BBC exposed using anti-war activist as source

Once again The BBC has been exposed using a well known anti-war activist as a source for a news story.

Back in April 2004 I caught the BBC using another well known anti-war activist, Jo Wilding, to report on alleged atrocities by US forces in Iraq. Well the BBC are back at it again.

Eyewitness: Taking detainee testimony in Iraq

US-led international forces in Iraq are currently holding thousands of Iraqi people suspected of involvement in the violent campaign against the Iraqi government and the occupying forces.

But some detainees complain of arbitrary detention and abusive treatment.

Peggy Gish, 62, is an American woman who has spent 13 months over the past two years logging the cases of Iraqi detainees with the ecumenical humanitarian group Christian Peacemaker Teams.

She told the BBC News website about her experiences.

For starters, Gish can not be an "eyewitness" to alleged abuses she did not observe and is merely taking statements on.

Secondly, Gish and her husband Art are well known anti-war activists. She traveled to Iraq before the war as part of the human shield campaign.

Third, Christian Peacemaker Teams are not humanitarian groups, they are anti-war groups and have been active all over the world, usually where America is involved.

Now, remember this earlier statement from the article: "But some detainees complain of arbitrary detention and abusive treatment."

But what does the BBC allow Gish to say?

We were hearing some of the same stories from people all over Iraq, so we were fairly certain what we were hearing was accurate.

So, now we have gone from "some detainees" to "people all over Iraq" in the blink of an eye. Gish may be feeling "fairly certain" but I'm completely certain that this is all contrived.

It gets worse.

We heard about very violent house raids in the middle of the night,...

We heard the same kind of details over and over from all around the country.

Then we began to hear stories ...

We also heard about sexual abuse and beatings

Sounds like all heresy and no "eyewitness" to me. And how is it that Gish is able to travel all over Iraq as she claims and not get kidnapped? She is, after all, American and the number one prize for the terrorists. Could it be because she is helping the terrorist cause? I posted earlier about how some hostages are treated differently than others and speculated the difference could be that some "hostages", if indeed that is what they are, are seen to be helping the terrorists.

Gish goes on to make a lot of wild claims that do not jive with all the polls coming out of Iraq.

This is just another prime example of the anti-American crusade being waged by the BBC.

I have already emailed them and complained and I highly recommend you do the same; the link is on the left. I will post a picture of the offending story in case the BBC alter it or take it down.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------