Blair calls for campaign to rebut 'negative' Arab media

The Daily Telegraph ^ | April 1, 2003 | George Jones

[MadIvan]

Tony Blair has ordered a campaign to counter negative coverage in the Arab media of the war in Iraq.

Alastair Campbell, the Downing Street director of communications, said the Government faced an "uphill battle" in rebutting claims made by the Arab media about the conflict.

In an interview recorded last week he revealed Government concerns that Arabic television and newspapers were whipping up popular anger in the Middle East.

Mr Campbell said there was little understanding in the Arab world of what London was trying to achieve during the conflict.

His comments were broadcast shortly after the Prime Minister had given a series of interviews with Arab newspapers in an attempt to get across the UK perspective on the war.

Mr Blair told Arab readers that "history would judge" whether the US and Britain had made the right decision to wage war on Iraq. He emphasised that the conflict was about liberation and not conquest.

The interview was recorded last Wednesday on the Prime Minister's plane on the way to a war summit with President George W Bush at Camp David.

Mr Campbell told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the War Cabinet had discussed that morning ways of countering the output from al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language television channel, and other Arab media.

He said al-Jazeera referred to allegations that British troops had executed Iraqi prisoners-of-war, Mr Campbell said.

"Complete fiction but there it was aired. Now that is something that we have to get out there, knowing that it is happening, dealing with it, challenging it, rebutting it," he said.

The following day, Mr Blair told a press conference at Camp David that two British soldiers had been "executed" in a manner that illustrated the "depravity" of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Downing Street later withdrew the claim after protests from relatives, who said they had been told by the Army that the men had died in combat.

Mr Campbell said that to counter negative reporting, London had set up a special "Islamic media unit" within the Foreign Office, with an official assigned "virtually full time" to speak in Arabic to the Arabic media.

Downing Street was ensuring that every day a Government minister set aside one hour in their diary for the Arabic media to explain what the Government was seeking to achieve.

Mr Campbell criticised Western media for the way they had covered the war. "Dictatorships are at a huge in-built advantage when it comes to public opinion," Mr Campbell said.

"In democracies we are expected to explain, we cannot tell lies in the way that dictatorships tell lies all the time.

"It gives them an advantage in the way this thing is prosecuted," he said.

"All that has happened is they exploit in their eyes the weaknesses of our democracy, the weaknesses of our media systems, they exploit them to their own advantage and I think sometimes our media allows them to do that."

Mr Campbell chided reporters "embedded" with the frontline units as being too eager to further their own careers rather than reporting accurately on "the big picture".

[MadIvan]

I'm not quite sure how Blair is going to counter Al Jazzera apart from hitting the transmitter with a Tomahawk missile, but his thoughts are in the right place.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[demlosers]

Blair calls for campaign to rebut 'negative' Arab media ,

Blair needs to add BBC to that list.

[MadIvan]

Blair needs to add BBC to that list.

Agreed. He can start by telling the BBC to get rid of that irritating fraud, Andrew Marr.

Regards, Ivan

[johniegrad]

A couple of weeks ago I thought he was going wobbly on us, Ivan. Now, bolstered by public opinion, he's turning into an ass-kicker. Either Bush and Blair are going to go down as the worst leaders in history or they will go down as heirs to the legacy of Reagan and Thatcher. I favor the latter.

[swampfox98]

Mr Campbell criticised Western media for the way they had covered the war. "Dictatorships are at a huge in-built advantage when it comes to public opinion," Mr Campbell said.

Duh!

[Argus]

Is Tony Blair as naive as he appears? It's a liability, first with his insistence on prolonging the farce at the UN, then on his recent remarks suggesting we "mend fences" with Europe when it's up to the likes of the French and Germans to mend their fences with us, and now with this delusion that our Arab enemies can be converted to our side once they know the truth. They already know the truth - they don't care because their only motivation is their hatred of the West. The way to "rebut" them is to kill the SOB's, destroy their Nazi regimes, and convince their people that it's a very bad idea to attack Americans and British, ever again.

[MadIvan]

Blair is idealistic. But at the same time, he can apparently learn that his ideals and reality don't always meet. He just has to learn some things the hard way, is all.

Regards, Ivan

[the_doc]

Downing Street later withdrew the claim after protests from relatives, who said they had been told by the Army that the men had died in combat.

This is part of the problem. Bad info becomes the story. Then someone who doesn't even want to hear the truth gets the truth suppressed.

[MEG33]

Blairs passionate stand on this war has helped us win the people here and in Britain.There is no way to influence the Arab mind except to win and try to help them build a new government.Winning is everything right now.

[ejdrapes]

No Arabs, no Arab media.

Are you suggesting the war on terror become the extermination of Arabs? Maybe we should go a step further and rid the world of anyone who's not an American or Israeli as obviously in some minds no one else deserves to inhabit the earth.

[Stopislamnow]

BiggerDog is spot on.

The islamic invasion of Europe has been on for years.

Islam is invading our prisons, turning the most violent and degenerate amoung us into Voilent Degenerate Muslims.

The left wing media consistently covers up Muslim hate crimes in America, like that dirtbag Assan Hakan who fragged our boys.

Saudi arabia is responsible for most mosques in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Europe, and America. Including Wahabbist trained Muslim Chaplins in our armed forces.

Want a fun read? Try this on:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/864108/posts

[patricia]

BTTT

[Kenno]

It would be nice if he'd take time out to rebut the Daily Mirror.

[walden]

I think Blair needs to start with the BBC.

If he can fix that, THEN he can move on to Al Jazeera.
;)

[gettingreal]

Blair is a liberal and knows how liberals and conservatives think. The issues he presses are necessary to balance the diplomatic community with reality. He thinks too well on his feet for me to think he is not in tune with reality.

In my experience we always have at least two fronts, the diplomatic and the real. I always focused on the real, being a technical person, but left room to communicate with the politicos, knowing that what appeared wasted effort was necessary to sate the powerful who make decisions that make no sense but impact millions of people. The politicos like to claim primary impact, so I let them, but have learned to communicate with some in a way to influence things a little more to the real.

Taking a hard right position sometimes eliminates your influence, but compromising has to be handled carefully so that we can achieve what is really important.

Basically, if we present the truth, it arms the liars with more to counter, but at least we present it so that some few who will look hard at congruency and reality have the opportunity to know. That can grow small pockets that can grow in number and depth of understanding. Acting on truth always puts one in the minority, often hated by all, but I will always contend to put it out there, still believing that I am not totally alone.