if people BOTHERED to be a little less "patriotic" and a little more concerned about what in the HELL is going on, they'd find out things like...

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - A soft-spoken British scientist found dead in woods near his home was caught in the crossfire in a deadly war of words between Britain's public broadcaster and the government over the Iraq (news - web sites) conflict.


Reuters Photo


AP Photo
Slideshow: Weapons Expert Found Dead in Britain



Related Links
• Text of Kelly's Testimony (AP)
• Iraq Dossier Dispute Chronology (AP)



After police said Friday they had found a body matching that of defense ministry biologist David Kelly, the tragedy provoked much soul-searching among friends, colleagues and politicians.


The bearded scientist was the suspected "mole" behind a British Broadcasting Corporation report alleging that Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s communications supremo Alastair Campbell "sexed up" a dossier laying out the case for war with Iraq.


The shock struck at the heart of government and reverberated around the world to Tokyo where Blair embarked in a somber mood on a tour of Asia after speedily confirming there will be a judicial inquiry into the tragedy.


Inevitably Kelly's death revived voter mistrust and ensured that the long-running row over whether Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had weapons of mass destruction showed no signs of fading.


"He is dead. We are now alone with our consciences," family friend and television journalist Tom Mangold said of the former weapons inspector grilled in parliament over allegations the government hyped intelligence to justify war against Iraq.


"He was the one inspector that Saddam Hussein personally wanted kicked out of Iraq because David really knew what was going on," Mangold said.


FINGER OF BLAME


Others pointed the finger of blame much more bluntly.


"He was used abominably by the politicians," said scientific colleague Alistair Hay.


"The BBC should be examining its conscience," said Robert Jackson, the opposition Conservative member of parliament from the constituency where Kelly lived.


The family of the 59-year-old father of three reported him missing late Thursday after he went for a walk in the woods and stayed out in a rainstorm. A body matching his description was found by search teams Friday.


Visibly ill at ease under a harsh media spotlight, the mild-mannered Kelly had been grilled by a parliamentary committee whose members concluded he was "chaff" and a government "fall guy."


His close friend Mangold said Kelly's wife Janice had said the experience traumatized him.


"He had come home from the committee hearing very stressed and physically sick and very, very angry at what had happened," Mangold said.


His body was removed from the woods Friday evening in a somber police convoy for a post-mortem as Donald Anderson, chairman of the committee that grilled Kelly, offered a reflective epitaph:


"It is a personal tragedy. All the hustle and bustle of the last week is put into perspective."

...i almost choked on my pizza!