I noted the other day that Iraqi prime minister Nouri al Maliki was no longer concerned about Iranian support for the insurgency, so I was somewhat surprised by a story in last night’s ABC news that suggested the opposite.

The online version reports that ‘In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Iraq’s Prime Minister has urged neighbouring states to stop meddling in his country.’ A few lines later the ABC goes on to say ‘The United States has blamed Iran for stoking much of the violence that has bedevilled Iraq.’

The inference is plain: Iran is still actively stirring up trouble in Iraq and al Maliki’s pissed off about it.

So what did al Maliki actually say? Well I can’t find a transcript of his whole speech but here’s the UN’s own account:

Iraq’s priority now, he said, is establishing sovereignty over the land. “We have come a long way in training and equipping our armed forces in order to take over the security responsibilities from the multinational forces,” he said.

At the same time, the Iraqi Prime Minister warned neighbouring States than any destabilization was likely to spread. “We cautioned all countries in the region that continued overflow of weapons, money, suicide bombers and the spreading of ‘fatwas’ inciting hatred and murder will only result in disastrous consequences for the peoples of the region and the world.”

It’s far-fetched to call this a demand to ’stop meddling’ in Iraq, as the ABC would have us believe. It reads to me like a plea to other countries to keep their own houses in order and stop them ‘overflowing’ - i.e. a recognition that the spread of violence and terrorism is occurring because of government incompetence, not at the direction of governments. Moreover it’s clearly not directed at any one country in particular; in fact it could be a dig at Saudi Arabia more than anyone else. But why not take it at face value - a general motherhood statement about the perils of instability? Why use it to provide a gratuitous boost to the neo-cons’ Bomb Iran Now! campaign?

This is the kind of sloppy journalism that’s characterised the MSM’s coverage of the US involvement in the Middle East since at least 2002. You’d think journos would have learnt their lesson by now but obviously not. They just keep obediently interpreting everything in accordance with the Bush Administration’s frame du jour.

One might think it’s a good story for a show like Media Watch, but they’re preoccupied with the really important stuff like who Phillip Adams interviewed 10 years ago.

In the mean time, a few more Australians have had the message drummed into their heads that the Iraqi prime minister is protesting about Iranian support for the insurgency when in fact the opposite is the case. Well done again, our ABC.

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