(Bowles:) Re “historical curiosity” or the semiotics of a war crime

[bemildred]

BBC Radio 4's 'Today' news programme on 14/3/06 carried a piece about the deteriorating situation that is the occupation of Iraq and, following an interview with Michael Gordon, author of the book 'Cobra II - The inside story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq'<1>, the news anchor asked the following question of the BBC's security correspondent, Gordon Carrerre after the interview with Michael Gordon, about a series of leaked Foreign Office memos included in the book, written some two months after the war 'finished' that painted an extremely bleak picture of the state of the occupation even back then in 2003,

Is it simply a historical curiosity or do you think … some relevance to what is happening in Iraq at the moment?

The question whacked me between the eyes for what it revealed about the sick mindset of the smug and sanctimonious bastards at the BBC's misnamed news department (I await expectantly for yet another letter of outrage from the folks at Medialens, to remind me that BBC 'journalists' are human beings, just like you and me, and that if I wish to engage them, I should treat them with respect).

However, perhaps I could feel more sympathy for the journos at the Beeb if they were to reciprocate said empathy with the people of Iraq, who have been reduced to nothing more than "historical curiosities" by the BBC's alleged purveyors of the news.

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