BBC'c own embedded reporter assails the BBC's spin of it's anti-war coverage.
By TREVOR KAVANAGH
Political Editor
THE BBC was last night sensationally condemned for “one-sided” war coverage — by its own front line defence correspondent.
Paul Adams attacks the Beeb for misreporting the Allied advance in a blistering memo.
And he warned the BBC’s credibility is at risk for suggesting British troops are paying a “high price for small victories”.
On Monday, he wrote from US Central Command in Qatar: “I was gobsmacked to hear, in a set of headlines today, that the coalition was suffering ‘significant casualties’.
“This is simply NOT TRUE. Nor is it true to say — as the same intro stated — that coalition forces are fighting ‘guerrillas’.
“It may be guerrilla warfare, but they are not guerrillas.”
Adams’ memo was fired off to TV news head Roger Mosey, Radio news boss Stephen Mitchell and other Beeb chiefs.
It adds stunning weight to allegations that BBC coverage on all its networks is biased against the war.
In one blast, he storms: “Who dreamed up the line that the coalition are achieving ‘small victories at a very high price?’
“The truth is exactly the opposite.
“The gains are huge and the costs still relatively low. This is real warfare, however one-sided, and losses are to be expected.”
The BBC has come under attack for describing the loss of two soldiers as the “worst possible news for the armed forces”.
One listener asked: “How would the BBC have reported the Battle of the Somme in World War I when 25,000 men died on the first day?”
(Why the BBC matters.)
One of the key elements, we're finding out, in this battle is the willingness of the Iraqi people to stand up to the Saddamite remnants. That willingness depends, in part, on their confidence that the allies are making progress. What the BBC is able to do, by broadcasting directly to these people, is to keep the Iraqi people's morale as far down as possible, thereby helping to make the war more bloody, thereby helping discredit it in retrospect. If you assume that almost all these reporters and editors are anti-war, this BBC strategy makes sense. They're a military player. And they are objectively pro-Saddam. |
