Harald K.
Harald K.
Jul 10, 2017 · 1 min read

I know all of that. I think it sucks that Higgins has been flattered by the likes of Carl Bildt. I don’t think he’s a terribly sympathetic person, he’s a classic arrogant SA goon. However, he basically works the same way he did before all this happened (I followed his blog on the Syrian conflict before the media — and Carl Bildt — noticed it).

That is, he focuses on small details which are by themselves unexciting, like what type of gun is that, where is that crossroads. Boring, undeniable facts. Which sometimes, but not always, add up to some basic undeniable conclusions.

This case is an example. What I linked was simply setting up the claims of the various groups side by side. This is valuable even if you think Elliot Higgins is a dick (which he is, in many ways), and even if you think he was foolish to get entangled with people who liked his reporting on Syria for its conclusions (which he was).

You need to engage the facts, not the person.

    Harald K.

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