TV PROPAGANDA

The Khaleej Times published in the UAE reports:

KIRKUK, Iraq - A US general smiles for the cameras. Behind him, under a banner reading “The New Iraqi Future”: happy people release doves of peace into the air.

“Unfortunately for the US military, this is not quite reality at least not yet. It is local television in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

“The US general is real enough. He is Brigadier General Alan Gayhart, commander of the 116th Battle Combat Team which controls this ethnically mixed area of northern Iraq.

“But the people, the banner and the doves are painted on a wooden backdrop in a television studio.

“For around eight months now, US military leaders have taken part in a TV chat show, broadcast across the city by the Iraqi Media Network (IMN), a state-run broadcaster.”

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2005/February/focusoniraq_February98.xml&section=focusoniraq

VICTORY IN IRAQ

The American media seems to be celebrating the Shia victory in Iraq but the situation is more complicated than it appears. There are four Shia forces jockeying for control and the Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani says he is not involved in the internal wrangling

Only fifty percent of the eligible voters took part if that. Writes Jonathan Steele in the Guardian that “the cheers were all ours:

“Queues of voters are not the defining issue for a decent election. In Iran last year they were so long that in many places polling stations had to stay open an extra four hours to give everyone a chance. Nor is turnout the decisive marker. Voters take part for a host of reasons.

“El Salvador held an election in 1982, which Reagan administration officials such as John Negroponte, its then ambassador in nearby Honduras and now Washington’s man in Iraq, touted as a glorious day for freedom because guerrillas attacked a handful of polling stations and people carried on voting regardless. On the lips of establishment TV anchors the generalisation for the whole poll was “they defied the terrorists”, as though violence was pervasive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1410709,00.html

RIVERBEND’S VIEW

What about the non-voters? What was their take. Here’s the always informed and well written view of Riverbend, the Iraqi “girl blogger:”

“It was like an voting marathon for all of the news channels- everywhere you turned there was news of the elections. CNN, Euronews, BBC, Jazeera, Arabia, LBC… everyone was talking elections. The Arab news channels were focusing largely on voting abroad while CNN kept showing footage from the southern provinces and the northern ones.

“I literally had chills going up and down my spine as I watched Abdul Aziz Al Hakeem of Iranian-inclined SCIRI dropping his ballot into a box. Behind him, giving moral support and her vote, was what I can only guess to be his wife. She was shrouded literally from head to foot and only her eyes peeped out of the endless sea of black. She stuffed her ballot in the box with black-gloved hands and submissively followed a very confident Hakeem. E. turned to me with a smile and a wink, “That might be you in a couple of years…” I promptly threw a sofa cushion at him.

Most of our acquaintances (Sunni and Shia) didn’t vote. My cousin, who is Shia, didn’t vote because he felt he didn’t really have ‘representation’ on the lists, as he called it. I laughed when he said that, “But you have your pick of at least 40 different Shia parties!” I teased, winking at his wife. I understood what he meant though. He’s a secular, educated, non-occupation Iraqi before he’s Sunni or Shia- he’s more concerned with having someone who wants to end the occupation than someone Shia.

“We’re hearing about various strange happenings at different voting areas. They say that several areas in northern Iraq (some Assyrian and other Christian areas) weren’t allowed to vote. They also say that 300 different ballot boxes from all over the country were disqualified (mainly from Mosul) because a large number of the vote ballots had “Saddam” written on them. In other areas there’s talk of Badir’s Brigade people having bought the ballots to vote, and while the people of Falloojeh weren’t allowed to vote, people say that the identities of Falloojans were temporarily ‘borrowed’ for voting purposes. The stories are endless.

“In spite of that, we’re all watching for the results carefully. When the ‘elected’ government takes control, will they set a timetable for American withdrawal? That would be a shocker considering none of the current parties would be able to remain in power without being forcefully backed by America with tanks and troops. We hear American politicians repeatedly saying that America will not withdraw until Iraq can secure itself. When will that happen? Our current National Guard or “Haress il Watani” are fondly called “Haress il Wathani” or “Infidel Guard” by people in the streets. On top of it all, to be one of them is considered such a disgrace by the general population that they have to wear masks so that none of them can be identified by neighbors and friends.

“The results won’t really matter when so many people boycotted the elections. No matter what the number say, the reality of the situation is that there are millions of Iraqis who will refuse to submit to an occupation government. After almost two years of occupation, and miserable living conditions, we want our country back.”

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2005_02_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#110815850766514443

NEWS AS PROPAGANDA

For more: ‘Here is the web site for Ed Herman’s (longish) article on “Elections in Iraq: The Propaganda System is Still Working In High Gear”:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=7240

OTHER NEWS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST: ASSASSINATION IN LEBANON

Al-Jazeera reports that “Lebanese and Syrian politicians have denounced the bomb blast in central Beirut that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.”