Apparently BBC, others think yesterday's anti-war protests of no significance

[Partridge]

Apparently BBC, others think yesterday's anti-war protests of no significance
An original piece by Partridge

If one were to rely solely on mainstream headline news for one's information about the world we live in, one could be forgiven for believing that yesterday's worldwide anti-war protests didn't happen. Browsing (as I do every day) my headline newsfeeds, only one mainstream outlet made mention of the global protests. That was the Associated Press wire service, who ran a piece called War Opponents Protest Around the Globe (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_WAR_PROTESTS?SITE=KTVK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT).

The BBC often described as 'impartial' and certainly loathed by those on the right for it's 'anti-war bias' (a bias that has been statistically proven (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/media/story/0,12123,991227,00.html) to be non-existent) - despite citing the figure for the London march as between 15,000 and 80,000 - did not deem the protest newsworthy enough to appear in today's headlines on either its International or UK newsfeeds (see pics). What it did adjudge as being in the public interest were the no-show of Brad Pitt and Angelena Jolie at their 'wedding'; Prince Charles and his lover announcing their intention to visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India; Isaac Hayes quitting South Park; and a woman bitten by a dog in London (well, it makes a difference from 'Man Bites Dog').

Similarly, none of the other mainstream newsfeeds I subscribe to (New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, The Guardian/Observer, The Independent, The Times, Irish Times, Sunday Business Post [Ireland] and Reuters) mentioned the global demonstrations in their headlines. The argument cannot be made that this is because today is a Sunday - because all of these organisations update their websites daily. The French students' mass protests against a proposed employment law are (justifiably) making the headlines, as is a 'drunken riot' in Spain - but alas it appears that worldwide opposition to the continued occupation of Iraq is nothing to note.

Long live the Liberal Media!

BBC's International Newsfeed
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BBC's UK Newsfeed
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[Partridge]

Meanwhile, the British defence secretary argues anti-war people are 'pro terrorist':

Thousands rally over Iraq … Reid says they back terrorists
Sunday Herald (http://www.sundayherald.com/54700)

Anti-war campaignerswho argue that Iraq is on the brink of civil war are siding with ”terrorists”, according to defence secretary John Reid.Speaking as hundreds of thousands took to the streets across the world to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Reid questioned the motivation of the protesters.

“When people go on the streets of London today, I do wish just occasionally they would go out in support of the United Nations, the Iraqi people and the Iraqi democrats, and condemn terrorists,” he said.

“You have a very simple choice in what’s going on in Iraq today. You can support the Iraqi democrats and the overwhelming majority of ordinary Iraqis who want peace, stability, a government of national unity and acting together to make sure there are more hospitals, there is a better life, there are fewer deaths. Or you can support, in effect, the terrorists, by arguing that there is a civil war and that there is no democratic way of solving it.”

Reid acknowledged the country had seen increasing sectarian bloodshed. But he said civil war was neither imminent nor inevitable.

His position was contradicted by Iraq’s former prime minister Iyad Allawi, who argued the violence was reaching the point of no return and Europe and the USA would not be spared the consequences.

Allawi said: “It is unfortunate that we are in civil war. We are losing each day, as an average, 50 to 60 people throughout the country, if not more. If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is.”

In an interview to be broadcast on the BBC’s Sunday AM programme this morning, he said: “Iraq is in the middle of a crisis. Maybe we have not reached the point of no return yet. But we are moving towards this point. We are in a terrible civil conflict now.”

Allawi said Iraq would fall apart if the bloodshed reached the point of no return. “It will not only fall apart, but sectarianism will spread throughout the region, and even Europe and the United States would not be spared all the violence that may occur as a result of sectarian problems in this region.”

Andrew Burgin of the Stop The War campaign called Reid’s comments “incredible”. He said: “The march today was aimed at supporting the people of Iraq – the illegal war and illegal occupation supported by Tony Blair and John Reid have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of ordinary Iraqi people, and to what end?

“It is an absolute disgrace that Reid sees fit to call to his aid the United Nations, when the government so blatantly ignored the democratic process of the international body in the first place.”

Burgin added that the coalition action in toppling Saddam Hussein from power and then fighting a lengthy battle with insurgents in the country has led to “Iraq becoming a centre for international terrorism. It is incredible that John Reid can get away with spouting this rubbish.”

The government also came under fire from Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, who demanded Tony Blair apologise to the nation for the “tragic” war.

Speaking after talks with Iraq’s leaders, Reid said the highest priority was to form a government of national unity. He said: “Although there has been an attempt by the terrorists for several years now to provoke a civil war, it is to the credit of the Iraqi people, including their democratic leaders and the legislators, that they have resisted that.

“There is no doubt that there has been an increase in sectarian tensions and indeed in sectarian killings. But the attempts to provoke a civil war have not been successful.”

[Gold9472]

There was no C-SPAN coverage of the events either which pissed me off.

[Partridge]

Tony Benn: The 5-Minute Interview

'The anti-war movement now represents a majority in the country'

By Thair Shaikh

http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article352387.ece



Tony Benn, 80, the veteran peace campaigner, spoke at a Stop the War Coalition rally in Trafalgar Square on Saturday marking the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. The campaign has collected more than 1,000 signatories to a letter drafted by Mr Benn and sent to the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, asking him to investigate breaches of the Nuremberg Charter and Geneva and Hague conventions.

Is the anti-war movement growing?

I think it is, we now represent majority opinion in this country. Police said there were only 15,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday and I'm sure there were many more people than that. An hour and a half after I got there people were still arriving.

Critics have said the march will have little effect

This is typical media nonsense ... the arguments we have put forward have registered with millions of people around the world. There were marches in 40 cities around the world over the weekend. How long did it take to get women the vote? We have to be impatient and patient.

On Bush and Blair?

George Bush's popularity is down, that is a fact and I think Blair's is down as well. There are so many questions still unanswered ... why are we still in Afghanistan? Why are we threatening Iran?

Who else has signed?

Rory Bremner, Brian Eno, who was also at the march on Saturday, Michael Gambon, Ken Loach, Bruce Kent, chair of CND, and many others. We must keep up the pressure to call the politicians to account.

What is the future of the movement?

I continue to go to meeting around the country, we will continue to work against the war. Obviously in 2003 when the invasion took place you got many more people turning up ... but there is a problem with the way the media represents things, the BBC never reports from any public meetings.


Tony Benn, 80, the veteran peace campaigner, spoke at a Stop the War Coalition rally in Trafalgar Square on Saturday marking the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. The campaign has collected more than 1,000 signatories to a letter drafted by Mr Benn and sent to the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, asking him to investigate breaches of the Nuremberg Charter and Geneva and Hague conventions.

Is the anti-war movement growing?

I think it is, we now represent majority opinion in this country. Police said there were only 15,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday and I'm sure there were many more people than that. An hour and a half after I got there people were still arriving.

Critics have said the march will have little effect

This is typical media nonsense ... the arguments we have put forward have registered with millions of people around the world. There were marches in 40 cities around the world over the weekend. How long did it take to get women the vote? We have to be impatient and patient.


On Bush and Blair?

George Bush's popularity is down, that is a fact and I think Blair's is down as well. There are so many questions still unanswered ... why are we still in Afghanistan? Why are we threatening Iran?

Who else has signed?

Rory Bremner, Brian Eno, who was also at the march on Saturday, Michael Gambon, Ken Loach, Bruce Kent, chair of CND, and many others. We must keep up the pressure to call the politicians to account.

What is the future of the movement?

I continue to go to meeting around the country, we will continue to work against the war. Obviously in 2003 when the invasion took place you got many more people turning up ... but there is a problem with the way the media represents things, the BBC never reports from any public meetings.

[Partridge]

The Irish Times actually reported on the Dublin march in today's issue, though they cite 600 as the number, which is probably a police estimate, organisers cited 1,200, so I'd say there was about 900-1,000 or so. Still, its a far cry from the 120,000 we had on Feb 15th 2003:

http://xs73.xs.to/pics/06121/iraq0dublin06.jpg

600 attend Dublin protest over war in Iraq
Irish Times (http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0320/3601655329HM4ANTIWAR.html)

Eight members of the Oireachtas led a protest march through Dublin at the weekend to mark the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The protest, which was entirely peaceful, concluded with a rally outside the GPO. Part of a "Global Day of Protest against War and Occupation", the march was led by seven Dáil deputies, one senator and a member of Dublin City Council.

It started in Parnell Square and proceeded through O'Connell Street to College Green on a cold Saturday afternoon before turning back towards the GPO.

The leading group included Michael D. Higgins and Joe Costello, of Labour, Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh, John Gormley of the Greens, Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party, Independent TDs Tony Gregory and Finian McGrath, TCD Senator David Norris and Independent Socialist member of Dublin City Council Joan Collins.

The march was preceded by two Garda vehicles, including a van with a camera on top, pointed at the crowd. There were contingents from the Labour Party and Labour Youth, the Socialist Workers' Party, the Communist Party of Ireland and the Socialist Party, among others. About 600 people chanted anti-war slogans, except for a small group of anarchists, who shouted "We support the Dublin riot", a reference to the disturbances in the city on February 25th. These demonstrators went off in the direction of Leinster House as the march turned back for the GPO.

Green Party foreign affairs spokesman Mr Gormley said opponents of the war had been vindicated by the events of the past three years. "We said this war would be counter-productive, and far from stopping terrorism, it would swell the ranks of al-Qaeda."

Labour spokesman on foreign affairs Mr Higgins said that those who did not speak out were guilty of collusion and were morally on the same side in this illegal war. "That is why we have to stop the use of Shannon for illegal purposes," he said. "We don't want the CIA flights in Shannon."

SIPTU president Jack O'Connor said: "This occupation has nothing whatsoever to do with democracy and everything to do with oil."

Mr Ó Snodaigh said that US troops were still using Shannon, adding: "We demand that this government end that practice." He also called for an end to the European Union's "preferential" treatment of Israel, which he said was "an absolute disgrace".

Regional secretary of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union Michael O'Reilly said: "The trade union movement is absolutely opposed to this war and has been from the beginning." The war was supposed to be a short one but US and British troops were "bogged down" in Iraq.

Mr Norris said it was an "anniversary of shame", adding that the war was "illegal, immoral and unjustifiable". Opponents of the war were called anti-American, but 70 per cent of people in the US were also against it.

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said that the shamrock the Taoiseach presented to the US president last week "should have been sprayed with red dye" to remind both Mr Bush and Mr Ahern of their complicity in the suffering of the Iraqi people.

Chief march organiser Richard Boyd Barrett, of the Irish Anti- War Movement, urged support for another international day of protest outside US embassies, planned for April 29th.

The movement issued a statement signed by over 100 politicians and other public figures, including 41 Labour, Sinn Féin, Green and Independent members of the Oireachtas, appealing to the Irish Government to "act urgently to end the slaughter in Iraq and to avert the threat of further slaughter in Iran and elsewhere".

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