So, CNN journalists have been expelled from Iraq because they are claimed to be producing propaganda (what's the difference between propaganda and morale-raising other than perspective? I can't trust 100 per cent that what we're seeing on any channel is entirely accurate, cos hell, there's bias in all media reporting and, if anything, that increases with war. But denying access to journalists limits the amount of potential perspectives and that's a dangerous thing.)
According to a camera man in Baghdad (paid for blog but worth reading) many journalists started leaving a couple of days ago:
"The Daily Telegraph started the rot for the dailies.... shortly after that the Times, NY Times, Washington Post etc all got their marching orders from their superiors in where-ever. The Beeb, Sky, ITN, the Germans ZDF, and RTL, (ARD has been pulled), seems the French are still largely here (I think - no one really clear about that) and ourselves are all staying. We though Rageh Omar of the Beeb was going wobbly, but he seems to have stiffened. "
There are two big explosions in Central Baghdad that are being played over and over and over again on TV. I can't help but think when I see it that we are watching people die. And I don't know who. Maybe it is all 'bad guys' being killed. Maybe there's no-one in there. Or maybe it's innocent people. Seeing destruction is hideous.
ITN are speculating whether Saddam is dead because he hasn't made himself visible to say otherwise (surely if you know troops are looking to kill you, being in any way traceable is a bad move?) Iraq are blaming the UN for not controlling the UK and the US. How much bloody diplomacy is breaking down because of this? And then there's the amount of people who are dying, and all the friends and family that are affected.
Xenophobia is rife: amongst the stories, a company called French Cleaners in the US has been subject to vandalism (apparently, the owner 'just picked the name on a whim and made the Eiffel Tower the stores' logo.')
But the anti-war effort continues. There are petitions. And there's the march tomorrow. This time I'm more nervous for John who's marshalling again; partly because there are more rumours of fights breaking out, partly because police tend to get tetchy when there are people hanging out near Whithall and partly because now we're at war, number ten doesn't seem that safe a place to hang out. However, I'm really proud of him for going along because, as he's said, if there are people there who've marshalled big rallies before (which, as ex-vice chair of CND, he and a lot of the other 'old timers' who've got involved again he has) then the chances of a big ruck breaking out are decreased. CND has tried to get as much organisation as possible sorted this week. Hwever, as he says:
The police are denying CND [either a mini-stage or even a PA system]primarily because they "have intelligence" that something bad's being planned by someone at Downing Street (which is why it's currently double-barriered to hell and back). On the plus side, this is a good thing - if it gets busy I didn't want there to be a bottleneck, over and above the one which the barriers will cause, either. On the possible downside, this has previously been an excuse to behave extremely heavy-handedly, and if something *does* kick off, I'm going have to find a way of reversing the flow of traffic west of Downing Street because there are no sidestreets for people to evaporate into between there and Parliament Square.
Posted by emilyd at March 22, 2003 03:54 AM