IRAQ AND ARMS INSPECTORS - THE BIG LIE, PART 2
What A Difference 3 Years Makes: UK News Coverage of Why the Inspectors Left
Iraq
In 1998 and 1999 it was difficult for the media to avoid some of the more
obvious facts about the withdrawal of arms inspectors from Iraq in December
1998. NBC Today accurately reported at the time:
"The Iraq story boiled over last night when the chief UN weapons inspector,
Richard Butler, said that Iraq had not fully cooperated with inspectors
and - as they had promised to do. As a result, the UN ordered its inspectors
to leave Iraq this morning." (Katie Couric, NBC's Today, December 16, 1998.
Quoted, 'What a difference 4 years makes: News coverage of why the
inspectors left Iraq', www.fair.org)
The UK media reported the same version of events:
"A few hours before the attack began, 125 UN personnel were hurriedly
evacuated from Baghdad to Bahrain, including inspectors from the UN Special
Commission on Iraq and the International Atomic Energy Agency." (Julian
Borger and Ewen MacAskill, 'Missile blitz on Iraq', December 17, 1998)
What A Difference 3 Years Makes: UK News Coverage of Why the Inspectors Left
Iraq
In 1998 and 1999 it was difficult for the media to avoid some of the more
obvious facts about the withdrawal of arms inspectors from Iraq in December
1998. NBC Today accurately reported at the time:
"The Iraq story boiled over last night when the chief UN weapons inspector,
Richard Butler, said that Iraq had not fully cooperated with inspectors
and - as they had promised to do. As a result, the UN ordered its inspectors
to leave Iraq this morning." (Katie Couric, NBC's Today, December 16, 1998.
Quoted, 'What a difference 4 years makes: News coverage of why the
inspectors left Iraq', www.fair.org)
The UK media reported the same version of events:
"A few hours before the attack began, 125 UN personnel were hurriedly
evacuated from Baghdad to Bahrain, including inspectors from the UN Special
Commission on Iraq and the International Atomic Energy Agency." (Julian
Borger and Ewen MacAskill, 'Missile blitz on Iraq', December 17, 1998)