BBC / ITV / SKY agree ... Charity does NOT begin here ... far. far . too complex

The Disasters Emergency Committee has representatives from 13 charities that co-ordinate charity appeals. Plans for a televised appeal ( see Tsunami / Pakistan E'Qake) to raise funds for dealing with the post war humanitarian crisis in Lebanon have been refused by the UK broadcasters en bloc. 1,000 people have been killed and 1.5 million people displaced in Israel and Lebanon and a massive oil slick spreads long the Lebanese and Syrian coast.

BBC with ITN and Sky News, told charities they feared people might not support such a campaign because of the "political complexities" of the Middle East. ITV News Editor, David Mannion, discussed the matter a number of times with the BBC's head of news, Helen Boaden.

"Helen and I felt it was inappropriate. We agreed on that position, there was no disagreement."

The broadcasters also cited "concerns" about the stability of the ceasefire between the Israeli army and Hizbullah brokered on August 14.

DEC has already has a national appeal for the Darfur crisis, which has incredibly complex political / religious dimensions, as well as for the famine in Niger, and dispute that the situation in Lebanon is "too complex".

The broadcasters claimed to reached their decision after considering three criteria at meetings with representatives from the 13 charities (led by Oxfam) that constitute the DEC.

The criteria are said to be :

1. Is the disaster was large and urgent enough to warrant a national appeal?
2. Could such an appeal bring effective help swiftly?
3. Is there enough pre-existing public awareness to raise enough money?

The answers to all of which are self - evidently YES, but according to the Mannion / Boaden axis are NO.

So ITV / BBC are in complete agreement, which SKY are happy to go along with. Raising money to deal with the loss of housing, water, oil, electricity, infrastructure, a worldwide diaspora of dependents, death , injuries on a massive scale, tens of thousands of unexploded cluster bomblets caused by the Israeli invasion of Lebanon is politically "too complex".... "inappropriate" even according to the Boaden / Mannion news duopolists. US$30 Billion according to the Lebanese PM.

Tom Griffin at the Green Ribbon suggests a reason why...aided by an "analyst" from covert UK military force AEGIS Dominick Donald and a consideration of the role of the HMG Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit (PCRU).

""It would appear that this experience (Iraq - where aid agencies either stayed out of the country or refused to co-operate with the coalition, particularly after the bombing of the UN HQ and the murder of Care's Margaret Hassan) has crystallized a growing distrust in key British Government departments (MOD, FCO, the Cabinet Office) with NGOs as implementing partners"

See Royal United Services Institute Publication portentously described "Whitehall Paper" ... "After The Bubble: British Private Security Companies After Iraq" By Dominick Donald 25 Jul 2006 £10.

" ....highlights for government and policy makers the key issues that are likely to shape the debate about the sector in the short to medium term, and the areas where the sector (PSC Private Security Companies) believes it has something to offer. In so doing it aims to shift perceptions away from the caricatures that tend to distort media coverage of PSCs and provide a constructive, occasionally sceptical contribution to the debate."

... the leitmotif appears to be, now that AEGIS has been created by political pressure, MOD direction and US Congressional funds and Iraq is going for a ball of chalk, so ... what do AEGIS do now.. look out for press stories of ex SAS / FFL / caring for the wounded children blown to bits by cluster bomblets, rather than strafing cars and taxis on the Green Route to Baghdad airport.

Pic Middle East Online see story