Nice piece in the Guardian today from the usual suspect, David Aaronovitch, addressing the BBC coverage of the war and opposition to it.
“In fact, with one exception, the impression has been given, on the BBC in particular, that public and expert opinion is strongly and almost exclusively opposed to military action. This expectation has entered the cultural stratum that the majority of broadcasters exist in, and so dominates that it has become that most dangerous of wisdoms – not so much orthodox, as axiomatic. “
Yet, as he points out the latest polls do not show overwhelming opposition to Blair’s position.
Aaronovitch also tries to cheer up the supporters of Iraqi liberation up. We are unfashionable but we are in the right.
“So they find themselves at odds with the assumptions and prejudices of their friends and colleagues, and seemingly isolated – as though they were in some way eccentric. What Katherine Hamnett T-shirt are they going to wear?
This isn’t the way they (or I) would have wanted it. We would have preferred a second resolution, which would have conferred more legitimacy on the war, and (just as important) given a more multilateral dimension to the efforts to rebuild a democratic Iraq after the shooting is over.
Even so, it is one thing (and far from dishonourable) to refuse to support the war because it has not been given the official seal of approval by the UN. It is quite another actively to oppose an operation which will have the effect of removing one of the worst and most violent tyrannies in the world. Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs should forget axiomatic wisdom this week, and think like Iraqis.”
Meanwhile Bill Clinton tries to cheer up Tony Blair.
