somewhat qualified by the merest of hints that, in so doing, they may have been the tools/patsies of either the US or UK SS's. IOW, he can envisage our SS's being involved in skulduggery, but simply cannot accept that they would ever stoop to doing the knife-wielding themselves - a bit like the need to outsource torture I suppose and very childlike. Personally I think he has effectively made himself persona non grata in Privy Council level political circles so he might just as well shed his illusions and get really stuck in - dangerous though.

Having said all that, the book IS a useful reference IMO, if only for time lines, geography, and background information on those associated with the case, together with their on-the-record utterances. A bit like Nafeez Ahmed on 7/7 though a tad less scholarly.