Watching and waiting, but not holding my breath.

On Wednesday March 16th BBC News Online featured a story Italy ‘hopes’ for Iraq withdrawal, that begins:

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has confirmed that he “hopes” to begin pulling out Italian troops from Iraq as soon as possible.

Mr Berlusconi told the US president of his plans to begin withdrawing troops this September in a telephone call.

Mr Berlusconi said the decision to remove his troops would depend on Iraq’s security situation.

On Friday March 18th, The Times featured a story Italian troops to stay, after all, that begins:

TO BITING criticism from the Italian Opposition and the press, Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, backtracked yesterday over his announcement that Italian troops would start withdrawing from Iraq in September, claiming that this had only ever been a “hope” rather than a commitment.

On Tuesday night Signor Berlusconi had caused consternation in London and Washington by declaring on state television that Italy would begin a “progressive withdrawal” of its 3,000-strong contingent from Iraq starting in September, provided local security conditions allowed this.

The Times story adds:

Yesterday, however, Italian newspapers carried a “clarification” from Signor Berlusconi’s office stating that after a “long and cordial” conversation with President Bush the Italian leader wished to make it clear that there was “no fixed date” for withdrawal, which could only take place “in consultation with our allies”.

Signor Berlusconi said that the media had misinterpreted his words and built “castles in the air”.

The difference in emphasis between the two reports is interesting. Whilst there are clear differences in the timings of the two reports, they both refer to essentially the same events, yet the BBC version emphasises the confirmation of hopes for withdrawal as soon as possible, whereas The Times notes that this “had only ever been a ‘hope’ rather than a commitment”. Perhaps the BBC is in the process of belatedly writing up Mr. Berlusconi’s clarification, to avoid any misleading impressions becoming established fact, as demonstrated in a BBC report from Saturday March 19th, Iraq rally hears troops out call:

Scottish Socialist Party national convener Colin Fox said the announcement that 3,000 Italian troops are to leave Iraq showed that the “illegal occupation” was unravelling.

Clearly the Italian troops are not leaving Iraq yet, and there is no firm plan or date for them to do so – so the BBC quote above is misleading. At the very least it needs more quotemarks to make it clear that it is the far-left speaking rather than the BBC (for those of us who hope and believe that there is a difference between the two!).

P.S. The satire-mongers among us may enjoy the cartoons described by The Times: ‘La Repubblica retaliated with a front-page cartoon showing the Prime Minister declaring: “I never said what I said, and if I did say it, I misrepresented myself”. The cartoon in Corriere della Sera had Signor Berlusconi dictating a statement reading: “I have agreed with Bush on an immediate withdrawal – that is, the immediate withdrawal of what I said on television”‘.