Pay No Attention to Those Smoldering Ruins Behind the Curtain
Published March 22, 2003
Saddam Hussein - alive, injured or dead - is trying to revive his hold on power by broadcasting lies so outrageous that the only possible net result will be even less public confidence in his regime. When people hear something on the TV that is contradicted by their eyes, ears, nose, and brains, even the most brainwashed automaton begins to smell what the cruise missiles are cooking.
- The Iraqi regime asserted battle successes and maintained Saddam Hussein and his sons had "the aggression" in hand.
....Iraqi state television - in an effort to show that the regime is firmly in control - showed what it said was footage of Saddam chairing meetings Saturday with senior government ministers and with his son Qusai.
The report said the meetings dealt with "the aggression." The report said Saddam and the others reviewed the situation in Umm Qasr, al-Rumeila, al-Faw and Nasiriyah - places where U.S.-led coalition troops have battled Iraqi troops.
"They expressed their satisfaction with the heroic stance of the armed forces," the TV report said.
The Iraqi military spokesman appeared on TV to read a communique on the day's fighting. He maintained Iraqi air defenses shot down 21 cruise missiles on Saturday.
....Also Saturday, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf addressed the Iraqi people, claiming that the government had repulsed the U.S.-British attacks, destroying five tanks in the process. He also said captives taken by coalition troops were civilians, not Iraqi soldiers.
"Baghdad will remain with its head held high," Al-Sahhaf said. "The Baghdad of Saddam will remain defiant."
....Despite the apparent setbacks, Saddam's regime was taking a hard line - denying military setbacks and verbally attacking its enemies in a show of public resolve. Al-Sahhaf lashed out at the allies early Saturday.
"They are a gang of war criminals ... international bastards," he said. "They lie day and night. They are not human." [AP]
With buildings vaporizing hither and yon, Iraqi troops surrendering en masse, American special forces materializing in closets like Monsters Inc, the people know a new wind is blowing no matter what the TV tells them. The more the disinformation on the tube is invalidated by reality, the sooner the people will tune out and draw their own conclusions.
- Pay No Attention to Those Smoldering Ruins Behind the Curtain
- Published: March 22, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: News, Video: Television
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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Comments on this articleComments
Dear Lioness,
Wow, you are dumb. A little thing called 'freedom of the press' means that pictures and reports from the front line are just that- from the front line. Or did you forget that the media is always happy to tell the bad news as well as the good? And yeah, showing POWs on video IS against the Geneva Convention. Or wouldn't you care if you saw a brother, sister, son or daughter being paraded around like a circus animal? Get a grip, and get a life.
Wow, name calling really helps. Yes, the reports are from the front line, but that doesn't mean that EVERYTHING you see is from the front line. Showing POW's IS against the Geneva Convention, but Bush called the war, and that was against the UN. Yes, Iraq signed the Geneva Convention, but the US is part of the UN. So which law is more important? A law is a law, whether you like it or not.
Of course I wouldn't like to see a family member or anyone, for that matter paraded around, but then again, I believe in laws.
In case you forgot, the UN a year ago passed a resolution telling Iraq to finaly get their crap together or else. The UN proved how useful it is by doing... nothing. France, Germany, Russia, and China all opposed military action in Iraq, even after they themselves voted for the resolution- on strict moral grounds? Well, with Chinese made rockets being lobbed at coalition soldiers and new Russian made night vision and other tech being used in Iraq- I guess we know the answer to that one. Laws, you say? Saddam Hussein has wiped his ass with international law time and again, has been in direct violation of the last Gulf War cease fire fire twelve years running, but all anybody wants to do is question the Bush administration's motives in this manner.
Yep, the UN passed a resolution...and the States ignored it....this war IS illegal since a law is a law.....where would we all be if the laws were just ignored whenever it didn't "suit".....
Yep, Iraq is definitely defending itself....and Hussein is the ONLY one who lives in Iraq....no regular, "we just want to live", "we're proud of our country" civilians....(it's called loyalty)
Yup, 2 wrongs definitely make 1 right.....
Is anyone besides me going to miss the bizarre press conferences from Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahaf? I feel strangely dispirited to hear that he didn't come out today to make his usual "we are winning" type comment. I wonder if the rooftop conference will be the last?
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so tell me, how do you know the states isn't lying....rumsfeld just said that bush doesn't want war....who ordered it?
How do you know the pictures of iraqis aren't just from the first gulf war?
He also said they couldn't show pictures of captured US soldiers cause it's against the geneva convention.....so a law is only good if THEY approve of it?
He also said that an Iraqi attack was 'unprovoked'....UNPROVOKED???? with 200,000 us troops in their country?
I don't approve of saddam's regime by any stretch of the imagination, but get a grip on what you believe.....war is war by whatever means it takes....fight lies with lies....i don't personally believe ANY of the reports