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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Seumas Milne and Neil Clark: Spot the Difference

On being asked why he does not attack Seumas Milne for comments he made on the Iraqi resistance, the aid worker cum Guardian blogger Conor Foley replies:

"I would also agree with the assessments of Neil Clark that have been made. Maybe Seumas Milne has written similarly terrible things, but I have not read him anywhere imply that he is in favour of attacking civilians."


The fact is that neither Neil Clark or Seumas Milne have implied that they are in favour of attacking civilians.
But despite holding very similar (some would say identical), views on Iraq, there is one important difference between us, which will help explain Mr Foley's position.

I am a merely an occasional contributor to the Guardian,(and in this respect a competitor to Mr Foley) whereas Seumas Milne is the paper's Associate Comment Editor.

I suggest that explains why Mr Foley is rather more keen to attack me and not Seumas Milne.

(perhaps Mr Foley will prove me wrong and call for Seumas Milne to be arrested and charged with inciting war crimes, but somehow I rather doubt it. Careerists NEVER kick people above them).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Careerists NEVER kick people above them.

Presumably this is why you've never written anything about Seamus Milne that wasn't fawning in the extreme?

But what happens if Stephen Pollard is given an editorial role at The Spectator, for which you also occasionally write?

Neil Clark said...

I have very similar views to Seumas, which is why I've always quoted approvingly of his articles-I would do the same even if he didn't work for the Guardian. But I have also observed the etiquette of not calling for fellow, competing contributors of papers I write for to be arrested and charged with inciting war crimes.
If Stephen Pollard ever became editor of the Spectator, it really would be time to emigrate. And if I ever got the job, I'm sure he would leave the country too!

Ken said...

Ouch! Remind me never to make an enemy out of you, Neil.

Seriously, all this is very strange. Dan Davies over at Crooked Timber posted on the collaborators, and he then devoted his second and final paragraph to a lecture on what language could be used in the comments.

I ignored the bugger and left a caustic comment, which is still there.

Why are they going after you tooth and claw and allowing me to pretty much say what I want? OK, you are the journalist and I am the bloke that nobody has ever heard of, but it is very weird.

Especially since I am getting plenty of hits from Crooked Timber and they are sticking around. Giving us free publicity strikes me as not a very good idea...

Anonymous said...

So now that Georgina Henry is comment editor of "The Guardian", we can expect you to criticise her, or her partner Ronan Bennett? Somehow I doubt you would.