Iraq - BBC Lied about casualty figures

I posted yesterday about the BBC's John Simpson and Iraq casualty figures. I raised several questions about the accuracy of these figures, asked how they could "differentiate between those killed by coalition forces and insurgents" and I questioned John Simpson's integrity. I said this:

Now that windbag Simpson is on the case in Iraq, watch out or a lot more bullshit from the BBC.

Panorama's film Exit Strategy, reported by BBC world affairs editor John Simpson from Baghdad, will be shown at 2215 GMT, Sunday night on BBC One.

Told you.

Today the BBC admits it lied.

Iraqi health ministry figures for deaths in violence cannot differentiate between those killed by coalition forces and insurgents, officials say.

The BBC's Panorama programme reported coalition and Iraqi security forces were responsible for most civilian conflict deaths in the past six months.

But the health ministry says that its figures were misinterpreted. [Bullshit, the BBC and Simpson lied]

"The BBC regrets mistakes in its published and broadcast reports," said a BBC spokesman. [...]

But the health ministry says those recorded as dying in military action included people killed by insurgents, not just those killed by troops from the multinational force or Iraqi security bodies.

The deaths recorded included those of militants as well as civilians, officials said.


I told you.

If the BBC regrets its mistakes so much why isn't there a correction on their vaulted News Watch page? Not that anyone reads the corrections page.

This isn't just a simple mistake. John Simpson is the BBC's world affairs editor. Simpson should issue and on air apology and resign.

UPDATE:

In my post yesterday I forgot to put the link to the BBC story. The BBC have now changed that page anyway to a "clarification" but the original is cached at google.
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