MORE RUSSOPHOBIA IN INTERNATIONAL PRESS


http://english.pravda.ru/printed.html?news_id=13583

More russophobia in international press - 07/28/2004 18:26

This time it's the BBC
There is no mine disaster, no missile running amok, this President
does not drink in public or even in private, the nuclear power stations
are behaving themselves, the Russian economy is picking up, there is no
default and no banking crisis. Where then can the BBC attack Putin's
Russia?
Simple! The army. In today's online BBC we have in nice clear letters
the headline "Suicides increase in Russian army" and the lead
paragraph, quoting Russian military sources, then states that there has
been a 38% increase in suicides in the Russian armed forces over the
last year.
That is an improvement, because usually western news sources are
accusing the Russians of lying. Now they quote them, but only of course
to paint a dreary picture and to print negative stories.
The report begins by claiming that 109 soldiers committed suicide in
2003, among a total of 420 servicemen who lost their lives in
non-combat operations. Out of a total of 1.2 million, but this the BBC
forgot to add.
Speaking of casualties, how many British and American servicemen have
died over the last twelve months during their venture in Iraq? How many
British soldiers have committed suicide? A visit to the Ministry of
Defence website makes interesting reading.
For instance, between 1989 and 2000, there were 285 recorded suicides
in the British Armed Forces. Other information in the site claims that
"young Army males experience more deaths from suicides than the
equivalent UK national population".
So with less than half the number of servicemen as Russia, Britain
has three times as many suicides? Why doesn't the BBC report about that?

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru