On April 9, a US tank recovery vehicle tightened a metal rope and a statue of Saddam Hussein came crashing down in central Baghdad. The event was celebrated by “dozens” of Iraqi people at the scene, according to BBC online, but by hundreds of mainstream journalists in Britain and America. A rare, long shot photograph of the event shows a small crowd of people around the statue surrounded by empty space, then tanks, and then more empty space.
 
The BBC’s News At Six described this propaganda coup outside the journalists’ hotel as a “momentous event”, with the media “a witness to history”, with US forces watching “amazed” on a “day of extraordinary drama and historic images”, with Bush declaring “a historic moment” in reference to what were “extraordinary events” (April 9). This was all in the first 90 seconds of the programme.
 
Compare and contrast the above with the BBC’s response to the march, not of dozens, but of 2 million British people in London on February 15:
 
“The people have spoken, or have they? What about the millions who didn’t march? Was going to the DIY store or watching the football on Saturday a demonstration of support for the government?” (David Grossman, Newsnight, February 17, 2003)