Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:


Please use this thread for off-topic, but preferably BBC related, comments. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not an invitation for general off-topic comments – our aim is to maintain order and clarity on the topic-specific threads. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts.

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515 Responses to Open thread – for comments of general Biased BBC interest:

  1. Jon says:

    “In its assumptions about moral standards, should the BBC be guided only by what is legal or illegal? Or does it have moral values? Does it implicitly disapprove of pornography, of heavy drinking, of unhealthy eating, of urban 4x4s? If it should not be ‘hideously white’, should it be ‘beautifully green’? The BBC often used to say it did not take attitudes • except that it was always opposed to racism. Is it still? Should it be? Why does it need to have a view at all, rather than merely observe and report the actions and views of others?
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review_report_research/impartiality_21century/report.pdf.

    I would contend that to be impartial no opinion is needed – it is by listening to the argument that the public is informed and not by the BBC moralising to us.

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  2. TPO says:

    A new thread has opened.
    For those that could be bothered, look at this expose of the BBC employee bullshit detective and the fact that he has been caught out lying, not once now but twice, both over the same issue, the Mohammed cartoons.
    http://www.haloscan.com/comments/patrickcrozier/3861044074615880734/#361936

    My time is now very limited and I will not be able to visit this blog as often as I was able in the past, but I suggest that someone look at the timing and frequency of postings of certain trolly types.
    The clue is there. It ain’t the work of one person!!!!

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  3. Jon says:

    Do the Conservatives not do anything these days? Unless its some trivial email by a conservative “activist” – the BBc do not want to know.

    Don’t believe me? – look at the BBC “Politics” page. We are in a one party state.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/default.stm

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  4. tom atkins says:

    Driving Licences are being obtained by impersination at the driving tests (they have been for many years) on a massive scale.

    Will the BBC say if this crime has a racial (asian) profile?

    Uhm

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  5. tom atkins says:

    Has anyone heard the BBC call Glastonbury “horribly white” yet?

    But I suppose anything sponsored by Greenpeace, The Guardian, and the BBC must mean well.

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  6. GCooper says:

    Here we go again. After all the fuss over the misdirection report on BBC bias, the Corporation’s ‘news’ website displays an almost staggering level of pro-government, pro-EU bias in its report on Bliar’s latest Great Brussels Giveaway.

    Following a headline quoting Bliar’s lies: ‘EU treaty good for UK, says Blair’ we have a short paragraph saying not very much at all and then the followng bullet points:
    . EU chiefs ‘satisfied’ with treaty
    . Deal paves way to move on
    . Your views: The way forward?

    So the ‘Deal paves way to move on’ does it? What about the row over the lying manifesto which promised voters a referendum? What about the howls of outrage from the opposition? What about the strange position of Brown in all this?

    Once again, the BBC is putting positive spin on a British government sell-out.

    And trolls, don’t even bother disembowelling the report in the hope of finding the odd mention of dissent.

    As the BBC’s rabid Europhiles know only too well, most people get their news from the headlines.

    And these are designed to make this shabby stitch-up look like a good deal.

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  7. Wayne says:

    I typically read about eight on-line news sources several times during the day. Each source usually carries half a dozen lead stories during that time and today is no exception, except for Al-Beeb that is.

    Since first looking today (at 09.00 CET) until now (after 21.00 CET) the only lead story that has featured on Al-Beeb is “Karzai angry over West’s tactics”.

    Has nothing else happened today that is worthy of the top slot? Are all the other news organisations wrong to slowly move the Karzai story further down the page as the day wears on? Oh sorry, I forgot, that wouldn’t fit the message Al-Beeb and it’s masters want to convey now, would it!

    Al-beeb, displaying bias by ommision once more.

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  8. K says:

    The great awakening of internet democracy substitutes one mouth-piece of anti-semitic, islamofacism for another.

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  9. Bryan says:

    The clue is there. It ain’t the work of one person!!!!
    TPO | 23.06.07 – 8:00 pm

    Or are you saying it is the work of one person??

    As far as “Bullshit Detective” goes, he must have dreamed up the name through looking in the mirror a lot. I also noticed that he didn’t have the grace to admit he’d been caught out on the cartoons.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Here’s a little Hamas propaganda.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6230756.stm

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  11. Barry says:

    tom atkins 8.24

    Be fair they have given us a suble clue ie. Shazad Akhtar & Mushtaq Ahmed, Oldham, as a starter for ten.

       0 likes

  12. archonix says:

    GCooper et al, you need to read this.

    The devil is in the detail, they say • but not here. It is right up front, in your face, a naked coup d’etat attempt, writ large in the European Council presidency conclusions. There, you will find provisions which breach the fundamental principles of national sovereignty and make formerly independent sovereign states subordinate to the European Union.

    This is not an academic issue, to be chewed over by constitution lawyers, but one of huge practical significance. It will determine whether Gordon Brown will have any freedom to negotiate in the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which is set to start in July under the Portuguese presidency.

    The practical implication of this • if the text is accepted at face value – is that the representatives of the member states are effectively bound by the terms of the “mandate” and cannot introduce other matters, or seek treaty changes not foreseen by this “mandate”. At a national level, the effect would be that Gordon Brown would not be able to change the agenda set by the European Council, as agreed by his predecessor Tony Blair.

    In constitutional terms, this is a dramatic development. … in these short paragraphs is a fundamental challenge to the sovereignty of the member states of the European Union, which we cannot allow to pass.

    Read the full post. Richard is writing up another post here which goes in to the full detail of what the current European Council has decided and the full ramifications of this decision. This moment has been long predicted. When the IGC starts its negotiations it will function for the first time under constraints that bind the supposedly soverign members to a dictat from the Council. This is a fundamental shift in teh balance of power. Up to this point power has rested with the national governments. From today, unless something happens, power will rest in the hands of the EU. We will no longer be a soverign nation.

    This is the literal State of Europe arriving.

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  13. bodo says:

    Glastonbury… white?

    Yes, on [I think] R5 yesterday, a reporter remarked about the ‘whiteness’ of Glasto; ‘Its very white, probably 95%’.
    To be fair it was a brief aside, and fairly neutral in tone, but the fact he mentioned it at all implies he thought it was abnormal and probably to be disapproved of.

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  14. Wayne says:

    Bodo:

    It’s ridiculous that they even need to say this kind of bollocks.

    The UK population is more than 92% white so what else can be expected!

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  15. Bryan says:

    This is the literal State of Europe arriving.
    archonix | Homepage | 23.06.07 – 9:05 pm

    Rule by faceless PC bureaucrats in Brussels?

    Sounds like a horror story to me.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    A Muslim peer compared Salman Rushdie to the September 11 hijackers yesterday as protests over the author’s knighthood escalated.

    At Regents Park Mosque in London, demonstrators held up placards saying “May God curse the Queen”

    Such a Peaceful Religion
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/23/nsalman123.xml

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  17. Wayne says:

    I’m so pleased with the worldwide winding up of the RoP that I heartily recommend knighting Rushdie every year, just to rub it in!

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  18. Bryan says:

    Here’s a little Hamas propaganda.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/progr…ent/ 6230756.stm
    Anonymous | 23.06.07 – 9:02 pm

    Yes, I also noticed that. I don’t have time to fisk it all, but here’s a few prime extracts:

    ….Hamas had not really expected to find themselves suddenly in power. They wanted, rather, to be regarded as a legitimate part of the Palestinian movement.

    But Fatah assumed that in time, its rivals would be crushed. Israel, through air strikes and mass arrests, worked hard to achieve this.

    Oh, I see. Israel attacked Hamas simply to back Fatah. It had nothing to do with Hamas terrorism. Suddenly it all becomes wonderfully clear. Things are so simple when one accepts propaganda disguised as journalism.

    ‘No plan to rule’

    Now I’m wondering when terrorism is going to be mentioned in this lengthy analysis of the motivations of a terrorist group. Ah, here it is:

    The international community shunned Hamas because of its association with terrorism, despite being advised by many on the ground that constructive engagement might be a more profitable course of action.

    I see, sort of like an undeserved reputation for terror that sticks unjustly to Hamas when it’s now reformed and only wants to be loved and accepted by the ignorant and disapproving international community.

    Hamas has also been pushing the no plan to rule lie, in order to lull its opponents into complacency. That the BBC goes along with this is contemptible. The BBC is acting as nothing more or less than a mouthpiece for Islamic terror here.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Even more pandering:

    Schools have been told they should allow Muslim girls taking swimming lessons to cover themselves from head to toe in special outfits dubbed burkinis.

    Official approval?: A model shows off her burkini
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463887&in_page_id=1770

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  20. Anonymous says:

    I like a story with a happy ending:

    “Prince William and Kate Middleton have been seeing each other again • and shared a passionate kiss at a decadent Army party before disappearing to the Prince’s private quarters”
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463980&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5

       0 likes

  21. Jon says:

    In its 18th June 2007 report, From Seesaw to Wagon Wheel, the BBC admits to systematic bias in favour of an enlarged and activist state, and against liberty and tradition.

    Commenting on this report, Libertarian Alliance Director, Dr Sean Gabb, says

    “The answer to this admitted bias is not better regulation: all regulation must ultimately be overseen by the same members or clients of the ruling class who produced the bias. It is not privatisation: that will do nothing more than turn a propaganda vehicle for the ruling class into a profitable propaganda vehicle for the ruling class.

    “The only answer is full and immediate abolition. The BBC should be taken off air. Its employees should be sacked and its buildings sold off. All its internal records should be destroyed. All its copyrights should be thrown into the public domain.”
    http://www.libertarian.co.uk/news/nr052.htm

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  22. Glauca says:

    Wow! the Guardian has cover this story. But Al-BBC?….

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2109574,00.html

    Children as young as six are being used by the Taliban in increasingly desperate suicide missions, coalition forces in Afghanistan claimed yesterday.

    Read it all.

       0 likes

  23. Glauca says:

    “There are naturally very many weapons around now. Two years ago, one bullet in Gaza cost around €3.50 — now it would cost 35 cents. The American aid money has been translated into weapons. Thank you, America!”

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,490160,00.html

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  24. Glauca says:

    Has anyone seen this video on YouTube?

    Quite frightening. A lot of material for a documentary but not from the Al-BBC, of course.

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  25. Richy says:

    GCooper

    Yes, was also struck by the BBC homepage regarding the EU meeting.

    Very little objectivity in the reporting.

    The BBC did get criticized for coverage of the EU in an earlier report; as with the most recent report on impartiality -these reports appear to serve the purpose of being seen to be doing something rather than providing the basis for substantive changes in reporting method.

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  26. garypowell says:

    Jon
    I like the bit at the end.

    “It must be destroyed before it destroys us.”

    Very strong stuff it must be said.

    However at the risk of sounding dangerously paranoid. In my opinion this statement is a deeply regretable FACT of LIFE and possibly our DEATH.

    As I have said before, so in the best traditions of BBC propagander I will say it again untill it really sinks in.

    “The BBC is the biggest current AVOIDABLE threat to the prospects of free mankind.”

    What makes it worse then that. We not only cant stop or contain the BBC, we are actually paying the BBC to destroy us and the rest of the free world. Which would be quite amussingly ironic if it were not so tradgic for the future of free mankind.

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  27. Ian Infidel says:

    Militant Islamist Websites

    There is an unchallenged, unreported Islamist underworld in the UK in which talk of jihad, bombings, stabbings, killings and executions.

    “In internet chatrooms… the Islamists break news of beheadings in Iraq, the downing of US helicopters and discuss who is next on their agenda of killing and destruction.”

    Militant Islamist websites spreads terror to Britain
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/24/nternet124.xml

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  28. deegee says:

    I guess RSF/AP forgot to read the BBC guidelines. So, what’s with the masks ❓
    Reporter Without Borders (RSF) militants stage a protest near the Eiffel Tower in a show of solidarity with kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston, in Paris, Wednesday, June 20, 2007. Intensive negotiations are underway toward freeing British Broadcasting Corp. journalist Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped three months ago in Gaza, a senior Hamas official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
    http://thumbsnap.com/v/a7Ry4Do4.jpg
    Palestinian journalists carry portraits of abducted BBC correspondent Alan Johnston during a protest calling for his release in the West Bank town of Nablus in April 2007. Hamas says it is working to secure the release of Johnston, who has now been held hostage for 100 days by Palestinian extremists in the Gaza Strip.(AFP/File/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)
    http://thumbsnap.com/v/8bmyZOWp.jpg
    I guess the photographer bottom right did read the BBC guidelines. So what’s with the masks ❓

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  29. bob says:

    TPO & Bryan: one troll down, several to go. The Lying Bullshit Detector will not be back again… and if he is, just remember: he is a LIAR!

       0 likes

  30. Bryan says:

    bob,

    I judst scroll past them. But they do waste a bit of my time, especially when I’m obliged to continually scroll past the frequent-posting trolls.

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  31. hillhunt says:

    archonix;

    http://www.haloscan.com/comments/patrickcrozier/3861044074615880734/#361952

    It’s likely he drives a nice car, eats well, doesn’t smoke, drinks only moderately and is prone to indulging in the occasional barbeque. Highly unlikely to listen to radio 3 or classic FM, and probablly prefers to listen to radio 1 in order to maintain his touch with the latest banal output of the modern music industry hiding beneath the cloak of ‘culture’. Probably not married, no kids, but has an ongoing relationship. Lives in an urban area appartment or flat. Likes to do his bit for the environment by recycling.

    In the words of DCI Gene Hunt: “You make those sound like bad things…”

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  32. Jonathan Boyd Hunt says:

    An absolute corking piece by Gerald Warner in today’s Scotland on Sunday:

    Long-suffering viewers must be freed from biased BBC

    “IMPARTIALITY is and should remain the hallmark of the BBC as the leading provider of information and entertainment in the United Kingdom… Far from being imposed on the BBC, impartiality has been conceived by the BBC.” And to think they said comedy was dead in Broadcasting House, that the corporation could no longer craft good humorous material. That po-faced soundbite was funnier than any one-liner from Fawlty Towers.

    This complacent, mendacious drivel is the first of 12 ‘guiding principles’ that form the conclusions of a report entitled ‘From Seesaw to Wagon Wheel: Safeguarding Impartiality in the 21st Century’, published last week by the BBC. It is the kind of Big Lie that (momentarily) defies rebuttal by its sheer audacity. The BBC is a global by-word for partiality: its bias is notorious, relentless and institutionalised.

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  33. Bryan says:

    deegee | 24.06.07 – 8:21 am,

    Could be they are masked because they don’t wanna be next. Better to keep a low profile, especially since some of them might have to venture into Islamic terrorist hellholes.

    I s’pose the Palestinian with his mouth covered is indicating that Johnston has been silenced.

    Why do I get the feeing that I’m missing the point of your comment?

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  34. Biodegradable says:

    Q: How can you tell when a “Palestinian” is lying?

    A: His lips move.

    Hamas: Fatah foiling Johnston release

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  35. Barnetpete says:

    Compare and contrast the attitude of BBC correspondents sent to the USA such as Webb and Frei (extremely hostile to their hosts) and those reporting from the EU such as Diamond and Mardell (seriously europhile and effectively propagandists for their hosts).
    I rest my case.

       0 likes

  36. On Jermy Bowen says:

    Sat Jun 23, 2007
    Palestinian split

    A week after the dramatic turn of events in Gaza, where Hamas seized control, Palestinians have been trying to work out how big a disaster the split between Hamas and Fatah is for their hopes of a state. Our Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen has been talking to both sides in the West Bank about the current situation.

    Listen
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/ondemand/rams/plan25135__2007.ram

    Hello

    Yesterday BBC’s Jeremy Bowen used an old trick. He use some ad hominem like “quisling” and “bantustan” without to be seen as bias or take any personal responsibility. Simply to put it in quote as “unname source’ who talk to him on the ground for anonymity. Why should a Palestinian say these words ( quisling and bantustan ) on a ground of anonymity. They say it every day, this is part of their act.

    Apparently some imaginary Palestinian said to him that Abbas may seen quisling if he dosen’t get more help otherwise West Bank will be like Gaza where “angry youn man turn on each other in their bantustan”

    He can’t use ad hominem Guardanista words on his own, but he can “quote it”. Also no word who is to blame for Bantustan situation of Gaza (Unraw)

    According to his reply a fey days ago for a listner question

    The BBC’s Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen answers some of your …
    BBC News, UK – 20 Jun 2007

    “unless we are quoting someone who is using the word. Our policy is to avoid words that are politically loaded”

    The BBC’s Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen answers some of your …
    BBC News, UK – 20 Jun 2007

    Q: The BBC is by far the most reliable news source… but at the same time it is biased. Why does the BBC avoid using the term “militants”?
    Moshe Shen, Israel

    The BBC is not biased. We take an impartial approach to news coverage, and try very hard to get to the truth. That sometimes means that people with a strong attachment to a particular point of view don’t like our coverage.

    I assume that you are referring to our policy of not using the word terrorists, unless we are quoting someone who is using the word. Our policy is to avoid words that are politically loaded, the use of which can be a barrier to understanding. Most Palestinians regard violence directed against Israel as legitimate resistance. Most Israelis regard it as terrorism.

    If the BBC backed either definition we would no longer be impartial.

    “Militants” is shorthand, and not always the best word either. I prefer to describe what people have done. For example, if someone has planted a bomb, call the person who did it a bomber and describe what the bomb did.

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  37. Chuffer says:

    I liked the ‘Scotland on Sunday’ piece a lot; but what would happen to Scotland’s unemployment figures if all those Scottish journalists now employed by the BBC suddenly returned home?

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  38. Chuffer says:

    Hillhunt(BBC) trolling on overtime? Blimey, that’ll put up the license fee.

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  39. Ian Infidel says:

    The British and American teams are now playing a key role in the war against terror and take their orders directly from the CIA.

    This was a very successful operation and has provided key intelligence about terrorists still planning attacks in the UK and elsewhere in Europe’,

    Secret SAS mission to Somalia uncovers British terror cells
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=463962&in_page_id=1811

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  40. will says:

    Quite capable of talking sense, even after a lifetime within TV centre.

    AS he prepares to leave Crimewatch after 23 years, Nick Ross, the programme’s presenter, has attacked the “tick-box mentality” and “restrictive practices” that he claims bedevil modern policing.

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1977661.ece

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  41. Jonathan H says:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6230468.stm

    “Mr Hecht says that he does not see the Golan Heights as occupied but as essential to Israel’s security following what he – and most other Israelis – views as a defensive war. (Most Arabs see the 1967 war as an Israeli war of aggression.)”

    Unbelievable. The BBC tries to make it look like the issue is 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. When the informed amongst us know that the Arab claim that it was an Israeli war of aggression is absolute crud. The fact that Israel was acting in self-defence in the face of massive Arab threats and build-up is indisputable. But the BBC attempts to re-write the history of the 1967 War once again. Scum.

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  42. hillhunt says:

    garypowell:

    “The BBC is the biggest current AVOIDABLE threat to the prospects of free mankind.”

    What makes it worse then that. We not only cant stop or contain the BBC, we are actually paying the BBC to destroy us and the rest of the free world. Which would be quite amussingly ironic if it were not so tradgic for the future of free mankind.

    Oh for wotsit’s sake, lighten up.

    Here’s the be-cheerful agenda for today: The National Youth Orchestra, The Waterboys, The Manics, Mark Ronson, Shirley Bassey, Kaiser Chiefs and The Who…all for a fraction of your licence fee.

       0 likes

  43. Biodegradable says:

    But the BBC attempts to re-write the history of the 1967 War once again. Scum.
    Jonathan H | 24.06.07 – 12:33 pm

    It’s what they do. They call it “telling both sides of the story”, something they don’t ever do when reporting on, say, MMGW.

    When was the last time you read something about MMGW with the phrase, “many prestigious scientists dispute this theory”?

       0 likes

  44. pounce says:

    The BBC, its defence of the Taliban and Not The Nine O/Clock News.

    Dutch military chief says Taliban executed civilians during fighting with NATO forces
    THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Taliban fighters executed Afghan civilians, including women, who refused to join them during a recent fierce battle against NATO and Afghan government forces in the south, the Dutch military chief said Friday.
    Citing “solid reports” from Afghan police, Gen. Dick Berlijn said Dutch and Afghan forces, supported by Dutch and U.S. air strikes, fended off an attempt by about 500 Taliban fighters to overrun the southern town of Chora last weekend.
    During the attack, Taliban fighters tried to force local civilians to fight alongside them, “and killed citizens who refused — they were hauled out of their houses by the Taliban and executed,” Berlijn told reporters.”One police checkpoint commander saw two brothers murdered before his eyes by the Taliban,” Berlijn said. Another police report “said that eight women were murdered — they had their throats slashed,” he added.
    http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/22/europe/EU-GEN-Netherlands-Afghanistan.php

    Taliban seize mine clearers
    TALIBAN fighters have seized 18 Afghan mine clearing experts and threatened to kill them if investigations suggest they are working for US-led forces in the country, officials and the insurgents said today.The group was seized along with four specialist mine-sniffing dogs, which can take years to train, yesterday in the Andar district of Ghazni province, part of the eastern and southern “badlands” where the Taliban are at their strongest.”Our investigation is on going and after the investigation we will decide what to do,” Taliban commander Mullah Safiullah said by satellite phone.
    http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21959599-23109,00.html

    Taliban beheads son of Afghan district police chief
    KABUL, June 24 (Xinhua) — Taliban militants abducted a son of a district police chief in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan and beheaded him, a linked source said Sunday. “Taliban insurgents kidnapped my 14-year-old son from Haiderabad village in Sangin district on Saturday and beheaded him,” Sangin district police chief Ghulam Wali told Xinhua.
    http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/24/content_6283992.htm

    Strange how the BBC only reports on civilian casualties from one side of the story. The Taliban on the otherhand are given a free reign in which to kill who they can and when they can happy in the knowledge the BBC will blame NATO.

    The BBC, its defence of the Taliban and Not The Nine O/Clock News.

       0 likes

  45. archonix says:

    hillhunt | 24.06.07 – 10:59 am | #

    Simply curious as to how good I am at guessing what someone is like. I suppose I hit quite close to home, but I guess I shouldn’t hold out for DCI’s job just yet?

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  46. Ralph says:

    ‘But the BBC attempts to re-write the history of the 1967 War once again.’

    It’s a little more subtle than that, by mentioning the false Arab view you create the impression that there is some debate over who started the war.

    Remember the BBC are the experts in weasel words, hyperbole, and false implications which allows them to claim impartiality.

       0 likes

  47. Chuffer says:

    Here’s the be-cheerful agenda for today: ….The Manics…all for a fraction of your licence fee.
    hillhunt | 24.06.07 – 12:46 pm | #

    From Wiki: Politically, the Manics appear as a socialist group — a stance inflected by their working class upbringing in Blackwood, south Wales (they grew up during the miners’ strike of the 1980s) as evidenced by their often highly politicised lyrics and actions (they once dedicated an award to Arthur Scargill, leader of the National Union of Mineworkers and later the Socialist Labour Party). The band also played a highly publicised gig in Cuba.

    There should be a prize for most BBC ‘approved’ boxes..

       0 likes

  48. deegee says:

    Bryan | 24.06.07 – 11:04 am
    This may help:
    http://thumbsnap.com/v/KA3aNrhX.jpg
    BTW calling the demonstrators ‘militants’ when all they have done is a little street theatre is just as misleading a use of language as avoiding the ‘T’, ‘M’ and ‘I’ words.

       0 likes

  49. bijan daneshmand says:

    THE BBC: WHERE MULLAHS ARE LOVED

    A scan of recent stories give insight of the terror and repression that Islamic Regime is sowing … but you will never hear or see these stories repoerted by the BBC

    Crackdown on dissent is under way in Iran
    http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/24/asia/24iran.php

    Iran supplied missile that hit UK helicopter
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1977470.ece

    Another day, yet again another story giving a positive spin to the minions of the Islamic Republic. One never sees the BBC criticise the appeasment of the Islamic Republic by the EU and its appeaser in chief Javier Solana.

    EU-Iranian talks ‘constructive’
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6233954.stm

    None of this is a surprise, when one realises the depth of the pro-Islamic Republic propaganda disseminated by the BBC and its Tehran correspondant, Frances Harrison. No dictatorship, let alone one as brutal and repressive as the Islamic Republic could have dreamed of a better propaganda arm than the coverage that Iran gets from the BBC.

    Al Beeb has uses its gamut of propaganda techiques to white wash teh Islamic republic

    (1) Human rights violations go unreported or are trivialised

    Iran police move into fashion business
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6213854.stm

    (2) The Opposition are shown as ineffectual traitors with no support within Iran

    Targeting Iran: Iranian exiles in the US differ over how to topple the ayatollahs

    (3) Reports From Within the Islamic Republic are shown in as positive a light as can be

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2006/inside_iran/default.stm

    – Imam’s Birthday: Crowds, bright lights and banners celebrate the “hidden Imam”
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/5331142.stm

    – Community spirit: Irans proud but discreet Jews
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5367892.stm

    – Postcards From Iran: We have the ability to do great things
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4955764.stm

    – Postcards From Iran: Amir “We don’t want change”
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4955666.stm

    – Call for change: Women graduates are overtaking men, promising profound social change
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5359672.stm

    (4) Any Problem Instigated by teh Islamic Republic is Put Down to Our Western Misunderstanding

    – Uncovering Iran: Discover the stories behind the preconceptions
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/iran/

    – Regional power: John Simpson on how the West has misunderstood Iran
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/5363098.stm

    (5)The Islamic Regieme’s problems are always blamed on America

    America’s financial war on Iran
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6730681.stm

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  50. deegee says:

    bijan daneshmand:
    You leave yourself wide open here.
    but you will never hear or see these stories reported by the BBC

    Soon (perhaps instantly) someone will provide a list of websites from bbc.co.uk. They may be deceptive; outnumbered by articles exactly as you mention; disappear from view almost instantly or hidden in places no one would think to look but they are there.

    Perhaps a better way of looking at it, although much harder to keep records, is to look which anti and pro Irani regime stories make the radio and TV;, how often they are repeated and how they are advertised.

    My first source of BBC material is World Service radio. Stories which show the BBC line get mentioned 5 or 6 times an hour before broadcast. The stories that someone will soon point out as being ‘on’ the vast BBC website just appear and are forgotten.

    This works well with casualties figures. After you here five times that two people have died it feels like a hundred when the story is finally broadcast.

    Hard to prove without listening and recording hours of BBC broadcasts. Most of us would rather face root canal surgery. 🙁

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