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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The so-called no-fly zones were imposed by the "Allies" (primarily Britain and the US) after the Gulf War and are not recognised by the UN. When hostile military aircraft, ie those there without Iraq's permission, overfly any part of Iraq they are commiting an act of war, not just a violation of Iraq's airspace. Britain and America refer to this as "patroling the no-fly zones" to give the impression that these sorties are legal. This tactic, and other misinformation and propaganda, clearly work: even the more respected UK news media seem to think Britain and America have a legal right to be there. I have complained to the BBC News, Channel 4 News and others about their behaving as the UK Government's mouthpiece but all have claimed their reporting is impartial and none has admitted to a mistake or deliberate deception on this point. The BBC denied that their reporting was misleading, biased or untruthful, even though they had: described Iraq's own use of the "no-fly zones" as "provocation", described the "Allies"' use of the zones as "patrolling" them, failed to point out that the "no-fly zones" have no legality under international law, and stated only that Iraq does not recognise the zones. Even the British and US govts admit that the "no-fly" zones are illegal! I don't know whether Jane's Weekly is ignorant, biased or both, but they need to be educated. Allen Hardy. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full archive and list instructions are available from the CASI website: http://welcome.to/casi