Who Are We But To Tame Hate With Truth

Michael Hedges June 15, 2022 - Follow on Twitter

Bickering over points of view is necessary for intellectual health. What makes for trusted sources of information is part of the same debate. Diplomats will often agree to disagree, maintaining trust in dialogue a key part of their work. When that dialogue breaks down, war commences and the adversaries seek every advantage. Speaking to the ages, the father of tragedy, Greek dramatist Aeschylus wrote: “In war, the first casualty is truth.” He long feared being killed by a falling object. He was.

The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation banned entry to 29 British reporters and media executives, noted Reuters (June 14). Included are several highly-experienced Russia correspondents from five major outlets plus BBC chairperson Richard Sharp, BBC Director General Tim Davie, Guardian executive editor Katharine Viner, Times executive editor John Witherow, Daily Telegraph executive editor Chris Evans and Daily Mail executive editor Edward Verity.

Reflecting the international weight of UK public broadcaster BBC, three of its correspondents regularly contributing from Ukraine - Nick Beake, Clive Myrie and Orla Guerin - were listed along with BBC Radio 4 anchor Nick Robinson and BBC diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams. BBC reporters recently illuminated evidence of banned cluster munitions being used in Ukraine by Russian Federation forces. Guardian correspondents listed include Shaun Walker, who served as Moscow correspondent for a decade and recently wounded in Ukraine, Luke Harding, expelled from the Russian Federation several years ago, Emma Graham-Harrison and Peter Beaumont.

Those on the list were hardly selected at random. Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsey and political anchor Sophy Ridge have been banned from entry. Channel 4’s Cathy Newman, also a columnist for The Independent, made the list along side well-respected Financial Times chief foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman. Also on the list was University College London professor Mark Galeotti who contributes to Russian exile portal Moscow Times and other outlets.

Announcing the bans, the Russian Federation Foreign Ministry blamed Western sanctions following the February invasion of Ukraine and “spreading false information about Russia.” Last August BBC Moscow correspondent Sarah Rainsford was expelled, the second UK journalist booted after Luke Harding. “The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas,” added the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement.

In statements after the bans were revealed a BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster “will continue to report independently and fairly,” and a Guardian spokesperson added: “Trusted, accurate journalism is more important now than ever, and despite this decision we will continue to report robustly on Russia and on its invasion of Ukraine.” Russian authorities have banned or sanctioned international media outlets based in the US and the EU. Independent domestic reporting has largely ceased to exist, though several outlets have relocated to Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands.

Included in the entry ban are 20 UK military and defense industry figures. Chief Naval Staff Admiral Benjamin Key, Royal Air Force chief Michael Wigston and Minister for Defense Procurement Jeremy Quin are now unable to visit Russia. Nor are executives of BAE Systems and Thales UK. "People linked to the British defence complex are involved in making decisions on the supply of weapons to Ukraine,” noted the Russian Federation Foreign Ministry. A handful of reporters excepted, most on the new sanction list rarely if ever visit the Russian Federation.

“My favorite poet was Aeschylus,” said US Senator Robert F. Kennedy speaking from a flatbed truck (April 5, 1968) on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. “He wrote: ‘In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.’ Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.” Robert Kennedy was assassinated two months later.

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