Simpson hits back

– Something tells me that John Simpson doesn’t share his colleague’s optimism about blogs. However if ever there was an opinion piece in need of a fisking it would be Simpson’s latest.

Ah well, life’s too short, and attention span is the deity we secretly worship. So let me first draw attention to the treachery and silliness of the following statement:

British soldiers have mostly behaved well in Iraq, but not always.

Long after they have withdrawn they will be remembered there and throughout the Islamic world for the occasional moments of brutality, not for the rest of their behaviour.

Note the faux loyalty of the first line. It’s accurate enough I think – and modest enough to make you feel at home. But then comes the knife below belt level.

Absurd, isn’t it? It’s like saying that the Danish resistance would be remembered for its treatment of informers long after their resistance against Hitler was forgotten. It’s totally missing the point, yet the cowed British reader in full ‘cultural cringe’ may not really realise that.

See antidote here.

Oh, and did I mention Simpson isn’t a fan of the web? Well:

‘you only have to look at online discussions of the beatings in Basra to see that the soldiers who carried them out have their supporters.’

Supporters of British troops in Iraq, yes – and this carries with it the burden of loyalty, up to a point. But I don’t think Simpson would understand that, somehow.

The second half of Simpson’s article is perhaps even worse, as he does the kind of back of a postcard reasoning about terror suspects at Guantanamo based on a couple of bare sketches from unscrutinised sources that would get him thoroughly squashed were he to go properly online with it. I expect Simpson to stay firmly behind the big media battlements.

More on related themes here.