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Margaret Hassan

45 replies

hmb · 22/10/2004 15:10

I have just heard that Al'Jazera have shown a vidio of this poor woman begging for her life saying that she doesn't want to die like Ken Bigley.

Why do these videos get shown? How does it benefit? Not the victim, Ken Bigly showed that. The terrorists wasn to terrify and that is just what these tapes do. This is why they want them made, why they force these poor people to do this.

This isn't 'news'. How could her saying she didn't want to be beheaded be 'news'? I realise that curtailing the freedom of the press can be a dangerous thing to start, but shouldn't we be asking some questions about why we are being shown these things and if they help anyone except the guilty?

OP posts:
pixiefish · 22/10/2004 15:14

And why they're available on the internet? That is the most horrible thing. At least the news do 'some' editing. And why anyone goes looking for it on the internet... beyond me...

Uhu · 22/10/2004 15:19

I agree in that these terrorists are media savvy and the publicity they get just adds fuel to their evil intentions. On the other hand, people get to see what kind of barbarians they really are and hopefully understand that one cannot negotiate with these sub-humans.

Do they really think that they will enter paradise with 72 virgins or whatever it is by murdering innocent people, particuarly this woman who has dedicated her life to self-less service? They are evil cowards.

tortoiseshell · 22/10/2004 15:38

But apparently kidnapping is a daily event in Iraq, and they don't get reported!

Original poster
hmb · 22/10/2004 15:41

But they do get reported if the victim is from the west. It is just so amazingly one sided , for starters, and so counterproductive in that showing these videos furthers the aims of the kidnappers.

OP posts:
Spod · 22/10/2004 15:43

this is one of my current pet hates... that the media provide these sick people with so much publicity... media people should be more responsible and not show these tapes at all.... it is not entertainment and the detailsof the ;story' can still be provided by omitting the actual footage. this is an awful situation because it involves someone being used in the most deplorable way. it really is very sad, and the media do not need to make money out of showing all the graphic images.

Uhu · 22/10/2004 15:45

Unfortunately,kidnapping an innocent Iraqi is not as high profile as kidnapping an innocent European or American. All kidnapping should be afforded the same publicity but the kidnappers know this is not the case, and that is why they do what they do. Like I said before, they are media savvy.

tortoiseshell · 22/10/2004 17:35

This particular kidnapping just proves what unprincipled sh*ts the kidnappers are - Margaret Hassan is an Iraqi citizen, and a Muslim! Never mind the work she has done for the country. They are now kidnapping their own countrymen and fellow Muslims. I am finding this particularly upsetting, as we are so impotent to do anything. When John McCarthy et al were kidnapped in Beirut, Margaret Thatchers government adopted a policy of pretending they didn't exist, which did nothing to get them out. Granted they were not killed (I refuse to use the word executed), but I wonder if perhaps those kidnappers had more principles than these opportunist trouble-makers, who want to make themselves feel important by destroying other lives. I know it shouldn't make a difference, but I find the fact that they have taken a woman particularly hard to accept.

Spod · 22/10/2004 17:50

do u think its also the case that western governments allow the media to parade these stories and show the vidoes etc in order to generate the climate of fear that justifies their military action? in that if we keep being reminded of how awful 'these people' are that we are more liekly to accept actions as well as more likely to dismiss all the ways we have been mislead... ie wmd's etc

beansprout · 22/10/2004 18:32

Totally agree Spod.

donnie · 23/10/2004 17:17

interestingly, the BBC is refusing to broadcast the videotape of M Hassan pleading for her life. ITN, however,is showing ' selected highlights' and of course that arbiter of great taste and restraint Sky is showing all of it. They obtained copies from Al Jazeera TV which has refused to disclose how it acquired the tape in the first place.You'd think these people could be compelled by some legal process to divulge their sources.( Guardian front page today).This is also a pet hate of mine Spod - the way the media milk these horrible situations for all they are worth and twist them into some grotesque parody.I posted some rather vehement comments about it on the Boris Johnson thread ! I am glad the BBC is being more restrained as the kidnappers thrive on media attention and publicity.Also I was listening to Dimbleby's news discussion on Radio 4 today and all 4 panellists refused to discuss the Margaret Hassan case as they didn't want to fuel the publicity of the kidnappers, so it seems there is a real initiative - at least in some circles - to hold back from the in your face 24/7 coverage.

nikkim · 23/10/2004 17:25

haven't read the whole thread so I apologise if I am repeating what has already been said but I am sure the BBC stopped reporting on IRA atrocities for a while and attacks becae less frequent.

nikkim · 23/10/2004 17:28

just read spods message and I agree entirely. Did anyone watch the programme on BBC2 on fear and terrorism. Very thought provoking.

Frizbe · 23/10/2004 20:03

Has anyone thought it may not be the terrorists holding her, but may be either the US or British Gov's? which is why no one is owning up to holding her? and they may kill her....they may release her...but she'll never know who her captors were, because that is the horrible game being played....

Spod · 23/10/2004 21:01

dont supposed anyone taped that BBC programme... I'd love to watch it

nikkim · 23/10/2004 21:11

you have only missed the first one which was setting the scene. Discussing the political philosophy behind why governments need to create a climate of fear to keep the country unified and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Also a look at how during the cold war we tended to see all terrorism or threats as having its roots in russia and how the american government decieved us on the scale of the Russian military threat.

Spod · 23/10/2004 21:30

thanks, I wish they would repeat stuff like this rather than eastenders!!!

Divaofthesofa · 23/10/2004 21:51

Frizbe.... what a thought...... sounds like conspiracy theories to me!

moomina · 23/10/2004 21:55

That's not the first time I've heard that theory today, Frizbe. And it was from someone who is usually very straightforward and anti-conspiracy, IYKWIM. Not that I'm saying I agree.

WestCountryLass · 23/10/2004 22:39

How terrified she msut be, it is too awful for words. she must know she will probably be executed, poor woman tears

I was at another message board and someone posted the link of the first known American serviceman being executed. Oh my eyes, I wish I never saw that.

nikkim · 23/10/2004 23:05

I never believe in conspiracy theories unless I have been watching spooks and then anything seems possible

Frizbe · 23/10/2004 23:29

I'm not a great one for the conspiricy theories either, but having just watched the news again and seen the poor lass begging for her life and her husband begging for her...with nothing linking her to any groups? I guess we'll never know....

Caligula · 23/10/2004 23:38

I think the single most effective thing our rulers have done to protect themselves is to persuade us that anyone anywhere who believes in a conspiracy is a nutter.

Extraordinarily useful for anyone who wants to conspire!

Frizbe · 23/10/2004 23:43

I've always said I was a loney!

Caligula · 23/10/2004 23:53
Grin
Gingerbear · 16/11/2004 19:09

OMG it has just been on the news - think she has been murdered