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just watching “path to 911” – clinton really doesnt come well out of it, at all….
Video clips here
I’ve noticed that the trolls latest tactic is to say something along the lines of “How can you say that isn’t newsworthy?” when nobody was arguing that point. Lame tactic, but I suspect it’s designed to annoy more than anything else… has anyone else noticed this or am I just imagining things?
EU ref mentions BBBC here
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-own-worst-enemies.html
and ths is quite a list
http://ussneverdock.blogspot.com/2005/01/bbc-is-turn-off-its-official.html
Yesterday in the Sunday Telegraph ,Dr.Abdul Bari head of the Muslim Council of Britain said that if the British media’s “negative attitudes” didn’t change “Britain will have to deal with 2 million Muslim terrorists.”
This is surely an important statement ,directly concerning the UK media of which the BBC is the most conspicuous member,yet on the BBC website- not a mention.
No surprise, but outrageous nevertheless.
The BBC: All the news we think you need to know.
archduke:
just watching “path to 911” – clinton really doesnt come well out of it, at all….
I watched that too. You can’t help smiling at the “Clinton is Satan” scenes. It was difficult to realise that this was being shown on BBC television. The same channel that created “The power of Nightmares” and, to a considerable extent, replicates in nearly all of its journalistic contributions such
fuzzy thinking when it comes to the “War on Terror”.
No “so called” in this film- we are at war and we should take the gloves off is the POWERFUL message!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/3755686.stm
“Should we be worried about the threat from organised terrorism or is it simply a phantom menace being used to stop society from falling apart?”-
I am looking forward to the 2nd part this evening (5 hours is very Wagnerian!), and think that this has been an admirable effort so far. I wonder Archduke if we will see Bush & Blair treated like Clinton?
I wonder why we saw so little advertising for this film on BBC beforehand (unlike Red Nose day or Marrs interview with GB, or the excited treatment of any of the Labour WAGs(Worried about Gordon)?)
Was it because they found the content of the film too “neo-con” and rather against the liberal-leftish ethos of the BBC?
“I wonder why we saw so little advertising for this film on BBC beforehand ”
indeed.
and notice the almost complete lack of coverage on the BBC about the Democrats and Clinton’s legal team going ballistic with ABC.. its a very big story in the States right now..
The Path to 9/11
Watch also for people to say this is all pre 9/11 and who can say the Republicans would have done any better. Maybe there’s a small grain of truth in that, but look at what the Republicans have done since compared to the Democrats. Here’s a comment I left to someone who had those kind of thoughts.
Maybe but think about this. What have the Democrats been doing since 9/11? The Democrats are against the NSA wiretap program, the SWIFT bank program, rendition, Gitmo, and the Patriot Act. All Republican programs and all proven effective in the war on terror.
“…the Democrats and Clinton’s legal team going ballistic with ABC.. its a very big story in the States right now..”
The Democrats in the Senate have gone so far as to threaten ABC’s broadcasting license. Can you imagine the outrage here if the government threatened to shut down the BBC?
What does this portend for the US should the Democrats regain power? What lenghts will they go to then to silence their critics? Many have forgotten that Clinton used the IRS (Inland Revenue) to go after their critics last time they were in power.
To those that dismiss the film and say it’s all made up, here’s a reminder of facts:
http://betsyspage.blogspot.com/2006/09/its-about-time-that-people-remember.html
Interesting the Democrats were very happy with Michael Moore and the fabarications in his film, going so far as to invite him to John Kerry’s Democratic National Convention where he sat next to Jimmy Carter.
To be fair I only listened to this morning’s “Today” from about 7:30 to 8:20. Big play about 9/11 – of course and I would expect that – but what do we get:
1. Justin Webb in the US gives an ostensibly balanced account of growing scepticism in the US about the terrorist threat. Webb interviews two academics who assert there is no threat: he allows the deputy deputy deputy head of the FBI a short statement asserting that a threat remains and that a number of attacks have been prevented: the truth of this statement is denied on a return to the academic commentators. Although on paper this has the look of “balanced” reportage it came over quite differently. From Webb’s comments and the thrust of the piece you would gather that (a) the whole of US academe is unanimously convinced that the terrorist threat, if not completely finished, is so slight as to be ignored and (b) the FBI’s “assertion” (and described as such by Webb) is denied unanimously by the US academy. The flavour of Webb’s piece is that the FBI (which is a proxy for the whole Bush administration) has asserted something which is at best unproveable and at worst an outright lie and that US academics – who are impartial because . . er . . they are academics and thus by definition have no axe to grind – dismiss the assertion.
An organisation marked by competent journalism (ie not the BBC) and genuinely seeking impartial coverage would have started with the FBI statement and had two academics, one agreeing one disagreeing that the terrorist threat exists.
2. Then we have the trail that Gore Vidal is to be interviewed later in the programme. I didn’t linger to hear this interview but since it is the same Gore Vidal who has been vitriolic about Bush and US foreign policy since at least 2000, his views on 9/11, the Bush administration and world terrorism are, shall we say, predictable.
3. We then have an interview with John Prescott. During this Prescott recalls that he and Blair were at the TUC conference when the news came through about 9/11. According to Prescott, Blair said (and I paraphrase) that this (ie the attack on the WTC) would change the world: Prescott claims to have said (at the very time of the attack) that this proves that the Palestine problem must be solved: an assertion (which might or might not be true in respect of the solution to terrorism) but as to Prescott actually saying it (let alone thinking it) at that time was left totally unchallenged. I suspect that all Prescott said was something like “f*****g hell” except at greater length and less fluency.
In summary: the BBC’s commemoration of 9/11 comprises (1) attacks on the present US administration, (2) giving unchallenged airtime to the view that 9/11 was a unique event and thus signalled no excuse for the US to tighten up or re-prioritise either its domestic security apparatus or its foreign policy imperatives. I was waiting for an exclusive report that the BBC had discovered that 9/11 either had been a hoax with photoshopped images taken from the “Towering Inferno” or had been a plot conceived and carried out by the FBI and Mossad and that Mohammed Ata was actually David Goldberg, a tailor from the Bronx.
Umbongo – I also heard the ridiculous Gore Vidal add nothing about from vitriolic diatribe. Maybe that’s why they invited him on? Couldn’t they have found somebody (anybody) with something more worthwhile to add to the ‘leading’ ‘flagship’ ‘intelligent speech’ programme?
I saw a bit of “Dateline London” on Sunday. There was Gavin Esler plus four journos – one American, one Jamaican, one Arab and Polly Toynbee.
http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_clickpage.asp?pageid=2868
Polly was, by a considerable distance, the most right wing contributor.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today5_vidal_20060911.ram
Here he is. Listen as Stourton lobs him soft questions and lets him rant away. Stourton’s first question (have things changed in the last 5 years) gets a 1 minute 40 second diatribe answer without interruption. Vidal claims that bin Laden is a US-invented bogeyman. He also gets an uninterrupted 1 minute 15 second diatribe at the end.
vidal has a very selective memory when he talks about the “end of the Republic”, putting the blame entirely on Bush in the post 9/11 world.
he’s forgotten , or rather , chooses to forget, about the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War 2. Did the American Republic therefore end in 1941? Of course this question is never posed to Mr Vidal.
Example of BBC bias on the enviro-front. Well done to the contributor Phil Davies who’s article exposes sloppy journalism from the BBC who just can’t defend their reporting.
Do 4x4s get a rough ride?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_5320000/newsid_5324700/5324718.stm
This is what passes as analysis at the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5332976.stm
The headline should read – A superficial success by a BBC superficial correspondent.
jeremy bowen is a w**ker according to drinking from home,and who could disagree.
http://drinkingfromhome.blogspot.com/2006/09/jeremy-bowen.html#links
Dave fordwych,
I just logged on here to make a comment only to find that you beat me to it! (Your comment is copied below)
Bari’s recent comment about the 2 mill suicide bombers was well reported in the press but remained unreported by the BBC as far as I can see. This is despite the fact that they often quote Muslim Council Britain representatives over much more “trivial” matters as can easily be verified by a search on the bbc website.
Have you bothered complaining to Al-Beeb or is it so futile that biased bbc readers in general do not advocate complaining officially.
dave fordwych said:
Yesterday in the Sunday Telegraph ,Dr.Abdul Bari head of the Muslim Council of Britain said that if the British media’s “negative attitudes” didn’t change “Britain will have to deal with 2 million Muslim terrorists.”
This is surely an important statement ,directly concerning the UK media of which the BBC is the most conspicuous member,yet on the BBC website- not a mention.
No surprise, but outrageous nevertheless.
The BBC: All the news we think you need to know
I think that Gore Vidal’s diatribe on Radio 4 this morning was one too far: I mean, it was way-out-there. Anyone who is not a registered moonbat would have sussed him for the loonie that he is.
It’s official: the plumbing community is mistrusted by 79 percent of Brits. The other 21 percent consisting of BBC employees, Guardian editors, ex-mistresses of George Galloway — and the plumbers themselves.
Gore Vidal`s rhetorical incontinance does us a huge favour. Let`s have much more from him, from Toynbee, from Monbiot et al. Let`s give `em enough rope.
In 1979 the voters in Britain knew just what to do with these (and I know its no longer fashionable) Communists.
.
Another £10 million flushed down the Toilet…Muslim woman working, will Islam allow that?
Free training to get Muslim women jobs
Muslim mothers are to be offered free job training as part of a new government drive to combat Islamic extremism and get more women into work.
Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly today unveiled the £10 million pilot scheme as part of a wider campaign to help women break into male-dominated jobs.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=404640&in_page_id=1770
.
Ju,
RE: Have you bothered complaining to Al-Beeb or is it so futile that biased bbc readers in general do not advocate complaining officially.
Click.
Your chance to help nail the BBC (well, another way).
http://prodicus.blogspot.com/2006/09/your-chance-to-help-nail-bbc.html
To commemorate the 5th anniversary of 9/11 perhaps the BBC could show the episode of Question Time that was aired two days later. The one where a specially invited audience of triumphant Muslims and Marxists gloat over 3000 dead, and scream abuse at an ex-US ambassador to the UK.
With broadband internet video now widely available, I’m sure lots of people in America would be most interested in seeing this.
Or perhaps it’s gone down the BBC memory hole, never to be seen again.
Does anyone know where to get that edition of Question time? It was iconic: it revealed to me the true nature of the BBC, although I already had circumstantial evidence.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=404630&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5
Boy Blue: They should be forced to show the recording again so everybody remembers what Al Beeb is all about. I’ve been trying to locate a recording of Question Time from that day but failed.
Five years ago not too many people had the means to digitally record TV programmes so I guess we’ll probably never see that QT again. Shame that because I’d love to forward a copy to Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin and Sean Hannity.
Anony, I was just about to post that article.
Look out for a repeat of the Motoon Riots…
This is a bit OT but you might still enjoy the weird and wonderful nuances of this BBC-related video, and the reaction to it… http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/11/video_spoof/
entertainment headline shock at the bbc,nothing to do with entertainment.
yawn…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm
Another pigs will fly moment!
Video: BBC staff in bad-taste Middle East spoof
The video is here
There is still hope!
Prodicus
“Your chance to help nail the BBC (well, another way).”
As I understand it the tribunal ordered the BBC either to release the report or find another ground to deny its release. The BBC are pondering what to do – any bets what it decides?
The first feature on the six o’clock news this evening has just made my (American) wife extremely angry — they just couldn’t resist the temptation to give the Muslims “preaching tolerance” thing incredible prominence, resulting in our switching off.
Totally inappropriate, and another attempt to try and portray Muslims as the real victims.
Stoatman,
Please tell your good lady wife that the BBC does not reflect the views held the the British people…
And it should be made to announce that before every bulletin.
Thank you Anony.
I looked at the article.
I saw the objections raised by and arab rights group and was happily dreaming of a possible fatwah.
I was brought up short when I came across the reference to the video being made with licence fee payer’s money.
I’m sure we can all see the funny side now.
By the way, thank you to those of you who voted for my view on (Don’t) Have Your Say, on Troops/Afghanistan?
My posts rarely make it on, but seem to do well when they sneak past the moderaters.
Please feel free to vote if you agree with my particular view.
Last time I was top vote on Media in the middle east, I was invited on their radio debate. (So here’s hoping)
“If that’s what it takes.
At the end of the day, if the Taliban/al Queda are tied down in Afghanistan and/or being killed, they are not killing and/or planning to kill innocent people on the streets of London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Moscow, Bangkok, Sydney….”
Tim, Toulon, France
Sorry, but I can’t see anything good about this video at all.
The result will almost certainly be an unctuous apology followed by even more nauseating bending over backwards not to “offend” by Al Beeb-the organisation, not a few irreverent employees- and a few more news items such as Bari’s “2 million terrorists” threat will have even less chance of seeing the light of day there.
It was probably a useless exercise,but I did call the BBC this morning to complain about the Gore Vidal interview, and asked why he was allowed to speak unchallenged. Two of my friends called too, and each of us had to spell “Gore Vidal” for them.
10:08 on Sept 11 2006, BBC focuses on Muslims as victims – then moves swiftly to Iraq…
beeb reporter just made a comment about just as many victims in Iraq as WTC attacks… moral equivalence time.
Just watched the BBC news at 10. F**king furious. Liberal Sh*t.
Its all the USAs fault obviously.
Next story – Global Warming.
Wonder if they will report the Shuttle dock. Mmmm.
Cant wait for Newsnight.
I CAN NOT believe that they put a random global warming story before the Shuttle docking and passing over the P3/P4 truss.
FFS.
“path to 911” tonight… very very good. i hope someone uploads it to YouTube.
It’s also the fifth anniversary since the disgraceful Question Time after 9/11 when the US Ambassador was almost in tears beeing shouted at by BBC friends. Not much has changed since.
‘Cant wait for Newsnight.’
It has Dan Rather on it…I jest not.
It’s nearly as bad as the post 9/11 Question Time.
newsnight on now… shirley williams.
she wants us to talk to hezbollah. you know – those fascist types, that just want to wipe out every Jew on the planet. no small matter – we’ll just talk to them…
yeah right shirley. keep taking the prozac.
On that spoof of Show me the way to Amarillo, is it the case that the BBC will not allow anyone to mock Osama bin Laden?
good god – dan rather is on newsnight right now..
martin amis is no going on about us losing the “moral high ground”.
hmmm.. we didnt really think about the moral high ground when we firebombed Hamburg and Dresden, did we?
to be fair, james woolsey (ex CIA) saves the day, and really lays out what we’re up against. “genocidal fanatics” in the form of “bin laden, ahmadinajad” – by comparision the communists were “just cynics who wanted to keep their dachas”…