Talking to Taliban flacks

Further to this post, here are Gen. (ret'd) Rick Hillier's views in a video from CTV Newsnet. The Black Rod transcribes a section, do watch the whole clip:

About 2:15 p.m. CST [May 6], CTV runs a CNN clip of an alleged Taliban spokesman with his back to camera delivering the usual Taliban spiel.

Rinaldo (smugly) : So, you know, here we have Hamed Karzai in Washington talking about hopeful (sic) of peaceful future---how realistic is that given the threat of escalating attacks by the Taliban?

Hillier: Well, first of all I go back to the supposed threat of escalating attacks by the Taliban. It's kind of interesting we have a report from a supposed Taliban commander who clearly is not going to be identified. And whatever he spouts, people put it on the front page of the newspaper--- act as his vehicle to deliver it around the world no matter if there's any truth or basis to it whatsoever and put him on TV, in fact, and show...

I think it's actually appalling. I think if it was a Canadian commander or American saying things the dissection that would go on before that report was put out would be incredible. That has not occurred in this case. So on the case of the Taliban, you know, they can feel free to say what they want. They are unconstrained by the Geneva Concention; they are unconstrained by truth. And as a result they can saw what they want.

For all we know, the reporters might have been talking to the village idiot.

Rinaldo (shell-shocked and incoherent) : No, I, I take your case in point on, on broadcast but I guess it's out. Other media are broadcasting it so it's available and it's not an issue of censorship at this point. We have to talk about it because other people are certainly talking about it as well.

So, Sandie, challenging Taliban propaganda is censorship, is it?

MSM journalism at its finest.