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The Shadow of the Olive Tree

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01 October 2007 Blog Home : October 2007 : Permalink

BBC Neutrality 'Plunges'

The BBC has now deigned to comment on the good news coming out of Iraq. Of course they haven't updated their "surge" survey but instead they manage a wonderfully sneering 'scare quote':

Iraq violent death rates 'plunge'

The number of Iraqi civilians killed per month in bombings and shootings has fallen to the lowest level this year, the Iraqi government says.

In September, 884 civilians were killed by violence, less than half the figure for August, the government said.

The BBC's Jon Brain in Baghdad says the figures suggest the so-called surge involving 30,000 extra US troops is having some success.

September also saw the lowest number of US troops killed for more than a year.

This is of course all good news and that clearly can't be allowed to be presented unchallened so there is this sentence shortly afterwards:

However, our correspondent says, the political situation remains deadlocked and there are fears that when the extra troops are withdrawn the violence will escalate again.

So according to the BBC all this "surge" stuff has been merely the addition of 30,000 more troops. The fact that they have been deployed more offensively, that the Sunni tribes have decisively rejected insurgency against the Imperialist Yankee Pig Dog Oppressors and decided to go after the terribly misunderstood pious resistance people who have nothing whatever to do with Al Qaeda whatsoever really honest and so on is supremely unimportant. Glad we got that straight.

But is is really sad when Al-Reuters has a more balanced and up beat article. Al Reuters manage to mention both the "change in strategy to move troops out of large bases into smaller combat outposts where they live and fight alongside Iraqis" and "the success of a strategy of helping Sunni Arab tribal sheikhs in the westerly Anbar province to form local police units to drive al Qaeda from their areas."

Really Auntie Beeb it's not that difficult. If Al Reuters can do it, you can too.