Canadian Journalist: The Writers Were Right, The Critics Were Wrong

Alex Strachan is a journalist for the CanWest News Service in Canada, and wrote an article appearing today in affiliated newspapers, one day after the terrorist bombings in London. Here are some excerpts.

"British Film Foreshadowed London Attacks"
Vancouver Sun, July 8th, 2005

"Made for BBC and HBO and aired widely last February (2005) on PBS, writer Dan Percival and playwright Lizzie Mickery's painstakingly realistic drama was widely dismissed at the time as cheap fear-mongering - a slur against Islamic fundamentalism terrorists, and (an) exercise in propaganda.
"Watching the live news footage from London early Thursday on BBC World and CNN...I was struck again by how realistic, and eerily prescient, "Dirty War" really was.
"Mickery and Percival based their script on findings by BBC's current affairs division...after researchers were asked to find out how prepared emergency services might be in the event of a major terrorist attack."

"("Dirty War") all bears an eerie resemblance to the images Thursday on CNN and BBC World...
"In an interview earlier this year, Percival, a veteran of BBC's documentary division, dismissed claims of fear-mongering...
""...I've tried to make an intelligent film that deals with a very critical situation that we have here today. I, and the BBC, did not make this film for the sake of scaring people. That would be a terrible mistake. I make these films because I see a screaming need for it.
""We're almost kept in the dark deliberately about the devastating consequences of what is termed "catastrophic terrorism". And we can't afford to be, because we need to be in a position to respond, to react and to survive and remain resilient...Because the consequences of all of us not being aware could be truly catastrophic.
""What I hope, and what already seems to be the case, listening to people who've seen this film, is they see it as an opportunity to hold a mirror up to the situation and say, "They're not ready there, we're not ready here. We really need to act."""

""Dirty War" managed to do something rare. It foreshadowed a crisis, and it proved the carping critics wrong. The words "fear-mongering" weren't much in evidence Thursday.""

Source: CanWest News Service