[Media-watch] Fwd: Baffled by your piece this morning

PPatsyandDavid at aol.com PPatsyandDavid at aol.com
Thu Mar 27 14:23:28 GMT 2003




To: frank.gardner at bbc.co.uk, info at bbc.co.uk
Subject: Baffled by your piece this morning
From: PPatsyandDavid at aol.com
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 09:17:02 -0500

Dear Mr. Gardner,
I found your item on BBC News 24 at around 1.30 this morning (Thursday 27 March) baffling.  It left me wondering how much you know about this war.

You described the views that (a) this war has something to do with oil and (b) it is likely to be followed by more US-led wars as forming part of a widely held 'conspiracy theory' in the Arab world.

Surely you've heard this elsewhere as well?  Didn't you hear about the demonstrations?  I'm sure 'No blood for oil' banners were carried in each of the 603 cities around the world where protests were held on February 15.  The American protest chant on the theme is 'Hell no, we won't go, we won't fight for Texaco'.  Didn't you hear about the views of well-known critical/dissident commentators such as John Pilger, George Monbiot and Michael Moore who've all argued the same thing?

The view that this war is connected with oil is widespread in this country and throughout the world.  Although to my knowledge it has not been the subject of any serious analysis by the BBC - something to do with internal memos, no doubt - the view has been aired by members of the studio audience on Question Time, for example, in every recent edition that I can remember.  It is a common topic of conversation.

And surely George Bush's claims about an axis of evil - you do remember those, right? -and Tony Blair's recent pronouncements about the need to 'deal with' North Korea after Iraq are behind the view that the US and UK do not intend this war as a one-off.  I don't think you need a 'conspiracy theory' in this case when the US and UK seem to be pretty open about their intentions.

Finally, on another matter, you noted the effect on public opinion in the Arab world of pictures of Iraqi civilian casualties.  I wonder whether you think that the BBC's decision not to show these pictures has any effect on public opinion in this country.

David Maguire
Bathgate,
West Lothian







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