On 08-Apr-07 19:36:19, ray thomas wrote:
> Thanks Ted for posting that follow up. I don't recall that
> anyone on the list expressed much in the way of major doubts
> about the report published in the Lancet. It is good to have
> a reminder of that report and the Governments response to it
> - for two reasons.
>
> (1) It should remind us of the lack of credibility that the UK
> government has acquired since the start of the Iraq war.
> Would it be fair to say that the reputation of the UK government
> as a source of information in peacetime has never been lower?
Indeed, I have had this feeling for some time -- and it gets no better!
See also below!
> The Government itself does not seem aware of its lack of credibility
> on the world stage in the matter of the 15 hostages/prisoners
> captured and released by Iran. The Observer, for example, is
> claiming a diplomatic victory for the UK. But on the world stage
> the episode seems to have degenerated into a 'Yes, you did'
> 'No you didn't' type of exchange. Which side does the world believe?
I have been astounded at the development over the last couple of
days that the MoD has authorised the 15 to sell their stories to
the Press. This must be a close approximation to, if not completely,
unprecedented. I can only wonder at the motives, and the cynic in
me has a theory.
They have had a few days de-briefing by the MoD. Will the stories
they sell to the Press have been planted by the MoD?
I don't want to blow any trumpets for Iran, but Iran's claim that
the ex-prisoners have been saying in public what they have been told
to say does, in the light of this authorisation, have plausibility!
(The alternative, that the MoD let them say what they like to the
Press, would seem implausible, in that who knows what they would
then say -- even if confused or wrong? Surely the MoD would then
take their usual line and not allow them to tell their stories.
So presumably the MoD is satisfied about what they will now say.)
[Maybe comments later on Ray's more specific points about the
reporting of deaths etc.]
Best wishes to all,
Ted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[log in to unmask]>
Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861
Date: 08-Apr-07 Time: 23:46:14
------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
******************************************************
Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your
message will go only to the sender of this message.
If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's
'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically
to [log in to unmask]
Disclaimer: The messages sent to this list are the views of the sender and cannot be assumed to be representative of the range of views held by subscribers to the Radical Statistics Group. To find out more about Radical Statistics and its aims and activities and read current and past issues of our newsletter you are invited to visit our web site www.radstats.org.uk.
*******************************************************
|