ONCE it became clear that the pictures of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners were fake, it was going to be very difficult for Piers Morgan to remain as editor of The Daily Mirror.
Dodgy photographs about Iraq cost him his job. Rather in the same way that a dodgy report by Andrew Gilligan cost Greg Dyke and Gavyn Davies their jobs at the BBC.
The Government must be wary of taking comfort from the downfall of such senior media figures. Their departures do not ease the difficult plight Mr Blair and his ministers are facing in Iraq. Nor will they dilute the opposition to US and British policy.
Mr Blair will be wise to remind himself of the weaknesses in the dossier, partly plagiarised from a student's ageing thesis, which was used to justify the war against Iraq.
The absence of weapons of mass destruction left behind by Saddam Hussein and the violent chaos which has been left in the wake of his departure casts more and more doubt over the validity of that justification.
If Mr Morgan is held to account for dodgy pictures, and Mr Davies and Mr Dyke are held to account for a dodgy radio report, then what is to stop Mr Blair being held to account for his dodgy dossier at the next General Election?
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