In respect of the claims of the weapon's inspector, Mr Richard Butler, that he was prevented from doing his job by Koffi Annan, the then head of the United Nations (UN) — an accusation of treason—SBS National Television News broadcast (3/8/1999):

• weapon's inspector Mr Scott Ritter's claims that Richard Butler was:
  • a U.S. spy.
  • trying to "rewrite history favourable to himself"
• the head of the UN, Mr Koffi Annan's remark
  "I don't think I have to comment. Everybody knows what happened."

For the media to pretend these claims were significant, mirrors not only the current inadequate understanding of the public, but the ancient understanding revealed by citizens of the decaying Roman empire. In chapter 53 of "The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire" Gibbon described the popular prose of the time as by authors who make:

"the painful attempt to elevate themselves, to astonish the reader, and to involve a trivial meaning in the smoke of obscurity and exaggeration. "