[Media-watch] Events in Basra

[John Meed]

The 10pm BBC News on Monday march 29 featured a short item on the role of
british troops in Basra. According to the commentary, troops had attmepted
to evict 'squatters' from a 'public building'. Footage showed scuffles
between a few soldiers and a handful of Iraqis, one of whom reportedly tried
to seize a rifle from a soldier. The outcome? troops 'confiscated' a number
of weapons and one Iraqi was injured.

The coverage of the same event on the french Antenne2 television news was
rather different. The Iraqis were not 'squatters' but 'shia demonstrators'
defending a 'religious building' that they feared the occupying forces were
trying to seize for their own purposes. Camera angles were wider and showed
a much larger number of demonstrators. In addition to the attempted rifle
seizure we saw the reactions of the troops, including several beatings of
unarmed demonstrators. The outcome? Seven injured Iraquis, and a hasty
retreat by the soldiers in an armoured vehicle surrounded by stone throwing
demonstrators, and jubilation from the apparently victorious Iraqis.

The underlying messages of the two reports could not be more different. A
peacekeeping force defending public interests against a small group of
good-for-nothings. Or an occupying army riding roughshod over local people
to secure their own interests.

John