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Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:
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SiN’s quote from Peter Hitchens shows that Mr Hitchens has spotted the reasons that the time analysis justifications of non-bias from the BBC are total hogwash & that “impartial” academics waste their time in their construction.
… smells like… victory.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist)
Rachel
“I just saw Fergal Kean reporting on the lunchtime BBC news, and he said they were going in with an “Aid Convoy” to southern Lebanon…”
yeah, but was he crying or just close to tears?
hezbollah attacked the UN twice this week:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=21801_Hizballah_Attacked_UNIFIL_Twice_This_Week&only
BBC website publishes photos of Hezbollah in the dress uniforms…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5223210.stm
… no sign of those fascist salutes tho’
Rachel
Victory indeed. And I hope the sustenance provided by the pizzas I’ve sent to the IDF play their own, small part. If anyone’s nipping off the the local this weekend, don’t forget to raise a glass or eight to the IDF. Especially if there are any liberals around.
Here we have:
US ‘OUTRAGE OVER ISRAELI CLAIMS’
Last Updated: Friday, 28 July 2006, 13:09 GMT 14:09 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5223940.stm
Forget the gist of the story, it’s just some State Department tool about the lose his job. The piece contains an update on the ‘destruction’ of Israel:
Some 425 Lebanese, the vast majority civilians, are confirmed killed in the 17 days of the conflict – but a Lebanese minister has suggested scores more bodies lie under the rubble, yet to be recovered.
Roger L Simon has a bit of info too and maybe it’s more enlightening:
July 25, 2006: KING KOFI, DEAD CIVILIANS AND THE COMPLIANT MEDIA
http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2006/07/king_kofi_dead.php
But speaking of facts, just who are those 300 plus innocent “civilians” the Israelis allegedly have killed during their war with Hezbollah? Has anyone in our media cared to investigate or are they just taking their “civilian” status at face value? So far it seems our media do, but perhaps there is more to the story. I attended a talk this evening by my friend Cliff May of the esteemed Foundation for the Defense of Democracy , also attended by several Christian Lebanese. They were quite outspoken during the question period about those “civilians,” implying that in their experience they were virtually all Hezbollah people or their allies, not innocent at all. Those Chrsitian Lebanese seemed quite knowledgable about the subject and the terrain – far more so than any of our MSM reporters. I took their cards and am going to try to get a hold of them tomorrow for a podcast with Pajamas Media/Politics Central. If our MSM doesn’t want to find out what’s happening, we’re just going to have to do it ourselves (and with original sources, not anonymous ones).
some rare anti-dhimmitude
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/5209466.stm
MPAC are foaming at the mouth about the this sunday’s Panorama expose:
http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/2057/1/
great stuff.
if they are foaming , it must mean that John Ware is onto something.
The BBC is unlikely to report the forthright words of John Bolton at his confirmation hearing in the Senate yesterday. He nailed the Middle East problem as due to terrorists – and without dealing with the issue of terrorism, all talk of peace is nugatory, self-deceiving.
The BBC would choke on the T word and spike the story.
Even though it contains far more sense and reapolitik in a couple of paras than all the blethering of Simpson, Bowen, Muir and Sob-Story Keane.
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/014822.php
Incidentally, a Gaelic meaning of the verb “to keen” is to wail long and loudly in lamentation.
How bizarre:
Controllers’ bomb flights unease
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/5223444.stm
“We usually don’t know the cargo that is on board but for some reason this one’s flight plan was brazenly advertising it was carrying bombs.”
Eh? Yesterday the BBC were telling us the US had not followed procedures by not informing the CAA regarding the Cargo:
US rejects weapon flight concerns
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5221782.stm
“A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority was unable to confirm whether it had been informed of the contents of the flight to which Mrs Beckett referred.”
So the US failed to inform the UK CAA about the Cargo, but at the same time was “brazenly advertising it was carrying bombs” on it’s flight plan?
So er, which one is right?
Whichever version is anti-US would be my take.
Ritter
I dunno, rules, regs, treaties, agreements …. maybe will or won’t find out what should have happened and what did happen. As long as the IDF gets those bombs that’s all that matters. I just have to note though, what kind of moron do they employ at Prestwick, and do you want this one controlling your plane?:
One air traffic controller, who did not want to be identified, said: We usually don’t know the cargo that is on board but for some reason this one’s flight plan was brazenly advertising it was carrying bombs. People are very uncomfortable with that. We usually don’t have time to worry about what’s on board but there is a feeling that this is not good. We work with military aircraft all the time and people here are professional. They would never leave traffic that needs to be dealt with but there are people who feel uncomfortable working with certain aircraft.
So, they’re professional and deal with military aircraft all the time, but don’t want to deal with aircraft carrying bombs.
This is too dumb. No-one can say something like that. How’s about this: “One biased-bbc commentator, who did not want to be named, said it’s “bullshit.” There, it’s easy.
Who cares? They’ll just fly them into and out of RAF Fairford, and Prestwick can lose some money….
Let them bleat on, it changes nothing……
Whoope-do…..lol.
🙂
The Guardian’s ‘Comment is Free’ page currently has a debate about whether the BBC is biased towards Israel.
Posters here might want to have their say there as well.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/inayat_bunglawala/2006/07/mel_p_and_the_beirut_broadcast.html
Brakes slam on US economic growth
Emergency stop? No
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 2.5% in the three months to the end of June, compared to a 5.6% annual rate in the previous quarter
So even with the brakes slammed on the US economy is still outpacing the Eurozone (& particularly “Old Europe”)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5224474.stm
something you wont see on the bbc
terrorists using a U.N. ambulance
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2006/07/unterrorist-collusion-in-gaza-video.html
“The Guardian’s ‘Comment is Free’ page currently has a debate about whether the BBC is biased towards Israel.”
ah yes. Inayat Bunglawala.
he of “death threats to LGF” fame…
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=20760_A_Death_Threat_from_Reuters_(Bumped)&only
I see on MSN that your Blair is coming to persuade our Bush to get behind a ‘diplomatic solution’. I hope to God Bush politely tells him to forget it – or impolitely for that matter.
The solution to Hezbollah is to keep pounding it until it either cries Uncle or is dead. Unconditional
surrender, guys. It worked in WW II it’ll work now.
Go Israel, Go! Kill the B***rds!!
Darn. ‘Anonymous’ was me. I wouldn’t want anybody to think I’m ashamed of my sentiments.
Go, Israel, Go! Kill the B***rds!
Kill ’em!
The BBC’s ‘reporting’ on the fatalities in Lebanon is a good indication of just how deeply its journalists are embedded with the terrorists in this war.
From the screaming headline Israel kills Lebanese civilians to the profound lack of curiosity regarding Hizbullah fatalities to the eventual belated realisation that they had better mention that at least some Hizbullah “fighters” had been killed or lose all credibility, BBC journalists have clearly revealed their bias.
It’s obvious to everyone that Hizbullah has a policy not to reveal the deaths in its ranks, unless absurdly underreporting them for propaganda purposes, but it only takes a phone call to an IDF spokesperson to ascertain a rough estimate of the Hizbullah death toll. But the BBC remains mute, obedient to the policy of its terrorist masters.
Human Rights Watch
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/17/lebano13748.htm
A quite reasonably balanced Q and A on war crimes and how Israel AND Hezbollah are following or not following the rules. I was struck by the fact that despite being a non-state party Hezbolah have to follow the same rules. I also note that Human Rights Watch are saying HZ are committing war crimes within the first three examples they give!
Wonder if Al Beeb reporters have ever read this sort of thing – if not they should so they can report fairly instead of trying to imply that Israel is guilty of war crimes every two minues and not a donkey’s peep about Hezbollah.
This is not the Human Rights Watch that I know.
I think they’ve been smoking something.
“I hope to God Bush politely tells him to forget it – or impolitely for that matter.”
he did.
the international force that Bush has agreed to , will have teeth – they will be sent in to enforce the UN resolution 1559 – i.e. disarm hezbollah.
but its very much up in the air at the moment. for now, bush seems to be happy enough for the IDF to carry on.
Another excellent article by Charles Krauthammer ridicules the use of the word disproportionate.
Now where have we heard that word ?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/27/AR2006072701725.html
its escalated.
iranian made Fajr-5 missiles fired at israel:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282785,00.html
Roxana:
Darn. ‘Anonymous’ was me. I wouldn’t want anybody to think I’m ashamed of my sentiments.
Go, Israel, Go! Kill the B***rds!
Kill ’em!
————————
You sound as bad as the terrorist Mullahs Roxana, is there really any need for that?
Just found this on Have Your Say under the Israel/Lebanon discussion:
The next General Election I will simply vote for the party whose leader promises to end this ‘special’ relationship with the USA
peter hallam, Morton
So I posted: (Won’t get published though)
This is another example of BBC pedalling anti USA views and bias. There is no comment on the issue at hand and it simply says nothing about the conflict. Q. So why has it been posted and published? A. Because it implies anti USA feeling from the author and the BBC just cannot resist. Abysmal BBC.
Roxana
I see on MSN that your Blair is coming to persuade our Bush to get behind a ‘diplomatic solution’.
I wouldn’t be too sure. He has as a new face for everyone he meets. Now GWB would know that and wouldn’t fall for it, but Blair’s conceit is such that he STILL thinks, after 9 years of lies, that people take him at his word.
GWB will tell Blair what the US intends to do, Blair will nod and agree that he’s right with him, then Blair will fly back to tell the press one thing, Parliament another, the Labour Party something else and the Arab press that he’ll not rest until the Jews are sleeping with fishes.
Mick,
It might help to add at the end of your comment words like, “I bet you don’t publish this.”
They might publish it just to prove you wrong.
I’ve sent them four or five comments on that topic over the past week but they haven’t published one.
dave t
A quite reasonably balanced Q and A on war crimes and how Israel AND Hezbollah are following or not following the rules.
Being the voice of sanity and reason, I do believe that the IDF is capable of war crimes. I also believe that accusers should put up with concrete evidence or shut up.
Let’s be clear about two things:
1. In the last couple of weeks alone Hezbollah has launched something like 1500 missiles at Israel. Each and every one has been aimed at civilian areas and is therefore a war crime.
2. Something like 500 Lebanese have been killed in the last couple of weeks. The IAF has flown some 5000 missions. Now even if you believe that each Lebanese death is a civilian death (and I don’t) that equates to about 1 civilian killed for every 10 missions.
That is the record of a force clearly targetting military assets and actively trying to avoid civilian casualties.
To say, like Human Rights Watch, that Israel AND Hezbollah are committing war crimes is to apply an equivalence where one clearly does not lay.
archduke:
something you wont see on the BBC
terrorists using a U.N. ambulance…
Just coincidence then that this very day I have seen what I have been expecting for some time. A photo in the press captioned “Israelis bomb ambulance” what we see is the roof and broken light surrounded by some bricks of what appears to be an ambulance.
Disgruntled Right Winger –
Is this what you mean?:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=21813_Palestinian_Terrorists_in_UN_Ambulances&only
It’s from 2004 but just look at it! A UN ambulance with bloody terrorists piling into it! I tell you what, the BBC wouldn’t show that in a million years. Kofi Annan has been shouting his mouth off lately, odd how there are some things he’d rather not comment on.
It would like to see the Europeans put up or shut up as well. But the EU believes in nothing and stands for nothing.
Look at Darfur and you understand why Israel is so focused on defending itself, because sure as hell the UN will not protect anyone (except if you are friends with China).
BBC Biased that, BBC Biased this – could it be (shock) that they are reporting something you do not want to see reported?
And ironic as it sounds, the vast majority of you lot are biased anyway.
Pot kettle black or what?
could it be (shock) that they are reporting something you do not want to see reported?
They are broadcasting something I don’t want to pay for. But I have no choice. I have to subsidise your viewing pleasure.
I want to see ALL the news reported. And far less opinionising by the BBC.
The highest casualty figure for Hezbollah I have heard on the BBC is 40.
40.
40. After 2 weeks ?
The BBC are bloody amateurs. Hundreds of Hezbollah have been killed, probably approaching or exceeding a thousand, but of course that doesn’t play to the BBC lede that the Israelis are thrashing around killing only civilians.
Zevilyn wrote:
“It would like to see the Europeans put up or shut up as well. But the EU believes in nothing and stands for nothing.”
You will be waiting a long time if you expect ‘Europe’ to assist a Jewish state, or stand in the way of its destruction at the hands of muslims. Europe has a bit of history in its treatment of Jews. Although it was Germans who killed most of the 6 million between 1941 and 1945, don’t forget who handed the victims over.
allan -> if israel was say, Roman Catholic, i am firmly convinced you would see half the hostility.
you’d have arms and troops piling in there from NATO, to back up the IDF.
listening to “any questions” this afternoon convinced me even more of that.
Zevilyn –
The finest argument I’ve read yet for ignoring the professional peaceniks and punching totalitarians, until they can’t get back up, was made by Christopher Hitchens:
There has been a great deal of nonsense published in the last week to the effect that an alliance with the United States can put other countries like Britain in the position of being “targeted.” Why deny this? I reflect on what was not done at Srebrenica, and on what ought to have been done in Rwanda, and on what was put off too long with the Taliban and the Baathists, and I think what an honor it is to have such enemies. Co-existence with them is not possible, which is good, because it is not desirable or tolerable, either. The Srebrenica memorial stands as enduring testimony to that inescapable conclusion.
http://www.slate.com/id/2122395/
emails sent by UN observer Maj. Hess-von Kruedener, a Canadian who was killed in the bombing in Lebanon sent in the days before his death. He wrote, “I can tell you is this. …………This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060728/cm_huffpost/026008
Why was this last sentence omitted from the reporting by the BBC and the UN