BBC Deceptions; Examples of how the press deceives you and tries to set the agenda.

BBC Report on Army Desertions

All week the BBC has been plugging heavily its Five Live Report on increased British Army desertions due to the Iraq war. There have been endless trailers for the investigation by BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Charles, and today BBC news carried related headlines about the dramatic rise in desertion levels in the past three years.Well, Marc at USS Neverdock has found evidence to the contrary - on the BBC’s own website. I’ve taken the relevant screencaps just in case some stealth editing occurs:

[Click the link to see screen shots of stories from today and 2000. Then see how the BBC edits the story to remove the more egregious lies.]

The BBC is still desperately trying to give the impression of increasing numbers of missing servicemen, but it’s fairly obvious that over time more of them will turn up or be tracked down. More soldiers are still missing from 2005 than 2001 because less time has passed, not because more of them are going AWOL. These figures are therefore meaningless for year by year comparison.

We need to get through a few more paragraphs to discover the relevant information, also added to the original article:

According to MoD figures 2,670 soldiers went "absent without leave" in 2001, with the figure rising to 2,970 in 2002 and falling in 2003 to 2,825. In 2004 it rose to 3,050, falling back again in 2005 to 2,725.

Which is, as the MOD says, “fairly constant”. And that pisses all over the BBC's little fire, doesn't it? No wonder Jonathan Charles is too ashamed to show his face.

The real story here, of course is that the BBC is populated by people ranging in ideology from the Far Left to the Barking Moonbat Fever Swamp Left. That is why the story implies that desertions from the British Army are the result of the war in Iraq.

What is telling is that the BBC has been forced to edit its own propaganda by the pajamas media. They are convicted with their own words, and nothing will ever be the same again.

The Telegraph, another British newspaper, has reprinted the BBC fable. This is why when the Virginian Pilot reprints a story from the NY Times or some other “Drive By Media” publication, it’s so often wrong.