The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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I'd be grateful if any of you can suggest issues for me to follow up when I respond to this reply. Feel free to email me directly if you don't want to bother this list. Have a look at the original BBC News article. ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: NewsOnline <newsonline@bbc.co.uk> To: "'Mark Parkinson'" <mark@bodmin-comm-coll.demon.co.uk> Subject: RE: World: Middle East: Oil-for-food deal working 'efficiently' Date sent: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 12:23:00 -0000 Dear Mr Parkinson Thank you very much for your e-mail. As journalists we report the news - and if the news is somebody's wrong statement, so be it. Whether it is the Gulf war and its aftermath, the Kosovo conflict, the Russian intervention in Chechnya - we report what the conflicting sides say about each other. Would we not do that, we would suppress the truth - or at least one side's version of it. You may disagree with the statements that we have quoted, but we have a duty to report them. As with regards to the overall coverage of the situation in Iraq: I recall many BBC programmes and news reports out of Iraq showing in detail the suffering of the Iraqi people. We are in the business of news journalism, not campaign journalism. Yours sincerely Tim Weber Acting World Editor BBC News Online - http://news.bbc.co.uk/ > -----Original Message----- > From: Mark Parkinson [SMTP:mark@bodmin-comm-coll.demon.co.uk] > Sent: 17 November 1999 01:28 > To: newsonline.complaints@bbc.co.uk > Subject: World: Middle East: Oil-for-food deal working 'efficiently' > > I must apologise for my tone but I am VERY disappointed. I have > indicated text from the article by ***. > > How can the UK governments get away with what can only be > called genocide in Iraq (1 million civilian deaths)? Well a major > reason is the complicity of the BBC. Has there been a major BBC > documentary about the effects of sanctions? BBC online has been > much more balanced that BBC TV - did you see Mark Urban's > piece on Newsnight in September? Your article today is very > disappointing - is that because the US/UK are under pressure on > sanctions? > > *** Iraq has been accused of hoarding medicines that would save > children's lives > > To repeat this FALSE accusation (as exposed by UN officials > including Mr Annan) under this photo twists reality beyond belief. I > can imagine UK officials leaping with joy. > > *** Iraq currently sells $5.2m of crude oil every six months. The > money is mean to be spent on alleviating the suffering of Iraqis > under UN sanctions. > > It should read 'meant'. I think that you should add at the end: '... after > > one third has been deducted for reparations and expenses'. > > *** Iraq was accused of blocking the distribution of medical > supplies, and even of diverting them for sale abroad. > > Again irresponsible repeating of FALSE accusations. > > *** The United States and Britain squarely blamed Iraq for the child > death rate. They accused Baghdad of hoarding medicines that > would save the lives of Iraqi children. > > Again the FALSE accusation. > > *** US officials pointed out that the child mortality rate in the > Kurdish-run areas of Iraq was falling even though both Iraqi and > Kurdish areas were subject to the same UN sanctions and both > were covered by the oil-for- food deal. > > This aspect was comprehensively dealt with by UNICEF in their > report and press releases. It is in my view poor journalism to repeat > this deliberately distorting statement without refutation. > > It's a shame that you did not do this story: > > http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters19991115_4146.ht > ml > Mark Parkinson ------- End of forwarded message ------- Mark Parkinson Cornwall -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT the whole list. Please do not send emails with attached files to the list *** Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html ***