Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Iraq - Baghdad diary: Journalists as targets

And the BBC wants to leave you no doubt that the Americans are doing the targeting. Andrew North writes:

"And there is the threat of being mistakenly killed by the Americans. The Americans argue that the violence they employ is discriminating and targeted.

But it can only be as discriminating as the quality of the information they have about their target. ...


He goes on to tell you the number of media employees killed but not who was responsible. Wonder why? Here's why.

Responsibility:
• Insurgent action: 84 (Includes crossfire, suicide bombings, and murders.)
U.S. fire: 15 (CPJ has not found evidence to conclude that U.S. troops targeted journalists in these cases. While the cases are classified as crossfire, CPJ continues to investigate.)
• Iraqi armed forces, during U.S. invasion: 3 (All are crossfire or acts of war.)
• Iraqi armed forces, post-U.S. invasion: 1 (Crossfire)
• Source unconfirmed: 9


So, out of 190 the US is said to be responsible for 15 and CPJ has found no evidence that the US targeted them. Important point given North's headline. And North doesn't stop there.

"On the streets of Baghdad, you can see just how scared Iraqis are of US troops every day, by the way drivers skid to the side of the road like frightened rabbits whenever they see an American patrol approaching."


Well gee North, do you think that the big signs on the front and rear vehicle, the newspaper, television and radio announcements telling them to do just that might have anything to do with that? Or the fact that the patrols speed in order to circumvent road side bombs? Or that after seeing so many attacks on US patrols that it, you know, just make sense to get the hell out of the way? But North still isn't done with his propaganda.

"Allegations of US forces wrongly killing civilians are common. Certainly they are played up at times by some militia and insurgent groups for their own ends."


Oh, don't be so modest North, you forget to add people like you.

Just add this to the mounting dung heap that is the BBC.

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