THEY WERE SPOILING FOR WAR, SO THEY SILENCED INTERNAL DISSENT AND BURIED THEIR OWN DOUBTS:

BBC governors decided to turn the tussle with the government over the Iraq dossier story into a make-or-break trial of strength despite harbouring doubts over the original Today report.

Emails released by the Hutton inquiry show that a number of governors, including chairman Gavyn Davies, were determined not to buckle in the face of government pressure even though they thought the story might not stand up to scrutiny. . . .

This evidence will fuel the concerns of those in the BBC who believe it went into battle for the right reasons but over the wrong story.

I blame the NeoBeebs.

UPDATE: Bill Herbert likes the term “neobeebs” and points out some additional problems with the BBC’s position: “Gilligan couldn’t possibly have believed his own copy.”

Sadly, however, he appeared to believe his reviews.