But for BBC TV news “it’s not clear” whether the old men, women and children were killed deliberately by American troops.
Washington correspondent Matt Frei’s report began with footage of a military ceremony:
“The US marine corps - square-jawed embodiment of a proud military
tradition. So how does this fit in? November 2005, the aftermath of a
massacre in Haditha. 24 civilians were slaughtered - the oldest was in
his seventies, the youngest three.” (Matt Frei, News at Six, December
21, 2006)
This immediately contradicted Alagiah’s introduction - according to
Frei it was a massacre, the deaths +were+ deliberate. The report showed
archive footage of the massacre’s sole survivor, twelve-year-old Safa
Younis. Frei commented: “She survived by playing dead next to her
sisters’ bodies.”
Frei translated Younis’ testimony:
“US marines knocked on our door. My father opened it and they shot him dead. Then they went from room to room.”
Frei continued:
“Haditha was and is a wasteland of insurgent violence. What triggered
the shooting spree in 2005 was the death of Lance Corporal Miguel
Terrazas, killed after the marine‘s convoy was hit by a roadside bomb.”
This is standard for BBC reporting. Western crimes do not take place in
villages and towns, in homes where people live and love and grieve.
They take place in “wastelands” filled with murderous savages who have
no right to defend themselves against our violence. And as is
perennially true of reporting from Palestine, the violence of the West
and its allies is always “triggered”, is always a response to “their”
violence.
Emphasising the point, Frei interviewed Jesse Grapes, former commander
of Kilo Company - the unit accused of the massacre. Grapes was clearly
not of the “wasteland”. He was resplendent in smart suit with a US flag
draped in the background. Grapes said of Terrazas:
“One of those guys with a million dollar smile. You know, always
positive no matter how harrowing the situation. Always hard-working,
would do anything that you asked him to do. And you lose someone like
that it causes despair.”
Frei’s commentary continued:
“But did despair spawn murder?”
Imagine for a moment if the BBC had been reporting the massacre of 24
British or American old men, women and children by Iraqi troops under
Saddam Hussein, or al Qaeda fighters under Osama bin Laden. Would the
former commander of the unit charged with the atrocity be invited to
explain the suffering and despair that drove his men to kill innocent
civilians? Would he be allowed to speak without any challenge from the
reporter, without even the mildest of rebukes?
And would footage of a mother embracing one of the accused be shown, as
happened next in Frei’s report? A US marine was shown in uniform in
Haditha and then hugging and laughing with his family. His mother
asked: “You been good?“ The soldier replied: “Ah, I try to be.“
This was Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt, accused of one charge of
murder involving unpremeditated killings of three males in a house.
This was followed by an interview with Sharrat’s father, who wept as he spoke:
“Justin told me, ‘Dad, it’s better that we’re fighting in Iraq, in the
sands and the streets of Iraq, than in the streets of America.’ And I
hope these people understand what these guys are going through.”
Can we possibly conceive of this kind of sympathetic coverage being
afforded to ‘enemy’ troops accused of the massacre of British or
American civilians? Would comparable words from the father of the
’enemy’ accused be deemed actually monstrous in this case? And, again,
there was no journalistic challenge, no balancing commentary to clarify
that, by broadcasting these comments, the BBC was not intending to
justify or excuse what had happened.
Frei‘s conclusion was almost as remarkable:
“Whatever the charges today, Haditha has left the marine corps and
America with a very painful question they thought they’d never have to
ask: How and why have the liberators ended up killing the liberated?”
With 655,000 Iraqis lying dead after nearly four years of war, with one
million Iraqi civilian dead after 14 years of US-UK sanctions, Frei can
suggest that, only now, with this incident, does the question finally
arise of how Americans have ended up killing Iraqis.
On the same day that Frei made his comments, Helen Boaden, director of BBC news, wrote to a Media Lens reader:
“I think the key point that I would make in response is that it is not
for the BBC to take a view about the legality of the war in Iraq... it
is not for the BBC to take a stance on the issue.” (Email to Media
Lens, December 21, 2006)
Are we to believe, then, that Matt Frei is not taking a view, not
taking a stance, in describing the American armies in Iraq as
“liberators” and the Iraqi people as “liberated”?
SUGGESTED ACTION
The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and
respect for others. In writing letters to journalists, we strongly urge
readers to maintain a polite, non-aggressive and non-abusive tone.
Write to Matt Frei at the BBC
Email:
matt.frei@bbc.co.uk
Write to Helen Boaden, Director of BBC News
Email:
HelenBoadenComplaints@bbc.co.uk
Write to Peter Horrocks, Head of BBC TV News
peter.horrocks@bbc.co.uk
Please consider sending a complaint to the BBC
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
Writings 
Subscribe to this comment's feed
