War Crimes Articles few and far between

[arenson]

I sent this and similar letters to CNN and other media organizations. While Harold Pinter got a lot of coverage, the fact that the story of Tony Benn and three others out of a number more (The Independent did not mention all the names) writing letters to Kofi Annan and the British legal authorities got almost no mention strikes me as odd. Have others noted this? Will post any answers I get:


I refer you to the following story -->Campaigners accuse leaders of 'war crimes'<--

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article331780.ece
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=672047



While most papers covered Mr. Pinter's Nobel speech, only about 4 covered the wider story--all reprints of The Independent story, which at least makes it plain that criticism of Bush and Blair is more than about a single personality, Mr. Pinter's. We are talking about academics, politicians and other notables pointing out to both the British and United Nations authorities that the leaders of the U.S., the U.K and other war coalition countries are indictable on war crimes charges. Why that is not news is something that perhaps you can answer, when so much fluff appears on a daily basis. A search of the Internet shows only 3 or 4, however, all reprinting the same article.


The fact that this was omitted from most papers indicates that issues are less important than individuals for you. Certainly the fact that many notables sent this to the United Nations warrants at least mention. Would be interested in your comments on why the story was omitted.

Thank you.


Paul Arenson


P.S.

I wonder if there is a full list of the signatories. You could correct this oversight by writing your own article with the full list. As to what the response of the British and U.N. authorities, I assume that will also be covered, even if they should choose to dismiss the charges. I would lastly point out that 2 years ago the scandals surrounding Iraq now reported daily by your paper and most others were only covered by the smaller independent media, who were often dismissed as bias. Now it is not strange to find critical pieces everywhere, Will this story be dug up 3 years from now when it is safe to do so? Don't you have an obligation to cover ALL the news?