July 04, 2004
You Can't Believe Your Eyes
Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |The propaganda wars continue, and once again, you can't believe what you see. You can add the broadcasts of Saddam Hussein's appearance before the Iraqi tribunal to your list of staged events. Robert Fisk, and others, are reporting that the U.S. Military Tried to Censor Coverage of Saddam Hearing.
"According to American journalists present at the 30-minute hearing of Saddam and 11 former ministers at Baghdad airport, an American admiral in civilian clothes told camera crews that the judge had demanded that there should be no sound recording of the initial hearing. He ordered crews to unplug their sound wires. Several of the six crews present pretended to obey the instruction. "We learnt later," one of them said, "that the judge didn't order us to turn off our sound. The Americans lied - it was they who wanted no sound. The judge wanted sound and pictures.""
The censorsoring, which amounts to staging, of the Hussein trial joins the trail at other efforts of scripting the "successes" of the US military efforts in Iraq. Most notable are staging of the tearing down of Hussein's statue (still being broadcast over and over), and the fabrication of the the actions and rescue of Jessica Lynch (the press did back off of that one).
Another form of propaganda is outright censorship and that is happening in the case of a documentary “Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death.”. (The link connects to the video online at Information Clearing House and plays the DemocracyNow! presentation).
The censored video details the murders of at least 3,000 Afghan prisoners at Sheberghan prison in Afghanistan.
"It tells the story of thousands of prisoners who surrendered to the US military's Afghan allies after the siege of Kunduz. According to eyewitnesses, some three thousand of the prisoners were forced into sealed containers and loaded onto trucks for transport to Sheberghan prison. Eyewitnesses say when the prisoners began shouting for air, U.S.-allied Afghan soldiers fired directly into the truck, killing many of them. The rest suffered through an appalling road trip lasting up to four days, so thirsty they clawed at the skin of their fellow prisoners as they licked perspiration and even drank blood from open wounds.Witnesses say that when the trucks arrived and soldiers opened the containers, most of the people inside were dead. They also say US Special Forces re-directed the containers carrying the living and dead into the desert and stood by as survivors were shot and buried. Now, up to three thousand bodies lie buried in a mass grave. "
[The video is available for purchase at ACFTV (but I have not been able to access that site.]
What all of these examples point to is that we have to not believe what we do see, and keep our ears to the ground for what never gets reported by corporate sources. I hate living in a time when I must cultivate suspicion as a modus operandi.
Posted by rowan at July 4, 2004 09:17 AM | TrackBack | Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |On or around the holidays we have it is easy for us to forget about the trials and suffering that others are going through. We here in the land of plenty still scream about how what we have is not enough. I will not try to imagine what my life would be like if I was stuck in Afghanistan, or some country less developed than what we have here. Bush and Co. is a prime example of this feeling that enough is never enough. I wonder what would thier reaction be to this statement??? I say this is a sad state of affairs and we need to remind ourselves that we count our blessings, for most people are far worse off than we can even imagine.
Posted by: Jack at July 4, 2004 08:42 PMTo some extent people are far worse off, because we insist that they have deomcracy, indoor plumbing and radial tires. Having spent some time in third world countires I can tell you I learned more about living a good life with material needs in places you would never imagine.
As to living in a time when you have to question "M.O." if you watched NOW with Bill Moyers Friday night the Republica Pollster and Consultant to Fortune 100 companies extrodinaire, Frank Luntz justified all my feelings abut questiong the news media. His advise to the Bush admin., is never utter a word witout bringing up 9/11, in other words constant agitation and fear....gee do you suppose that would create confusion, frustration, and division.
What a strategy ! Kepp watching the M.O.
Posted by: Bill Whitlatch at July 5, 2004 09:31 AMAnd I DO NEED THAT SPELL CHECKER !
Posted by: Bill Whitlatch at July 5, 2004 09:33 AMi would imagine a story of some sort will have to be concocted (sp?) when saddam goes on trial - how he has suffered a nervous breakdown or been extremely ill so that he can't say much - if i were in charge I would dose him up with LSD prior to the trial so he mumbles and babbles and froths at the mouth - otherwise he might say things like " I bougt the sarrin from George Bush Sr and the Saudis bought it all from me prior to the invasion" or "when I met Rumsfeld, he personally gave me blueprints on how to load nerve gas into artillery shells" - they might try sleep deprivation on him and then give him a does of heroin so he keeps nodding off - you know damn well he is going to rat out all kinds of people as he mounts the gallows and who knows what he will say , i.e. " the Jews bought my sarrin and said they were going to spray it all over Makah during the Hajj" - or " Rumsfeld and I viewed child pornograpy togather after we had our initial meetings" - he will have to be muzzled somehow, that's for sure....
Posted by: goesh at July 5, 2004 06:17 PM