The Cat's Blog: BBC BETWEEN GOSSIP AND PROPAGANDA

The Cat's Blog: BBC BETWEEN GOSSIP AND PROPAGANDA


Dear Paul,

What a ‘good morning’ you have given me today! I have just read “Iraqi documents: Saddam's delusions” (Paul Reynolds, World Affairs Correspondent, BBC News website). After reading the long, detailed and analytical article, at the very bottom of it I read:
Caution

However, a note of caution is due here which is also introduced by the US Army unit releasing the documents. It says: "The US government has made no determination regarding the authenticity of the documents."
What a surprise (sic!) and reading it at the very end of the article! Why don’t you put the “caution” at the beginning and use “quotation marks” for your article’s title? People interested in gossip would be thrilled!

Have a good week-end.

Best wishes,
Gabriele Zamparini

***

Dear Gabriele

How nice to hear from you again.

May I ask you the following questions?

1. Have you read the Foreign Affairs magazine article?

2. Have you read the full report from USJSCOM?

3. Have you read any of the documents released by Joint Reserve Intelligence Center?

All are linked to from my article, so you should have no trouble in finding them.

When you have read them ( I assume you have not as your message to me said that you had 'just read' the article), we can discuss them further perhaps.

Thank you for your time.

with regards

Paul

***

Dear Paul,

“How nice to hear from you again” indeed.

You can of course ask all the questions you like. It would be nice though if you could answer first the questions I asked you.

Why did you put the “caution” at the end of the article? Being a “caution”, it’s simply logical to put it at the beginning. Which kind of “caution” comes after?!

Also, in the “caution” at the very end of your article, you write: “The US government has made no determination regarding the authenticity of the documents." The original text of the “caution” (PLEASE, NOTE THAT THE US GOVERNMENT WEBSITE PUTS THE CAUTION AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE), reads:
At the request of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the US Army Foreign Military Studies Office has created this portal to provide the general public with access to unclassified documents and media captured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The US Government has made no determination regarding the authenticity of the documents, validity or factual accuracy of the information contained therein, or the quality of any translations, when available. Users who come across documents they feel are inappropriately released may contact the responsible officers at docex@center.osis.gov. The ODNI press release and public affairs contact information is available at http://www.odni.gov
They are very simple questions Paul.

1) Why didn’t you put the “caution” at the beginning?

2) Why does the “caution” used by the US government is more cautious of the one you used?

3) Why do you always use in your article verbs in certainty tenses and never in doubt tenses. For example “Among the documents is one that demonstrates how the Iraqis supported the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines.” Demonstrate? What about the “caution” Paul?

Will you be so kind to answer my questions? And what’s that “perhaps” supposed to mean?

Thank you for your time.

Best wishes,
Gabriele

PS Don’t worry Paul, you will have the pleasure to “hear from [me] again”. After all, the BBC is a public service paid for by public money. And I do all I can to make sure my money are well spent.