Complaint
This edition focused on the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, its impact on the Iraqi people and its legacy twenty years on. 聽A listener complained that the introduction to this programme was not adequately impartial in relation to whether the war was justified or not. 聽The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 麻豆官网首页入口鈥檚 editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The opening minutes of the programme included a brief summary of the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath read by the presenter Kirsty Wark. 聽It made reference to 鈥渢he myth of weapons of mass destruction鈥 and the 鈥渂lood and thunder and mayhem鈥 which followed the war. 聽At the same time it also described Saddam Hussein as a 鈥渢测谤补苍迟鈥 and explained that the invasion was based on a conviction that it would make 鈥渢he world a safer place鈥. 聽The complainant argued this offered an insufficiently balanced account but in the ECU鈥檚 view a programme鈥檚 impartiality would not normally be judged solely in terms of a short section, in this case the opening words lasting little over a minute. 聽The full programme, which sought the views of three guests with differing perspectives on the conflict, contained a sufficient range of views including the case for toppling Saddam Hussein, for due impartiality to be achieved.
Not Upheld