"“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” "


Chinese premier Wen Jiabao 12th March 2009


""We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd like to do our best to preserve that system."


Timothy Geithner US Secretary of the Treasury, previously President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.1/3/2009

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

"Channel 4 should put this rubbish in the dustbin." - Mark of the Jacobins to censor TV

The forces of state control are smoothly slipping into gear - after Michael Gove's call for the Channel 4 drama Mark of Cain be withdrawn when he reviewed it on Newsnight Review on Friday . Dear old Rupe in his rag the Times today gives this juvenile Consrevative MP a whole opinion piece to air his views on censorship - "Why must the media attack our soldiers’ mission?" - He concludes

"And what does it say about the moral courage of our broadcasters that the broader context of the war our soldiers are fighting, the struggle against militant Islamism, (weren't we liberating them from a Dictator?) just doesn’t get a look-in? It’s time that the whistle was blown on the broadcasters’ abuse of our soldiers’ mission."
He claims to be of the tribe of journalists, here is his oportunity, the playwrights are found wanting - so write a play - don't suppress other people's.

The Mark of Cain is marketed as a fictional drama, but it has been filmed with documentary verisimilitude.
Is he suggestiung that Channel 4 (Whose dramas rergularly receive huge praise) engage the services is a 6 th form media studies class ?

The Daily Telegraph have assembled the usual suspects from the Lady Dame Pauline Neville Jones Fan Club to have the viewing stopped. Channel 4 attacked for Iraqi abuse drama

Des Browne, described as the Defence Secretary, has already warned that the drama, The Mark of Cain, will hand "a propaganda opportunity to insurgents and put British lives at risk," as it could be viewed as portraying real events and could be used by those seeking to "incite hostility towards UK forces".

The ubiquitous media rentagob, (from whom we can expect more interference) Colonel Tim Collins, the author of the infamous pre- battle address to the troops of the 1st Battalion Irish Royal Regiment before the Iraq invasion was the inspiration for the title of the programme, is reported to have said. "Channel 4 should put this rubbish in the dustbin." (Has he seen it ?)

Officials at the Ministry of Defence fear that the film "could be used as a tool for indoctrination. Islamic extremists use videos of real and fictionalised events to incite their supporters." "Lives will be put at risk "(reports Rupes Rag the Sun) MoD was however at pains to point out: “The Mark of Cain is a work of fiction and should be viewed as such.” No the Army is not like that - although months of evidence might lead you to beleieve otherwise.

Major General Patrick Cordingly who once led the Desert Rats, was interviewed on the BBC4 World at One news programme today and aid the scenes of British troops "mishandling Arabs" could provide a distorted view. He has thought about it long and hard and wants Channel 4 to withdraw the play .

Lisa Marshall a spokeswoman for Channel 4 contacted the Foreign Office and is talking to them hourly and is reviewing the situation.

Let the public, in the wake of the Deepcut revelations know how we brutalise young men and women, let them see how the class system works in the modern democratic British Army, let people form their own judgement. In the wake of a Court Martial which couldn't find anyone guilty which resulted in the violent death of a civilian, the humiliation, sexual abuse, and photography od prisoners - the public cannot take any more - Good Lord No.... they have had enough of this ...

Court testimony revealed that Musa and the other detainees were beaten so severly they lost conciousness and were left lying in their own excrement. The detainees were also subjected to racist verbal abuse by their captors.

The coroner revealed that Musa died from asphyxia. Among the 93 seperate injuries from the countless blows inflicted were a broken nose and three broken ribs.
OK to dramatise rape, torture, violent attacks, knifings on BBC Crimewatch (A real crime program)- after all, that is all done by criminals, not our "brave lads" and "officers and gentlemen".

See Lord Patel's previous post on the subject - Cameron camp want to censor Channel 4 drama about the Army in Iraq Friday March 30th 2007

This is just another sinister manifestation of State control and censorship - it must be resisted and noiy allowed to be "postponed". By the Way The Mark Of Cain won The Amnesty International Movies That Matter Award on Jan 28th at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival and that is high praise indeed - described as "Een lowbudgetfilm met bigbudget-look en ambitie." and also "The Mark of Cain is an exciting, convincing war film that provides insight into some unpleasant aspects of the war in Iraq better than the news on TV.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"weren't we liberating them from a Dictator?"
Errr....If that's your rationale then... Yes, we were liberating them from a secular dictator so, along with showing their appreciation by adorning our path with flowers they would take the opportunity to engage with religious fundamentalism.
Obviously we were expecting them to embrace Westboro Baptist but hey, "militant Islamism"... whatever.

Wolfie said...

While I'm against censorship I find it hard to not be swayed by the arguments of those who wish to see this play banned.

First of all the comparison to Crimewatch seems somewhat fatuous. Those individual crimes are not ongoing so depicting past events seems acceptable and the notion that they could inspire future crimes implausible.

I have seen fictional western material re-edited for use in jihadist propaganda material to quite visceral effect so I think we need to be cautions with how we use the media ourselves. Its become a common strategy to use our media against us as it is.

No matter how you feel about the wisdom or legality of the war there are servicemen in the field now who are there under orders doing their job who should not be undermined back home nor placed at greater risk by material such as this. Its not their fault - its the politicians.

ziz said...

The worst form of censorship is self censorship. There was no attempt to suggest any equivalence with Crimewatch which fills the ages old prurience - even obsession - with violent crime, which satiates subliminal and thankfully represed fascination that lurks in its audience.

It is imposible to form a judgement on the "drama" until it is seen, whilst it is acceptable to limit showings to certain hours to keep young people away (probably a futile gesture in the age of the inter - porn - net) ther is no justification (although plenty of precedence) for political interference Thank goodness we are no longer in thrall to the Lord Chancellor's blue pencil.

If things are politically offensive we might start with, for example Melanie Phillips - but unlike her and her pal Gove we, here do actially believe in a free society.

Given the history of brutal colonialism in the region since the first world war by the British Empire, leading up to the CIA inspired depsoing and murder of Mossadeqh and the installaion of the Shah, it is difficult to believe one TV drama will have much effect, if any on the view in the street about the Bush /Blair Axis powers.

Anonymous said...

It makes me furious that these cunts get upset about a tv programme. Don't they realise that if our troops didn't beat, rape and torture the victims of our illegal war - indeed if we as a nation stop behaving like fucking Nazis - then we wouldn't need documentaries and dramatisations like this one?

Anonymous said...

Charlie Brooker liked it ...

ziz said...

So bang goes the argument that showing this film on an obscure TV channel will affect the hostages in Iran.

Anonymous said...

To whom it may concern.

Do you think the damage wasn't already done by the Lancasters who went down for sexually abusing prisoners??

Do you think the damage wasn't already done by beating to death Baha Musa??

Do you think the damage wasn't already done by the meaningless death and carnage of war??

Do you really think that a play is going to inflame the passions of people who've survived four years of the events it fictionally depicts?????

There's another two squaddies dead in Basra this week and not because of the drama scheduling of Channel 4.

Now sod off and enjoy your talking lamposts. Sick sad Britain, sick sad world.
Do I sound angry????

Anonymous said...

Blokes getting together and behaving like a pack of violent sex-craved psychopaths and then denying their true underlying motives...so what's new? About time the depicted victims were other men so as to 'prick' a few consciences. Channel 4 doing it's job. Well done!
War is a lemmings game.

(C) Very Seriously Disorganised Criminals 2002/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 - copy anything you wish