Channel
4 Regrets Letting Ex-CIA Agent Claim Baghdad
Massacre Would Have Been 'Ideal'
"The thing was ideal when IS was advancing
on Baghdad because Sunnis were killing Shias.
That's exactly what we need. - Our best hope
right now is to get the Sunnis and Shias
fighting each other and let them bleed each
other white."
By Jack
Sommers
January 22, 2015 "ICH"
- "HP"
-
Channel 4 News has
admitted it could have "challenged more
strongly" the views of an ex-CIA officer,
who told the programme the best solution to
violence in the Middle East was for Muslims
to kill each other until they "bleed each
other white".
Michael Scheuer, who was
in the CIA from 1982 and 2004 and was
involved in the hunt for Bin Laden, said
Sunni and Shia Muslims should be left to
fight each other, adding the situation was
"ideal" when the brutal Islamic State (IS)
was advancing on Baghdad and poised to carry
out a massacre.
He also referred to
"problems that have been created by
multiculturalism and diversity in our own
countries" but was not asked to elaborate on
what he meant.
A spokeswoman for the
programme told Huffington Post UK: "We
accept this could have been challenged more
strongly in order to make clear that these
views are in no way endorsed by Channel 4
News."
When he appeared on the
show on Tuesday evening, Mr Scheuer told
host Cathy Newman that the West was "being
beaten hands down" in its fight against
radical Islamists, such as those from IS,
also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Michael
Scheuer:
We've never been able to beat anyone
with air power. We've proven
conclusively we're unable to train
foreign armies to defend themselves so,
we're in a real fix I think.
Cathy Newman:
So you're saying 'send in Western ground
troops' then?
Scheuer:
No ma'am, I think we should back away
from the whole thing. The thing was
ideal when IS was advancing on Baghdad
because Sunnis were killing Shias.
That's exactly what we need. We've
proven that we're just militarily
incompetent or that the military is so
shackled by its political leaders, that
it can't defeat these people. But our
best hope right now is to get the Sunnis
and Shias fighting each other and let
them bleed each other white.
Newman:
There's no hope of that happening though
is there? I mean, President Obama's
talked about being involved in this war
for many years.
Scheuer:
No, Mr Cameron and Mr Obama and most
Western leaders seem to love the idea of
us being bled to death by them, rather
than the other way round. And we have
the problems that have been created by
multiculturalism and diversity in our
own countries, in Europe more severely
than ours but it's coming our way too.
The segment then moved on
to the issue of internet snooping powers.
Ms Newman found herself
copied into angry tweets criticising her
perceived failure to challenge his views.
She answered one of them,
saying: "We hear all views on Channel 4
News."
The Channel 4 News
spokeswoman said Mr Scheuer was one of "a
number of speakers we have on... sharing
diverse opinions on jihad over a long period
of time".
She said: "As a news
organisation, we always try to strike a
balance between unduly sanitised and
excessive information in our news
programming.
"This was a live interview with a former CIA
Intelligence Officer Michael Scheuer and
explored the issues surrounding the new
security situation post the Paris attacks,
the rise of ISIS and its claim on an Islamic
Caliphate.
"Michael Scheuer is one of a number of
speakers we have had on the programme
sharing diverse opinions on Jihad over a
long period of time.
"These were the personal opinions of an
individual with experience and knowledge
from within the intelligence fraternity in
the United States."
She added: "However, we accept this could
have been challenged more strongly in order
to make clear that these views are in no way
endorsed by Channel 4 News.
"This subject is a matter of significant
general public importance and our role as a
news organisation must be primarily to
inform the public on what is happening.
