BBC stealth edits Falluja reports

Fellow blogger Expat Yank took issue with some of the BBC's coverage of Falluja.

Here is what he had to say in part:

Well, the BBC is probably just being thorough, waiting for "confirmation". However, in contrast, the BBC continues to provide a platform for "reports" from this "journalist":

. . . reports give differing accounts of the extent of control being exercised by US and Iraqi troops in the city. Fadhil Badrani, a journalist operating independently in the city, told the BBC Arabic service on Sunday that US-led forces fully controlled only the northern districts.

More on Badrani in a moment.

If you follow Expat Yank's link to the BBC webpage you will not find the above quote. The BBC stealth edited it out.

Here is a link to a google search on the headline. If you click on the cache link you will find the original story posted 10 hours earlier with Badrani's comments.

Notice how the BBC portray Badrani as "a journalist operating independently in the city". No doubt the "operating independently" is meant to lend credibility to Badrani's story.

Mr. Badrani must be a curious fellow indeed. How is he able to operate so freely? He is not imbedded with the US forces and doesn't appear to be imbedded with the terrorists. With both of those two groups shooting at almost anything that moves it's a miracle he has not been killed yet. Which makes one wonder if he is even in Falluja. He calls his reports into the BBC on a mobile phone and that can be done from anywhere.

Almost all of his reporting is anti-American and is usually wrong. Take the statement above in which he said "told the BBC Arabic service on Sunday that US-led forces fully controlled only the northern districts". We know this is not true from all the other news services reporting otherwise. But the BBC is quite happy to use Mr. Badrani's rants even though their stealth update deletes his comments and uses this contradictory statement from their own reporter.

US troops, backed by Iraqi soldiers have pushed the insurgents to the southern edge of Falluja, beyond which the desert and more US troops await them, says our correspondent, who is with the US marines.

The BBC, busted again.
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