BBC’s Stephen Sackur backs CIA torture

Many listeners to Radio 4’s Today Programme will have been shocked this
morning to hear their new presenter Stephen Sackur apparently supporting the
use of torture.

After giving prime time to the views of an unknown Washington functionary
who supported the use of “rough interrogations”, Sackur then confronted
Human Rights campaigner Mary Robinson. If Sackur had wished to comply with
the BBC’s legal obligation to exercise impartiality he might have said “Is
he right?”. Instead Sackur said: “He’s right, isn’t he?”. The tone left no
doubt that Sackur believed he was right. A shocked Mary Robinson stumbled as
she tried to explain basic elements of the rule of law to a hostile and
sceptical interviewer.

Nobody mentioned during the interview that according to evidence released by
the American Civil Liberties Union at least fifty of the CIA’s “rough
interrogations” have resulted in the ugly painful deaths of the victims. If
this is not torture, what is? In giving a platform to an apologist for
torture and making it clear they though he was right Sackur and the BBC
arguably committed a criminal offence against universal human rights law
this morning.

Since the purges at the BBC following the pro-Blair Hutton report, Today has
been dominated by presenter James Naughtie. Privately a member of pro-US
lobby groups, Naughtie vehemently promoted the myth of Iraq’s WMD before the
war. Recently Naughtie memorably agreed with the preposterous statement of
a pro-occupation Iraqi politician who claimed that the US has NOT been
killing civilians in Iraq. Now the presence of Sackur, whose wife is an
Iraqi exile and who was another vehement supporter of the illegal invasion,
threatens the cement the demise of a once respected programme.

Despite the increasing revulsion worldwide against the Iraq war and the use
of torture and chemical weapons by the US and its allies, the slide into
barbarism justified by the 911 attacks is continuing. The US/UK broadcast
media have been captured by the warmongers who are censoring US/UK
attrocities in Iraq, condoning torture and the use of chemical weapons and
setting up a series of pretexts for further attacks on Iran and Syria.

I appeal to everyone, particularly in the media, to challenge people like
Sackur, Naughtie and their bosses in BBC News. Condoning universal war
crimes is in itself a criminal offence. In addition, before they justify
Washington’s barbarism by recource to Washington’s 911 “War on Terror”
legend, perhaps they should ask whether, like the Reichstag Fire, the story
is even true.

Ian Henshall co-author 911 Revealed

NOTE

Rowland Morgan and I wrote the investigative book 911 Revealed, published in
August 2005. With its thesis that the official story of the 911 attacks has
huge gaps and may even be fundamentally false, 911 Revealed got enthusiastic
reviews in the Daily Mail and the Sunday Times, but national broadcasters
have brazenly ignored the questions it raises, just as people like James
Naughtie and Stephen Sackur ignored or pilloried those who said Iraq had no
WMD in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.

Given that the sole justification for the use of torture, and the main
justification for the illegal invasion of Iraq is Washington’s legend of the
911 attacks, why do broadcasetrs refuse to examine the truth of the legend?
It concerns three FBI field offices being ordered to stop investigations
that might have stopped the attacks, extraordinary failures by the Pentagon
even to get fighters airborne, Bush left for forty miniutes by the Secret
Service when he should have been a target, three Tower blocks falling at
gravity defying speed, and follow-up anthrax attacks that we now know were
carried out by elements from the US military. The people who were so sure
that Iraq had WMDs now say that to raise these issues is to be a conspiracy
theorist. One conspiracy is undeniable: a conspiracy of silence by cowardly
editors in the US/UK broadcast news media.

Complaints at BBC
call 08700 100222 and ask for a response in writing, or email info@bbc.co.uk

Head of BBC News
Helen Boaden helen.boaden@bbc.co.uk

Stephen Sackur stephen.sackur@bbc.co.uk

James Naughtie james.naughtie@bbc.co.uk

Editor of Today
kevin.marsh@bbc.co.uk