For once the inclusion on the Dateline panel of our favourite mad Arab, Abdel Bari Atwan (aka ‘Arry Batwan) was fully justified. He was as impassioned as ever, waving his arms around frantically as he searched for those elusive words. He’s lived here for 40 years?
However, the dramatic elimination of The Big Daddy of Isis did touch upon his area of expertise. Looking more preternatural than ever, he informed the viewers about the new leader of Isis - “more brutal even that BagDaddy”, and at some length, he decried the volatility of the Middle East. Who knew?
I thought Carrie Gracie was rather good as the host of this programme. In fact, she has risen in my estimation and she seems to be growing into her role on the Beeb - she did seem shaky when she first returned from China, embroiled in all that equal pay malarky. Now she looks like a pair of safe hands.
I wonder what Craig thought of that episode. Dateline is usually his territory. He knows all the contributors by name and can even tell the difference between them.
President Trump’s childish boasting about dead dogs was indeed regrettable but I’m not sure if it eclipsed the ‘success’ of the actual incident quite as much as the first speaker, John Fisher Burns asserted. Trump managed to “grab defeat from the jaws of victory”, he said. Somewhat of an exaggeration and a relatively petty argument if you ask me.
The worry that Trump’s withdrawal of troops from the area will do far-reaching damage and cause widespread instability was agreed by all, and the proposal that however many leaders are bumped off, there will be more to take their place.
Bari was upset that the US has decided to bury its corpses at sea, rather than ‘show us the evidence’. He seemed to think that he needed proof that they were really dead, otherwise they might not be. Adam Raphael said that displaying corpses’ heads on sticks was ‘not our way’, a none-too-subtle put-down, delivered with a slight smirk.
When they had exhausted that topic, having decided that we shouldn’t abdicate responsibility for our own jihadi prisoners, but take them back, Britain and Europe, that is, they turned to the 'generalection'. The worrying conclusion was that Boris has taken a risk too far and that we are very likely facing a Marxist takeover.
Happy days.
Yes, Carrie Gracie is very good - much, much better than Gavin Esler.
ReplyDeleteThe second edition of my Pocket Guide to Dateline Panellists will be coming out shortly to help beginners tell their Maria Margaronises from their Eunice Goeses.
An interesting programme, but it's still the great and the good (and, in Bari's case, the not-so-good) of the liberal-(and not-so-liberal)-left media largely agreeing with each other.
DeleteI cannot see how the BBC can maintain a ban on people like Tommy Robinson (who has never justified any terror attack) appearing on their programmes but allow Abdel Bari Atwan. From Wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"In March 2008, Atwan said that the Mercaz HaRav shooting, in which a Palestinian gunman killed eight students (aged 15 to 26), "was justified". He added that the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva is responsible for "hatching Israeli extremists and fundamentalists" and that the celebrations in Gaza following the attack symbolized "the courage of the Palestinian nation". " and
"In response to Atwan's legitimization of the Mercaz HaRav shooting in March 2008, Lior Ben-Dor, a spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in London, said: "The problem is that when addressing the British public, he tends to hide his true opinions and ideology - his support for terror and the murder of civilians. This article reveals Atwan's real colors, a supporter of fundamentalism and terror, and hence he should be treated accordingly". "
Seems like the BBC holds some people to higher standards.
Douglas Murray and Rod Liddle - and Mark Meechan - would be permanently put on the back burner by the BBC for much less (if they already haven't been.)
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