Taxi driver determining UK policies

[commandlinegamer]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8401473.stm

'I had Tony Blair in me cab once...'

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[PB2007]

"In the end it turned out that the information was not credible, it had originated from an emigre taxi driver on the Iraqi-Jordanian border, who had remembered an overheard conversation in the back of his cab a full two years earlier."

Mr Holloway stated that an intelligence analyst had at the time flagged up - via a footnote - that the claims were "demonstrably untrue".

"Despite this glaring factual inaccuracy... the report was characterised as reliable," he said.

Me neither...

[Darth Rotor]

Me neither...
Note the last bit of the article
MI6 had later cast doubts over the reliability of the middle link, the inquiry found in 2004. ... snip ... Mr Holloway claims to have information from intelligence officers that there was "no appetite" in government for information contravening the case for war and that, as a consequence, civil servants ignored it in the interests of their careers.

Mr Holloway claims this is indicative of a culture of senior defence officials and military officers glossing over problems to toe the government line.
This is a running problem in more places than the UK, and is an annoying feature, due to human nature, of the foundations of civilian control of the military. In some cases, personal loyalties become larger than general loyalty, and in other cases pure careerism and self interest plays havoc with integrity. All one can do is keep any eye out for it and ask questions (Parliament/Congressional oversight) to keep it in check. The oversight role is critical in mitigating human failures, which will crop up from time to time. Yet another role for "the loyal opposition" and a caution against single party rule.

DR