The US, UN & Iraq II

nimh, well said. All of it is regulated by the forces and by the newspapers' editors.....

0 Replies

your president is speaking again. or most of you's president. about the great american tradition of 'peace through strength'. grrrr.

0 Replies

0 Replies

dagmaraka wrote:

surely it was biased and full of propaganda, but at least they had an idea of where the forces are and when to flee for their lives. i might be wrong, i know that before the war iraqis were able to listen to bbc, for example.

The US army has a plane flying over Iraq that is in fact a flying radio station. They broadcast programmes in which the Iraqis are reassured about the Americans' intentions etc. It's supposed to cover a pretty big part of the country. They did the same in Afghanistan. In fact, in Afghanistan they supposedly even dropped thousands of wind-up radios for the Afghanis to listent o their station with.

Lots of info about that was at http://www.clandestineradio.com, but the site's a bit hard to navigate, I find.

0 Replies

Nimb

Near as I am able to determine, everything you say about the "embedded" reporters is accurate and I knew I could count on you to point out everything as you did.

The point I really want to make is this---I am very glad those reporters are there and if were a commander of any of those units I would want that reporter and his crew in one of the lead vehicles and as close to the "Truth" as possible. These people will be able to compose the real story after the shooting stops----as far as I know this is the first time the Truth will really come out.

This time the real enemies of this country will not be able to color the truth with false implications, inuendo and just plain lies.

0 Replies

Nimb

Regarding the flying radio station----I am puzzled that they can't do the same thing with TV.

0 Replies

I must say that I am happier with the presence of reporters than I expected to be. However, two caveats. First, I am also very happy to see others reporting independently, providing stories and information from outside the cocoon of an American fighting unit. Secondly, as this process continues, I will be watching for comments from the reporters as to how free they actually have been to funnel stories up the line.

0 Replies

The problem with the embedded reporters -- well, one of the problems -- is that they are operating within a framework of rules AND among people with whom they've formed friendships. I really don't think their independence can be depended on. In my view (if I were the editor for a responsible broadcasting channel), I'd use the "embedded" strictly and clearly for "color," not for factual reporting.

0 Replies

frolic wrote:

heard some reports on Al-Jazeera. This is what i make of it. The uprise wasn't so much against Saddam but more a desperate way to break out of their situation. You must remember most of the people in Basra dont have water. Its hot as hell and there are sandstorms. One day without water and i bet you'd do anything for that refreshing drop of water. The uprise was no mass event. Some people desperate for water stormed the area's in the city where there still was water.

Why dont the UK troops call it a cease fire in the city and send some truckloads in? If this situation contunue i fear the people of Basra wont welcome the UK troops as their liberators. How hard is it to drop some aid in that city?

This is what i heard from Al-Jazeera a couple of hours ago. BBC confirms it now. They said a Shia opposition group in Iran is worried about the situation in Basra and the uprise was not against Saddam but against their living conditions.

Seems like A-J is right, again. Those big news networks are spreading rumours and everybody picks them up and treat those reports like facts. Those embedded journalists really make fools of themselves right now. They are the spokesman of the army with no criticism at all! They even take over the language of the army. Its a sad time for journalism.

0 Replies

clandestineradio.com does have this about the use of underground radio stations [ as opposed to the very much 'overground' station I just mentioned as flying over Iraq ;-) ] :

Quote:

Iran-Backed Opposition Group Slams Operation Iraqi Freedom as U.S. Propaganda Continues to Soften Iraq
By Nick Grace, CRW Washington with
Takuya Hirayama, CRW Japan and
Tarek Zeidan, Egypt
Updated March 25, 2003

[Mar 24] The propaganda war raging in Iraq is heating up as the U.S.-led coalition fights for control over Southern Iraq.

Anti-war and anti-Saddam/anti-U.S. messages are filtering into the beseiged nation via Iran, which harbors and supports the Shii Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI). SCIRI's station, Voice of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, broadcasts daily on 9575 and 7100 kHz between 0330 and 0530 GMT. The group, which refuses to participate in U.S.-led efforts to unite the Iraqi opposition, seeks to install an Islamic-based regime similar to the government in Tehran. According to the broadcast, monitored by ClandestineRadio.com on March 22 and linked above, SCIRI blames the war on both the U.S. and Baghdad and calls for national elections to be supervised by the United Nations in order to "legally" oust Saddam Hussein.

The Voice of the Liberation of Iraq, meanwhile, is playing an important role in the coalition's psychological war strategy. (See a summary of the audio linked here below.) Between psyop messages aimed at enlisted soldiers and Republican Guard officers to refrain from destroying the country's natural resources, defy orders from Baghdad, surrender properly in order to avoid being attacked, and avoid actions that could lead to charges of war crimes, the station pumps out militant martial music. Its programming is highly reminiscent of the CIA's Operation Sherwood, which applied intense pressure on Guatemala's leftist government in 1954 through radio broadcasts that ultimately led to the president's overthrow. Clearly, it is portraying itself as a guerilla-run radio station.

Allegedly run by the "Iraqi opposition," sources based in Iraq contacted told DXing.info, the Voice of the Liberation of Iraq is likely a product of U.S. intelligence that is attempting to soften the resolve of Iraqi troops based in Iraqi Kurdistan. Members of the Iraqi pro-democratic opposition contacted by ClandestineRadio.com and Clandestine Radio Watch, however, claim no knowledge of the station and its operations. Nevertheless, what is clear from its choice of frequency and technical quality is that it is broadcast over the Sulaymaniyah-based transmitters of the Voice of the People of Kurdistan and can be heard on 4025 kHz daily between 1830 and 2030 GMT.

0 Replies

Here is a wonderful difference of perspective---you all see it as a "lose-lose" situation. I see it as a "win-win" situation.

The negativity is a reflection of your knowledge that you are wrong I presume.

0 Replies

frolic wrote:

frolic wrote:
heard some reports on Al-Jazeera. This is what i make of it. The uprise wasn't so much against Saddam but more a desperate way to break out of their situation. You must remember most of the people in Basra dont have water. Its hot as hell and there are sandstorms. One day without water and i bet you'd do anything for that refreshing drop of water. The uprise was no mass event. Some people desperate for water stormed the area's in the city where there still was water.

Why dont the UK troops call it a cease fire in the city and send some truckloads in? If this situation contunue i fear the people of Basra wont welcome the UK troops as their liberators. How hard is it to drop some aid in that city?

This is what i heard from Al-Jazeera a couple of hours ago. BBC confirms it now. They said a Shia opposition group in Iran is worried about the situation in Basra and the uprise was not against Saddam but against their living conditions.

Seems like A-J is right, again. Those big news networks are spreading rumours and everybody picks them up and treat those reports like facts. Those embedded journalists really make fools of themselves right now. They are the spokesman of the army with no criticism at all! They even take over the language of the army. Its a sad time for journalism.

You people are really starting to make me sick. Who the hell do you think created their living conditions?

Yeah, the Attica uprising wasn't against the guards or the warden; it was against the living conditions. (Of course, the guards and the warden created those conditions, but lets not worry our idiot liberal heads about reality now.)

Christ, the lengths to which some of you people will go in your anti-American fervor is really shocking. You don't care about what's really going on any more than does someone who only wants to believe the most US-positive reports. You are looking for every opportunity to view any news report as bad news for the coalition. If something bad happens, it's the fault of the US. If something good happens, it has nothing to do with them.

Talk about being blinded by your bias.

If the people of Iraq loved Saddam half as much as some people in this discussion seem to, he'd be a very safe man right now. Good thing for the whole world, the people of Iraq live in REALITY. They know what is real, and can distinguish it from what they merely wish were true. Rolling Eyes

0 Replies

Tress,

Be logical. Since when did they suffer from no water and no electricity? Since when were their houses and other buildings in the cities bombed?

When Russia attacked Gronzy, who was responsible for the devastation and the death? The Russians surrounding the city? Or the Chechnyans defending it till the last man?

0 Replies

If you read Raed you will discover that the people of Iraq are not isolated from information. They have portable generators and sattelite dishes. There are more than one blogger.

0 Replies

A reminder... the following sentence is directed personally...let's, even if having fun in teasing, limit such sentences...right, old chum?

Quote:

The negativity is a reflection of your knowledge that you are wrong I presume.

I'm gone for the day...wish you all a good time.

0 Replies

Tres -- Serious suggestion: Turn off US media for a day and concentrate on external sources of your choice -- the BBC would be a good one. You will find that the Iraqi people who live, as you say, in REALITY, do not like this American invasion AT ALL.

As for who helped create the Iraqi living conditions of the past ten years or so, we did. The embargo, remember? The constant overflights and bombs? All that good stuff? Saddam is an old bastard of the first water, but we're runnin' hard for second place.

Also, go look at info on United Defense, that they are the manufacturers of most of the hardware used in the invasion, and that they are represented by countless advisers in both Bush administrations who are reaping huge profits from this invasion -- the names are there. It goes on and on But I won't. You know where to find the facts when you want to look for them

0 Replies

Somebody call me dumb pls...

If the war is going so well, then why this ??

EXTRA TROOPS SENT TO GULF

The United States is flying another 30,000 troops to the Gulf including the high-tech 4th Infantry Division.

The division, which is based at Fort Hood, Texas, is considered one of the most modern fighting forces in the military.

Troops will begin flying to the Gulf region in coming days. Its armour and equipment is already there, a spokesman at Fort Hood said.

The division, which has 16,000 troops at Fort Hood and Fort Carson, Colorado, has been awaiting deployment for more than two months.

It was originally scheduled to go to Turkey to open a northern front against Baghdad.

But Ankara has refused to allow American troops involved in the Iraq war on its soil.

There are currently 250,000 Coalition troops and military personnel in the Gulf.

0 Replies

trespassers will wrote:

If the people of Iraq loved Saddam half as much as some people in this discussion seem to, he'd be a very safe man right now. Good thing for the whole world, the people of Iraq live in REALITY. They know what is real, and can distinguish it from what they merely wish were true.

I dont say they love Saddam, they hate the US even more. The US hasn't got a good reputation in the middle east.

People know the CIA and the US made Saddam a strong leader in the 80's. You also have the Israel/Palestine issue where the US is only focused on the Israel side of the story. You got the Bush-factor. Saying you go on "a crusade against evil" isn't a smart thing to do. During the crusades the Arabs were slaughtered and their holy places were crushed. And of course you got the US/Iraq history of the second Gulf War, the betrayal, the boycot,...

0 Replies

Here is one more to ignore ......

Had I been there during the high season for death, in midsummer, I might have seen a dozen small bodies stacked on the shelves. August temperatures in Basra push into the 120s. Dust and exhaust fumes foul the air. Stunted children splash in stagnant canals and pools of standing water rimmed with garbage, animal carcasses, and excrement. The bacteria count in the city's water supply soars. Infants drink formula diluted with filthy tap water. And the morgue fills with the stench of the unforgotten dead.

These grim seasons were supposed to have ended in Basra by now. The cia was supposed to have found someone to overthrow Saddam Hussein. The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq during the Gulf War a decade ago were supposed to have been lifted. And Iraq's children were supposed to have stopped dying in droves from simple infections and diarrhea. But they haven't. And throughout much of the world, blame for the suffering and death has been placed not on Saddam, where it most belongs, but on the United States

http://www.motherjones.com/magazine/ND01/iraq.html

0 Replies

Okay, first things first: You are dumb. (Hey, you asked.)

Now, the answer to your question is right there in the text you shared.

Quote:

The division, which is based at Fort Hood, Texas, is considered one of the most modern fighting forces in the military.

Troops will begin flying to the Gulf region in coming days. Its armour and equipment is already there, a spokesman at Fort Hood said.

The division, which has 16,000 troops at Fort Hood and Fort Carson, Colorado, has been awaiting deployment for more than two months.

It was originally scheduled to go to Turkey to open a northern front against Baghdad.

But Ankara has refused to allow American troops involved in the Iraq war on its soil.

So all this means is that we've progressed far enough from the South that we now need these troops which would otherwise have been inserted from the North.

0 Replies

The US, UN & Iraq II

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know