Any answers? Blogs more trusted than the BBC

Dear Tap.

I took a break from painting yesterday about 2pm. I’d been listening to Verdi, Miles Davis and Dark Side of The Moon and while cleaning my brushes and putting the kettle on decided to give the radio a try. There was no Saturday Premiership football, so I wondered what the callers on BBC’s Any Answers might be saying. I rarely bother with the BBC’s Any Questions. I used to listen to Any Questions and watch BBC TV’s Question Time routinely, but over recent years it has become increasingly dull, banal and out of sync with the more interesting news and commentary via the internet. I was surprised at what I heard:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039lmk0
The BBC programme host presenter wasJulian Worricker.

The first caller, Canon Robin Morrison: “… when we met a delegation from Syria of 150 or so representatives of various groups, they reported this country (Syria), this jigsaw, will easily turn to chaos if the Alawite family go (secular Assad), they’re a neutral huıb at the centre of it all, Assad is an interesting reformist leader, his brother was the more powerful at running the securityforces, he’s made many mistakes, what must not happen… Obama must not take any sides and must not do military strikes. Cameron’s got to talk to Obama, get back to Putin and stop Obama.

BBC: What about chemical weapons?

Canon Morrison: Since the war began 3 years ago, many red lines have been crossed. On all sides, beyond our imagining. The bloggers across the world are saying it could have been all sorts of different chemicals. Assad had no motive. The only group that had real motive… it was either a rogue commander or a rebel group.

BBC: Is our role in the word diminished following the vote in parliament?

Canon Morrison: I share the view of the (Syrian) coalition forces: we respect the democracy of the British parliament… a wonderful role model decision, may congress come to the same result

We hear the BBC host beginning to sigh, as if a little exasperated with Canon Morrison… he brings on James from Sussex.

James: It’s enhanced our standing in the world. We’ve been shown to stand up to the evil Empire in America. It’s not the American people, but particularly the Israeli lobby in America which is itching for war with Iran and they see the denuding of Syrian forces as part of that theatre of war. I congratulate the Prime Minister on standing down so easily…. we have a strong Israeli lobby in this country too, so he might have had to go through the process of saying yes, we’re going to attack and thought this was a way out without having to declare he wasn’t behind it. I think that may have given a little comfort to Obama who is in the same position… if that vote goes the right way, the latest results shown on RT the other day (Russia Today!?) 150 against, 34 for in Congress… could I also comment on the chemical weapons thing? We haven’t proved who did it, but the rebels told Associated Press reporter Joseph Watson, that they mishandled Saudi supplied chemical weapons causing an accident. Now you can check that out on InfoWars.Com (!!!)
http://www.infowars.com/rebels-admit-responsibility-for-chemical-weapons-attack/

We also had it from Carla del Ponte who said it was more likely that the rebels were responsible than the regime and we’ve again heard on Russian television that these were amateur type shells (BBC host breathing/sighing again) the chemicals used isn’t the usual sarin type used by armies and there’s the Brit_Am plot hushed up, uncpovered by a leaked e-mail to ship sarin nerve gas to the rebels in January paid for by Qatar
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/reawakening-liberty/2013/sep/6/does-anyone-really-believe-assad-used-chemical-wea/

BBC: James, I’m going to move it on because there are lots of theories as I was saying a moment ago… I don’t want to get too embroiled in various plots and various theories. Adrian in Plymouth, good afternoon…

Adrian: We had the vastest empire there has ever been, now that justified having a role on the world stage, but we don’t have it now.

The BBC host brings up ‘the humanitarian role in all of this’…

Adrian: We should recognise we have no special duty to intervene on this particular war. There’s nothing to stop people from volunteering if they want to… I’d rather admire them if they did. I’m not going to do it myself, but there are those who feel very strongly and I feel it would be fine if they went. We’re being very one sided in all of this. The Christian enclaves in Syria have had far better treatment from Assad than they are ever likely to get under a Mohammedan successor, Sunni or Shia… the best way to bring an end to the Syria war would be to allow Assad to win by not supporting those who are going against him…there’ll be a blood bath of some sort I expect, but there will be either way.

BBC: Charles in London. Britain’s place in the world?

Charles: I want to concentrate on Mr. Robertson’s point of view that the vote diminished us. It certainly did not diminish us. It has raised our status because the people in parliament started listening to the people. I’m a Conservative. I don’t think Mr. Cameron is a Conservative, he is a Mr. Blair Mark II and it was a rejection of Labour’s motion as well because both were posing motions for war. This was an upwelling of democracy; true democracies are not war mongering nations… 

The BBC host interrupts and moves on to squeeze in Tweets and text messages… Putin’s spokespeople called Britain a small island, forgetting it was once home to Marx and Engels.. Cameron rushed the vote and lost… childish stupidity to say we are never going back to parliament in reference to the suggestion there could be another vote… to John in Swansea

John: Your contributors have touched upon several points… the truth is we haven’t been a great nation since the 19th century… the locus has shifted from municipal towns and cities such as Manchester, Birmingham to London. London no longer appears to be the capital of the United Kingdom; almost a city state with its own set of values and moral judgements… the point I want to make is the hypocrisy of us… back in March there was an appeal for Syria, my wife and I contributed and we heard nothing else. Now all of a sudden… how duplicitous we are, we were prepared to use the refugee problem as a stick to beat Assad, using the phrase: they are trying to escape from him and he’s attacking his own people… the truth is the refugees are trying to flee from conflict from both sides, what we hear is really political spin… there is no concept of Britishness, no over-arching view on who we are, and who we might be, we are much smaller than that both individually and collectively and jolly good job too. I agree with Matthew Paris in the Spectator: parliament was able to exert its authority and break free from the shackles of the patronage of the executive…

Next caller..

Paul in Taunton: It may not be the country it used to be, but look at what it achieves today… world leader in many sports, motor racing, football, rugby, cricket, we can organise events like the Olympics, forefront of aviation, modern aircraft parts, excellent Rolls Royce engines, our military is recognised as being the best in the world… regarding the recent decision of parliament, clearly others pay attention to what happens in the UK, since Obama put the question to congress, France decided to debate the issue and it’s something Russia wouldn’t dare do… even PresidentObama recognises that he likes to work with the British on the military side, I don’t know what he thinks about working with the French, the French won’t go it alone anyway…

BBC: I don’t suppose the French could go alone without some American help, though they did what they did in Mali which people have pointed to in recent months… George in London, last call on this…

George: The war on terror seems to be morphing into a war with terror…we’re being paid attention to, what we’ve done is the right thing, military action would be madness. To do what Obama is planning to do to the Syrian regime is reckless, irrational and a crime against an ancient civilisation.

BBC: … well George, we will have to see what congress brings on that subject… and the host curtails any further contribution from George to move onto a debate about the state of Britain’s seaside resorts!

Alex Jones, did any of your staff note this? I’ve following current affairs since teenage years (50 now) and my gut reaction said this was a significant moment: on the BBC callers referenced bloggers, Russia Today, InfoWars.Com and the Israeli lobby. I sensed the BBC presenter was finding it wearisome; as if he and his producer were thinking, this was not what should be happening! I was urged to listen back and make notes on this edition of BBC Any Answers following an interview between Alex Jones and Gerald Celenet in which they made mention to the public speaking up and actually making an impact on what decisions our leaders take:

Consequences of Obama’s Syria Invasion Could be Irreversible. Alex Jones is joined by Analyst and publisher of Trends Journal, Gerald Celente to discuss the blatant lies that are bringing us to the point of war in Syria:
http://www.trendsresearch.com/SubscriberArea/gerald-celente-alex-jones-show-september-6-2013

There was not one call to the BBC programme to support an attack on Assad. Not one. It was noteworthy that alternative sources of reference were being recommended to the BBC! Basically, it inferred the BBC is out of touch. There is a public ground swell of feeling, in the UK and other countries, that enough is enough. The concern, therefore, is what the war mongers do to initiate their plans war? False flag operations come to mind. I guess at least the internet is enabling people to be informed and fore warned.