Bekijk Volledige Versie : BBC klaagt over misinformatie
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,924172,00.html
BBC news chiefs have met to discuss the increasing problem of misinformation coming out of Iraq as staff concern grows at the series of premature claims and counter claims by military sources.
(....)
By last Sunday the southern Iraqi seaport of Umm Qasr had been reported "taken" nine times, while reports of the discovery of a chemical weapons factory in An Najaf have not been confirmed - just two more examples of the confusion over what is coming out of military sources.
"We're absolutely sick and tired of putting things out and finding they're not true. The misinformation in this war is far and away worse than any conflict I've covered, including the first Gulf war and Kosovo," said a senior BBC news source.
"On Saturday we were told they'd taken Basra and Nassiriya and then subsequently found out neither were true. We're getting more truth out of Baghdad than the Pentagon at the moment. Not because Baghdad is putting out pure and morally correct information but because they're less savvy about it, I think.
Had ik je ook kunnen vertellen... Daarom moet iedereen naar Aljazeera kijken! :fpimp:
Geplaatst door NIS1
Had ik je ook kunnen vertellen... Daarom moet iedereen naar Aljazeera kijken! :fpimp:
Aljazeera..?! Daar hebben we jou toch voor :blij:
Ik vertrouw op NIS en Nouwra als mijn belangrijkste informatiebronnen :duim:
Nog meer leugens van Bush en Blair:
Sapper Luke van wie enkele dagen geleden beweerd werd dat hij samen met Simon Cullingworth krijgsgevangene was genomen om vervolgens geexecuteerd te worden blijkt gewoon nadat hij in een hinderlaag was gevallen gedood te zijn. De kruisvaarders liegen dat ze barsten.
For the Record: Our Luke Was Not Executed
Mar 28, 2003
By Stephen Moyes and James Hardy, The Mirror
The heartbroken sister of ambushed soldier Luke Allsopp insisted last night: "My brother was not executed." Nina Allsopp hit out at "lies" surrounding his death.
Grieving Nina - 29 today - said: "We have been told by the Army that Luke died in action. "The Colonel from his barracks came around to our house to tell us he was not executed. Luke's Land Rover was ambushed and he died instantly.
"The Colonel told us he was doing what he could to set the record straight. We are very angry. "It makes a big difference to us knowing that he died quickly. We can't understand why people are lying about what happened.
"It must be a mistake. It's important to us that people know the truth. That people know what really happened."
Nina was stunned when she heard the PM had gone on TV to denounce the "executions" of Sapper Luke, 24, and Staff Sgt Simon Cullingworth, 36.
Mr Blair, speaking in America, condemned gruesome footage of the dead soldiers shown on Iraqi TV as an act of cruelty beyond comprehension. Describing the images as a "reality" of Saddam Hussein's regime he said: "His thugs prepared to kill their own people, the parading of prisoners of war, and now the release of those pictures of executed British soldiers...
"If anyone needed any further evidence of the depravity of Saddam's regime, this atrocity provides it. "It is yet one more flagrant breach of all the proper conventions of war. More than that, to the families of the soldiers involved, it is an act of cruelty beyond comprehension. Indeed, it is beyond the comprehension of anyone with an ounce of humanity in their souls."
The PM added: "On behalf of the British Government, I would like to offer my condolences particularly to the families and friends of those two brave young men who died in the service of their country and of the ordinary Iraqi people to whom we are determined to bring a better future."
But last night Nina said at the family's home in Dagenham, Essex: "I have not been able to watch the TV reports or listen to the Prime Minister talking of an execution. "It's so upsetting. And it's not what happened to Luke."
Later Mr Blair refused to give further details of what he knew about the soldiers' deaths. Pressed by reporters about his claim they were executed, he would only say: "The reason I used the language I did was because of the circumstances that we know."
Respected TV political editor Adam Boulton was one of those who quizzed Mr Blair at Camp David over his claim.He commented on Sky News last night: "Whether it was wise for the Prime Minister to use a word like 'execute' without being entirely sure only time will tell."
Mr Blair's official spokesman later admitted there was no conclusive proof that the soldiers had been executed.He said: "It is a terrible thing to talk in these terms, but since we don't have the two bodies we can't be absolutely sure. "But every piece of information we have points in the direction of these men having been executed in a very brutal fashion. "It includes the fact that the two bodies were found some distance from the vehicles in which they were travelling and had lost their protective equipment, flak jackets and helmets. It does point in that direction."
A spokeswoman for the MoD agreed that it was likely the soldiers had been executed. She said: "They were found without their protective equipment, which suggests they could have been executed." But Iraq strongly denied the claim. Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf accused Mr Blair of twisting the truth. He said when Iraq released pictures of the soldiers "the situation became tense in Britain because the British Prime Minister lied to the public". He added: "To launch a psychological war on us he said, 'You have executed (them)'. "We haven't executed anyone. They are either killed in the battlefield or the rest are captured."
Iraqi TV showed the dead soldiers lying on their backs near their vehicle. One appeared to have been shot in the chest while the other's wounds were unclear. British military commanders were "shocked and appalled" by the graphic images. The commander of
UK forces in the Gulf, Air Marshal Brian Burridge, described the decision to show them as "deplorable". He added: "All media must be aware of the limits of taste and decency."
Gepubliceerd | zaterdag 29 maart 2003. Gewijzigd | zaterdag 29 maart 02:29 uur.
Blair biedt families excuses aan
Van onze medewerker Peter Brusse
LONDEN - Premier Tony Blair heeft de familie van twee gesneuvelde militairen zijn excuses aangeboden. Op de persconferentie met president Bush op Camp David had Blair vol afschuw gesproken over 'de beelden van geëxecuteerde Britse soldaten als bewijs van Saddams verdorven regime.'
Onduidelijkheid over executie soldaten
De families van de twee soldaten reageerden geschokt omdat het Ministerie van Defensie hen verteld had dat de mannen 'in actie' om het leven waren gekomen. De vader van een van de soldaten zei: 'Walgelijk, we zijn kapot van de opmerking van Tony Blair. Mijn jongen is met eer gesneuveld. Hij hield van het leger en had alleen vechtend willen sneuvelen. En dat is gebeurd.' '
De staatssecretaris van Defensie, Adam Ingram, moest in het Lagehuis verklaren dat de premier niemand had willen kwetsen; dat de mannen gevochten hadden met moed en dapperheid.
Dit incident illustreert de overgevoeligheid en verwarring van een land in oorlog. Het was de opening in verscheidene kranten.
Al Jazeera, de Arabische tv-zender, had beelden getoond die erop duidden dat de twee vermiste, weerloze soldaten standrechtelijk waren neergeschoten. Zo had ook Blair het begrepen. Maar zeker was het niet.
Nooit is er zo'n veelheid en diversiteit aan informatie van het front gekomen. En nooit hebben de officiële zegslieden zo weinig greep op het nieuws gehad.
Onzekerheid en twijfel nemen toe. De media worden agressiever, maar vragen zich ook voortdurend af wat wel en niet gepubliceerd of getoond mag worden. Kijkers worden erbij betrokken. Gisterenavond toonde de BBC beelden van Iraakse krijgsgevangenen. Op hun rug hadden soldaten met inktpotlood hun krijgsgevangennummer geschreven. Bij een krijgsgevangene was een poppetje getekend. De presentator, die de beelden voor het eerst zag, vroeg zich af of die tekening niet vernederend was en dus in strijd met de Conventie van Genève. De beelden werden teruggedraaid, zodat de kijkers konden uitmaken wat zij ervan vonden.
Even later zien we de portretten van de twee soldaten die al dan niet geëxecuteerd zijn en de bloemen die bij de kazerne zijn neergelegd. De kinderen hadden briefjes geschreven: 'Pappa, ik mis je, waar je ook bent.' De nabestaanden laten ook blijken hoe moeilijk het is om hun dood te aanvaarden, als er zoveel vragen worden gesteld over de juistheid van deze oorlog. De televisie ontluistert, als nooit tevoren, de mythe van deze oorlog. Veel Britten hebben moeite met openheid van de berichtgeving.
Hoeveel mogen we laten zien van de dagelijkse bloedbaden, horror en pijn, schreef The Guardian gisteren in een hoofdartikel. Het blad drukte een foto af van een dood kind, wiens gezicht voor de helft was weggeslagen door een granaat. 'De waarheid moge dan wel in een oorlog altijd het eerste salchtoffer zijn, maar meestal zijn er meer versies van de waarheid.'
Door velen is het moeilijk dat te aanvaarden