Presenter Ben Anderson answered your questions after the second episode of Holidays in the Axis of Evil on 28 January. This is an edited transcript of the chat.
Flanners: Can you explain more about the period of detention in Iran and how you both felt?
Ben Anderson: While I was out there I had no idea what was going to happen. The authorities were saying we had committed the highest crime possible against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we would certainly be going to prison. Even after two days we'd have enough bad experiences for the rest of our lives, and they were even talking about executing us. We wouldn't admit to their allegations about al-Qaeda and MI5. They accused us of trying to prove that Iran sponsors al-Qaeda , and they accused the BBC of having direct links with MI5. But when we didn't admit to both of those things they stepped up the threat and that's when execution was mentioned.
D Perry: Great programmes Ben. Would you recommend an independent, street-wise traveller to follow in your footsteps?
Ben Anderson: In Iran you could have a fantastic time. The people we met there were some of the most interesting, friendly, open and brave people we'd come across. Showing too much hair or walking in the park with a friend of the opposite sex you're not married to or related to is a crime punishable by 50 lashes over there. Iraq has some of the most ancient preserved sites in the world for Christians, Jews and Muslims - the first ever city, the garden of Eden, supposedly Noah's Ark, the first evidence of writing, Babylon. If there is no war, or if there's a war and Saddam is removed and replaced by a democracy, I'd strongly recommend it. We were trying to prove that these people were badly represented by their unelected and unpopular leaders.
James B: Hello. In last night's episode it was mentioned that hotel rooms and the coach were bugged. Did this, and the necessity to call Mr Hussain, "Ted" not make you think just why you had chosen to take on the project? The interrogation in Iran could hardly pick up your spirits either.
Ben Anderson: We expected far worse restrictions than that. We could mention Saddam once our minders had become friendly with us and trusted us, as long as we were saying he was a wonderful leader and we all love and support him. But apart from Iran we didn't have anywhere near the difficulties we thought we'd have in any of the other countries. In North Korea we openly debated communism with our guides with the camera rolling and they didn't blink.
Lloyd: Ben, how did you get into this scary-journalism?!(from an old work buddy)
Ben Anderson: I'd been travelling around Brazil. I came back with no job, money or place to live. I had a phone call from a friend who'd found out that Channel 4 were looking for someone to go undercover as an undertaker. So I went for the job interview, got the job, did about five months unpaid overtime, and the film was nominated for an award and did really well. Before then I didn't watch much TV, let alone think about working in it. I didn't have any journalism training at all.
Rich: Did you notice a large difference in the amount of freedom of speech that was allowed in the various countries?
Ben Anderson: A different degree of a lack of freedom of speech! In most countries you'd be able to at least hear people crack jokes about their leaders.
In Iran they're openly defiant of their leaders. In Libya and Cuba you hear sarcastic jokes about their leaders. In North Korea you don't get a hint of defiance anywhere - no graffiti, no sarcastic remarks. At the same time we know that 250,000 have risked their lives by trying to cross the border into China, so we know they're unhappy.
Jammon: From the programme it seemed as though the people of Libya could speak more freely than those in other countries. Did you feel that Gaddafi has a weaker hold over the country, or that he is a more moderate leader, when compared to the leaders from the other five states.
Ben Anderson: In Cuba I think they were most free to speak. In Libya they'd whisper things in my ear. We didn't see much open defiance, but people would joke privately to each other. In Libya I think more than any other country people have given up on the idea of getting rid of Gadaffi. There's far more interest in football than international politics.
Tim: Very interesting programme Ben. How interested did you find the North Koreans in the outside world? For example did they ask you any questions?
Ben Anderson: They'd been told what the outside world was like and pretended to believe that. The only books they'd read as far as we could tell were Jane Eyre and Charles Dickens - they think London is the same today as it was then. They think there's a horrific class system here where the extremely rich abuse the extremely poor. We asked one person if they wanted to go to America and she said one of her lecturers went there and said it was full of gangsters. Americans are considered the bad guys in films, on posters and in museums. There were children who thought me and my producer were American and they ran away when we came anywhere near them. Our guide said the children thought Americans were evil men.
Hassan: Hey Ben, I am an Iraqi who is living in the UK. I am from the Shia community in Iraq and long to return to Najaf and Kerbla, what did you think of these places?
Ben Anderson: It was probably the most depressing place on the whole tour, simply because those people have lived under Saddam for decades. They were encouraged to rise against him by George Bush Sr, and on the day the Gulf War ended they did rise up and overall 14 of the 18 Iraqi provinces were taken. George Bush then had a change of heart and allowed Saddam to use his tanks and gunships, and he completely crushed the uprising killing at least 30,000 people. After that, those people have had to continue living under sanctions, US and British bombing, and of course Saddam. They all expect there to be another bombing very soon. The very people we're supposed to be acting on behalf of seem to be suffering even more because of our actions rather than less.
Penny: Hi Ben. A wonderful idea dealt with with incredible sensitivity. I would be interested in knowing how the women accompanying you felt in these countries. Were any better or worse than expected from a female point of view?
Ben Anderson: My producer Elizabeth was with me in Cuba, Iraq and Iran, and our interrogators weren't quite as rough with her as with me in Iran. They said they weren't being physically rough with her because she was a woman. But in Iran she had to wear a headdress 24 hours a day. In Cuba and Iraq it really didn't seem to be an issue. Saddam is a secular leader, so he's not a fundamentalist Muslim who'll oppress women under Sharia law. People have said he's a Sunni Muslim who's declared war on Shi'ite Muslims, but I think he's declared war on everyone. Even his foreign minister and deputy prime minister have had their sons imprisoned and tortured, in one case tortured to death.
Jeremy: Which country in the "Axis of Evil" had the worst drivers?
Ben Anderson: Libya or Iran were both abysmal! We nearly crashed several times in those countries. In North Korea and Cuba they don't have enough cars or fuel to be dangerous drivers.
BA: Can you just explain the biological training course? I just could not understand the reason for that.
Ben Anderson: It's a BBC health and safety policy. If you're travelling to the Middle East you have to do a two-day training course. You're supposed to take a biological/chemical weapons protection suit with you to any country within range of Iraq's ballistic missiles. We took ours to Iraq and Iran. They were FedExed to us in Iran and we just put them straight into the bottom of our wardrobe. When the interrogators found them, that's when they thought we weren't journalists but actually spies.
Norman: Which one of the countries would you go back to?
Ben Anderson: I'm not that keen to go back to any of them. I'd been wanting to go to Cuba for years, and it was a real disappointment for me because tourism is the main industry there so everywhere you go you are a dollar to them and they badly need dollars. So it was hard to have a genuine Cuban experience there.
Razi: So Ben, in your opinion, is "evil" a justified term to describe these places you visited?
Ben Anderson: Some of the leaders of those countries you could certainly describe as evil, but that doesn't mean you can describe an entire country as evil because in most cases the leaders are unpopular, unelected, and are causing their people to suffer more than we British or Americans ever will.
Bro: Do you think that most of the people you met view the British in the same way they view the Americans?
Ben Anderson: I was actually ashamed on a number of occasions. They think America makes aggressive decisions against their countries and they think Britain just blindly follows. They think we don't have any power in the decisions but the sentiment is mostly just against America. Some of the strongest anti-American sentiment we experienced was in South Korea where there are 37,000 US troops who are supposed to be there to protect the south from an attack by the north. Unfortunately, William Cohen who was the defence secretary for Bill Clinton let it slip that if the north and south were reunited the troops would stay there anyway. It's the perfect place to have troops when you have land access to China and Russia.
Ben Anderson Not incidently, the Americans also had nuclear weapons in South Korea. That's why they didn't sign the international landmines treaty.
Tollingtonjimbo: How did you get into each of these countries, are there scheduled flights?
Ben Anderson: In every single country we got in on a tourist visa. Often we had to fly via another country. So to get to Cuba from America we had to fly via the Bahamas. To get to North Korea from South Korea we had to fly via Beijing. With Iraq you have to drive across the border from Syria. You can fly direct into Damascus. The term 'axis' implies a link between all six countries. The only link we could find between them was that (a) none of them had anything to do with 11 September, and (b) you can travel to every single one on a tourist visa. You can fly direct to Libya - quite regular flights. And you can fly directly into Iran too - the EU has loads of business links with it.
Xavier: The Alpha 66 group in Miami were scary. How seriously do they believe in what they're trying to do?
Ben Anderson: They claim to have tens of thousands of soldiers who were ready at a moment's notice to invade Cuba. It seemed to me to have far more to do with American culture which seems to find nothing abnormal about meeting up on a Sunday for lunch and firing a few hundred rounds. One of the officials under the Kennedy administration talked about Alpha 66 and similar anti-Castro groups based in Miami as groups who probably enjoy themselves and are probably in danger for about 40 minutes, but beyond that they're not taken seriously at all.
Marcus: Will your programme be shown in the US?
Ben Anderson: The North Korea programme was shown there last week, but so far that's the only one that we think is going to be shown. I did quite a few radio interviews - even Fox News - and the reaction was very positive. A lot of people said they were pleased North Koreans weren't portrayed as demented Communists hellbent on nuclear war.
Apg23: What is the most important/valuable thing you have learnt and can take away from you experience in these countries?
Ben Anderson: That as people we're not very far apart at all - us and any of the countries I visited. It seems often to be the leaders who make such fatal decisions, although it is the leaders who don't have to starve and fight. In Iraq what really struck me was what an absolute failure the policy on Iraq has been.
Building Saddam up with chemical and biological weapons, allowing him to crush the uprising in 1991, and yet continuing to punish his people. He was recently listed at the seventh richest man in the world, while his enemies starve or struggle to survive. So policy towards Iraq so far could not have been better designed by Saddam himself.
BBC-Host: That is all we have time for. Thanks to our guest Ben Anderson, and to all of you who logged on tonight. Sorry if your question didn't get answered - there just wasn't enough time to cover them all.
Holidays in the Axis of Evil homepage
Previous
documentaries on BBC Four
