"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of state control are smoothly slipping into gear - after Michael Gove's call for the Channel 4 drama Mark of Cain be withdrawn when he reviewed it on Newsnight Review on Friday .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.