Arab TV networks accused of fueling violence in Iraq

[mr mahs]

Amazing how Al jazeera always has a audio tape of Bin LADEN or first video of hostages taken. Remember when some of

Al JAZEERA's employees were found to be on Sadam's payroll? The U.S has failed to put out a powerful voice and arabic voice to speak to the Iraqi's, but hopefully when the governing council is handed power in July, things will change.

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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...ia_040412180400

Arab TV networks accused of fueling violence in Iraq

Mon Apr 12, 2:04 PM ET Add Mideast - AFP to My Yahoo!

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US-led coalition and its Iraqi allies accused the Arab world's two biggest television news stations of fanning anti-US sentiment and sectarian violence in Iraq (news - web sites) with their reporting.

"Anti-US sentiment has been heightened by Al-Jazeera and other anti-coalition media reporting" on the closure of a Shiite radical newspaper and the siege of the insurgent bastion of Fallujah, the coalition's deputy director of operations, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, told a news conference.

"We have reason to believe that several news organizations do not engage in truthful reporting," coalition civilian spokesman Dan Senor said.

"In fact it is no reporting."

Qatar-based Al-Jazeera and its Dubai-based rival Al-Arabiya, have been providing graphic images of the devastation and casualties in the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah during fierce fighting between US forces and insurgents last week.

Al-Jazeera has also been giving significant prominence and airtime to supporters of Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr, who is wanted in connection with the murder of a rival cleric last year.

Both Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya have also been the exclusive broadcasters of several videotapes of foreigners kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq.

Iraq's National Security Advisor Muaffaq al-Rubaie, a Shiite, lashed out at what he called "false reports" by both channels Sunday that he resigned from the council in protest against fighting between US troops and Sadr's supporters that has left many civilians dead in Baghdad and the south.

"I am so upset and so angry about what has been reported on Arab media and television about my resignation," Rubaie told a press conference in Baghdad.

He said he left his position in the council which is legislative in nature to take an executive post as national security advisor as part of the transfer of power by the US-led coalition to a caretaker government on June 30.

"I warn the Arabic media: Iraq's patience has reached its limit and they will regret what they are doing," said a visibly angry Rubaie.

He accused both channels of inciting violence between the country's ethnic groups with their reporting.

"This media is not happy with the end of the sectarianism in Iraq with the fall of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), so they lie, lie and lie," said Rubaie.

He warned both television stations and other "irresponsible" Arab media that they would be shut down and banned from reporting from Iraq if they did not change their ways.

"All they have to do if they want to continue working in Iraq is to abide by the international and basic rules of reporting and refrain from using these facts and semi-facts to incite sectarian violence," he said.

But Al-Jazeera, which has been in hot water many times before regarding its reporting in Iraq, insists on its professional standards.

"Al-Jazeera is regularly the butt of criticism, often misplaced," spokesman Jihad Ballout told AFP.

The widely viewed channel is merely "reporting events objectively, which cannot possibly please everyone," he said.

"Al-Jazeera is not in the business of politics. It is a professional news outlet ... which is neither with nor against anyone."

Ballout said he hoped Rubaie would not carry out his threat to shut down the station's operation in Iraq, saying that such a move would "harm not just Al-Jazeera ... but also the Arab viewer and press freedom."

Al-Arabiya, which was banned from reporting in Iraq for more than two months at the end of November on charges on inciting murder, was not immediately available for comment.

But in a sign of Al-Jazeera's popularity, Japanese reporters slammed their diplomats in Jordan Monday, saying that they were left with reports by Al-Jazeera and other Arab media as the sole source of news about three Japanese hostages held by insurgents in Iraq.

"We end up getting our only news from Al-Jazeera," said Yoichi Koizumi, a reporter with Fuji Television News Network

__________________

[igloo]

The lost left has a bigger issue with Fox News than they do Al Jazeera

[kramadas]

just as Fox here potrays Iraqis as "terrorists" and "murderers".

[cintron]

the difference being, we're not out in the streets with guns shooting the Iraqis and hanging them from the brooklyn bridge to make a point.

its all about the environment in which you broadcast.

[mr mahs]

Originally posted by raver_mania

just as Fox here potrays Iraqis as "terrorists" and "murderers".

The ones causing problems are!

And from recent reports it looks like Syrians, Egyptians and Iranians have their hands in all of this...

[igloo]

Originally posted by raver_mania

just as Fox here potrays Iraqis as "terrorists" and "murderers".

raver..c'mon....

[kramadas]

Originally posted by cintron

the difference being, we're not out in the streets with guns shooting the Iraqis and hanging them from the brooklyn bridge to make a point.

its all about the environment in which you broadcast.

Um, I don't see the Iraqi army on the streets here occupying the land.

[kramadas]

Originally posted by igloo

raver..c'mon....

proganda battles on both sides for the sake of politics. Can't blame one without blaming the other.

[mr mahs]

Originally posted by raver_mania

Um, I don't see the Iraqi army on the streets here occupying the land.

So thats what you're calling it these days, occupation?hmm interesting

[kramadas]

Originally posted by mr mahs

So thats what you're calling it these days, occupation?hmm interesting

Its always been that - an OCCUPATION. Foreign army enters soverign state, desotroys military, takes over country = OCCUPATION.

What did you think it was - a missionary trip to turn em savages to the way of the lord???

[mr mahs]

Look at this garbage

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F8388B06-6A1B-43AB-8DF1-529ADBEA24DA.htm

Occupation forces violate Falluja ceasefire

Occupation forces in Iraq have used F16 fighter planes to bomb the Nizal neighbourhood in Falluja, Aljazeera TV's correspondent has reported.

The journalist also said that the occupation on Tuesday pushed several tanks through the only open gateway used as an exit for Iraqi families in an apparent violation of the latest ceasefire in Falluja.

"The invading forces were met with fierce resistance by the Fallouja defenders which forced the US tanks into a quick withdrawal," correspondent Abd al-Azim Muhammad reported.

"Three Iraqis were killed and severel others injured in the battles between the resistance fighters and the occupation troops."

The US fighter planes dropped stun bombs to cover their troops withdrawal, he added.

[kramadas]

Originally posted by mr mahs

Look at this garbage

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F8388B06-6A1B-43AB-8DF1-529ADBEA24DA.htm

Occupation forces violate Falluja ceasefire

Occupation forces in Iraq have used F16 fighter planes to bomb the Nizal neighbourhood in Falluja, Aljazeera TV's correspondent has reported.

The journalist also said that the occupation on Tuesday pushed several tanks through the only open gateway used as an exit for Iraqi families in an apparent violation of the latest ceasefire in Falluja.

"The invading forces were met with fierce resistance by the Fallouja defenders which forced the US tanks into a quick withdrawal," correspondent Abd al-Azim Muhammad reported.

"Three Iraqis were killed and severel others injured in the battles between the resistance fighters and the occupation troops."

The US fighter planes dropped stun bombs to cover their troops withdrawal, he added.

Whatever dude, believe what you want. I find it funny how people are so sure whats going on in a war zone half a globe away sitting in their comfy offices in NYC!

People like you on the "other" side say the same things about Western media(as in people who ONLY believe their side is right). LIke I said, the cycle will never end while hawks, and "we are always right" people rule the world.

[mr mahs]

Originally posted by raver_mania

Whatever dude, believe what you want. I find it funny how people are so sure whats going on in a war zone half a globe away sitting in their comfy offices in NYC!

People like you on the "other" side say the same things about Western media(as in people who ONLY believe their side is right). LIke I said, the cycle will never end while hawks, and "we are always right" people rule the world.

HELLOOOO YOU CLUELESS MEATHEAD... AL-JAZEERA WAS DENOUNCED BY Iraq's National Security Advisor Muaffaq al-Rubaie, a Shiite FOR TELLING LIES!!!!!!!

Read the first part of the thread before spewing your clueless bile...

[xpyrate]

Originally posted by cintron

the difference being, we're not out in the streets with guns shooting the Iraqis and hanging them from the brooklyn bridge to make a point.

its all about the environment in which you broadcast.

We're in their country killing them

[kramadas]

Originally posted by mr mahs

HELLOOOO YOU CLUELESS MEATHEAD... AL-JAZEERA WAS DENOUNCED BY Iraq's National Security Advisor Muaffaq al-Rubaie, a Shiite FOR TELLING LIES!!!!!!!

Read the first part of the thread before spewing your clueless bile...

hahaha...so an opinion of a US appointed officer(NOT democratically appointed) is now the word of Iraq!!!

:laugh:

You're funny man!

And make up your mind man, meathead, turbanhead, raghead, which is it???

[siceone]

No matter what your veiw is on this you can't deny that al jazzera lies and they lie alot. they almost never tell the truth.

for example why would the marine opperation in fallujah be using f16's for air support when the marines have a ton of thier own Hornets thier fallujah is a marine opperation. second STUN bombs?

what ?

are you kidding me I have never heard of stun bombs. if the exist show me the file on them.

I don't know why you would sacrafice thr truth in search of your reason to show this opperation is a bad thing when clearly it's doen more good than, way more good than bad.

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by cintron

the difference being, we're not out in the streets with guns shooting the Iraqis and hanging them from the brooklyn bridge to make a point.

its all about the environment in which you broadcast.

Say that to the families of THESE PEOPLE you fucking racist moron.

Say that to THIS CHILD!

And half of those who were killed were civilians. Many of them were in ambulances that were getting shot at by US helicopters:

Sarajevo on the Euphrates: Witness to Fallujah siege tells story

By DAHR JAMAIL

Apr 14, 2004, 00:02

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_6496.shtml

Falluja, Iraq, a low-rise, mostly Sunni city of about 200,000, has become this war's Sarajevo. I was there on Saturday and Sunday during what was supposed to be a cease-fire. Instead of calm, I found a city under siege from American artillery and snipers.

At one of the city's clinics I saw dozens of freshly wounded women and children, victims of US Marine Corps munitions. Hospital officials report that more than 600 Iraqis have now been killed, most of them civilians. Two soccer fields in Falluja have been converted to graveyards. I went to Falluja with a small group of international journalists and NGO workers. We traveled in a large bus full of medical supplies; our plan was to unload our cargo, take a look around, then leave with as many wounded as we could take out with us.

When we left Baghdad, the road was desolate and littered with the scorched and smoldering shells of vehicles. At the first US checkpoint, the soldiers said they'd been there for thirty hours straight. They looked exhausted and scared. After being searched, we continued along bumpy dirt roads, winding our way through parts of Abu Ghraib, steadily but slowly making our way toward besieged Falluja. At one point we passed a supply truck that had been hit and was being looted by people from a nearby village. Men and boys were running from the wreck carrying boxes. A small child yelled at our bus, "We will be mujahedeen until we die!"

At one overpass we rolled by an M-1 tank that resistance fighters had destroyed. Smoke and flames still billowed from its burning guts. Down the road were more fires--the whole thirty kilometers to Falluja was strewn with burned-out fuel tankers, trucks, armored personnel carriers (APCs) and tanks. As we approached Falluja we started running into mujahedeen checkpoints. Seeing our supplies and hearing that we were headed for Falluja, the guerrillas let us pass.

Entering the city we saw a huge cloud from a US bomb. To our horror we realized there was no cease-fire. Falluja itself was virtually empty, aside from groups of mujahedeen fighters positioned on every other street corner, their faces covered by kaffiyehs. Many were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles; some had rocket propelled grenade launchers. In all, I saw hundreds of Iraqi fighters.

The Marines have occupied the northeastern edge of Falluja, but most of the town is occupied by mujahedeen--both local Sunni as well as Shiite members of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi, Army who have come in from the south. There seem to be separate groups of Mujahadeen in charge of different parts of Falluja and the various roads in and out. Between the mujahedeen and the Marines' lines is a no man's land.

The streets were empty except for a rare ambulance racing to pick up wounded, or the odd family car, usually laden with wounded. We rolled toward one small clinic behind mujahedeen lines, where we delivered our medical supplies from INTERSOS, an Italian NGO.

The clinic building was small, dirty and packed with wounded Iraqis. The Americans have bombed one hospital, and were sniping at people who attempted to enter and exit the other major medical facility. So there were effectively only two small clinics that were safe to care for the hundreds of wounded. (Along with the one we visited, there is one set up in a mechanic's garage.)

As we unloaded our supplies, in came a stream of wounded women and children. Civilian cars sped up to the clinic and over the curb out front, their drivers desperate to unload their wailing family members.

One woman, shot in the gut, was making rasping, gurgling noises as the doctors worked frantically to extract a bullet and patch the wound. All around were the sounds of muffled moaning. The clinic was running low on crucial supplies. The woman's small son had a bullet wound in the neck; his eyes glazed, he vomited continually as other doctors raced to save his life. The desperate work in the clinic continued, off and on, into the night as more victims arrived. From outside came the sound of occasional mortar explosions and sporadic bursts of gunfire.

After we delivered the aid, three of my friends agreed to ride out on the clinic's remaining ambulance to no man's land to retrieve the wounded. The ambulance--the only one left in this part of town, all the others having been destroyed by the Marines--already had three bullet holes from a US sniper through the front windshield on the driver's side. The previous driver was out of action; a US sniper's bullets had grazed his head not long ago. The clinic staff hoped that having English-speaking Westerners on board would allow the vehicle to retrieve more wounded.

My friends made several trips in and out of no man's land, and even spoke to the Marines. But on the last trip US sharpshooters blew out the vehicle's tires. My friends were forced to retreat, leaving a pregnant woman trapped in her house.

As evening approached, a nearby mosque announced through its loudspeakers that the mujahedeen had completely destroyed a US convoy. Gunfire and jubilation filled the streets. The celebration fell silent when the mosque's prayer calls began.

As it grew dark, we made our way to the home of a local man who offered us shelter. Above us we heard the buzzing sound of slow-moving unmanned aerial surveillance drones circling the sky. Then a plane above us began dropping flares. We ran for the cover of a nearby wall, afraid the plane was dropping cluster bombs. There had been reports of this, and two of the most recent victims who arrived at the clinic were said to have been hit by cluster bombs, which badly burned them.

The next morning we walked back to the clinic, and the mujahedeen in the area were extremely edgy, expecting an invasion anytime. They were taking up positions to fight, running to different streets carrying their Kalashnikovs.

One of my friends who'd done another ambulance run to collect two bodies said that a Marine she encountered had told them to leave, because the military was about to use air support to begin "clearing the city." One of the bodies they brought to the clinic was that of a 55-year-old man shot in the back by a sniper outside his home, while his wife and children huddled wailing inside.

The family could not retrieve his body, for fear of being shot themselves. His stiff corpse was carried into the clinic, flies swarming above it. One of his arms was half-raised by rigor mortis.

We loaded our bus with wounded from the clinic and headed out. Everyone felt a renewed US assault was imminent. Fighter jets roared overhead, circling the outskirts of the city. American bombs continued to fall not far from us, and sporadic gunfire continued.

We left the city as part of a long convoy of civilian vehicles loaded with families. On the way, we passed groups of mujahedeen at their posts, among them defiant armed boys as young as 11. Coming from the opposite direction were US military vehicles, leaving huge dust plumes behind them. The new troops seemed to be taking up positions on the outskirts of town. We passed several more smoking shells of vehicles destroyed by the resistance--more fuel tankers, more blasted APCs.

We are now in Baghdad, afraid to walk the streets. The Mahdi Army is rumored to be hunting down journalists. The NGOs are pulling out. Everyone knows the "cease-fire" was a lie. If this is a truce, what does war look like?

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040426&s=jamail

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'Half the Iraqis killed were civilians'

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=34049

Baghdad, Iraq

13 April 2004 12:42

Half the Iraqis killed in the United States offensive in the town of Fallujah were women, children and elderly people, a mediator said on Tuesday, but US officials insisted they take all precautions to avoid non-combatants.

Fouda Rawi, a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party that is spearheading efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the city west of Baghdad, quoted hospital sources as saying more than 600 Iraqis had been killed and 1 250 wounded.

"Among those killed were 160 women, 141 children and many elderly," he said, providing the first precise figures on the number of civilian deaths from the nearly week-long offensive.

But US officials said it was impossible to determine how many civilians had died in the drive by US marines in the Sunni Muslim bastion before a ceasefire took hold over the weekend.

They also stressed their forces used precision weapons to minimise the risk of hitting civilians as they sought to root out insurgents following the brutal murders of four US contractors in Fallujah on March 31.

The offensive, which sent thousands of residents fleeing to the desert, drew considerable criticism from even staunch US supporters among the Iraqis who said it amounted to collective punishment of civilians.

But Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the coalition's deputy director of military operations, said on Monday the blame lay with the insurgents.

"Collective punishment is imposed on the people of Fallujah by those terrorists and cowards that hunker down inside mosques, hospitals and schools and use women and children as shields to hide," he said.

Helicopter in flames

Meanwhile, a crashed US Apache helicopter was seen by an AP reporter burning on the ground outside Fallujah on Tuesday, and witnesses said it was hit by a rocket from the ground. There was o immediate word on casualties.

The helicopter was in flames on the ground 20km east of Fallujah near the village of Zawbaa. There was no immediate US military comment.

US troops who converged on the site were attacked by gunmen, the reporter said.

The site is between Fallujah and the western Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib, where an Apache was shot down by gunmen on Sunday, killing its two crew members. -- Sapa-AFP, Sapa-AP

[muzikchick]

personally, as a humanitarian, I like to see both views and draw my own conclusions.

I was furious when our news displayed pictures of Sadam's son's mutilated corpses, as well.....all i could think was HIPOCRITES.

no death is just enough for that display of ignorance.

[muzikchick]

9 children in a house killed by ACCIDENT by our military.

JUSTIFIED?

oooops, i'm sorry....but, this war? by reason of what? insanity?

[siceone]

Originally posted by muzikchick

personally, as a humanitarian, I like to see both views and draw my own conclusions.

I was furious when our news displayed pictures of Sadam's son's mutilated corpses, as well.....all i could think was HIPOCRITES.

no death is just enough for that display of ignorance.

the iraqi people demanded it the US DIDN'T WANT TOO

[cintron]

Originally posted by normalnoises

Say that to the families of THESE PEOPLE you fucking racist moron.

Say that to THIS CHILD!

do i look like i care.

in case you didnt read my post - broadcasting material in an area where it may inflame violence is a BAD idea. That's exactly what i meant and you basically proved my point.

we dont have to be AS careful HERE in the states because we DONT have shit happening here like what you posted.

you're all worried about an iraqi baby being hurt by gunfire - where the fuck is the concern for the troops who are constantly getting their asses shot over there when they're simply trying to stay in country long enough to get the Iraqi government set up so they can go home.

[mursa]

..Our side is bombarded by Pro-american propoganda , & the Arabs are bombarded with Anti-american propoganda .................................

..

................ Ying & Yang . the way of life.

[siceone]

Originally posted by mursa

..Our side is bombarded by Pro-american propoganda , & the Arabs are bombarded with Anti-american propoganda .................................

..

................ Ying & Yang . the way of life.

if you seriously belive that we hear more good that goes on in iraq than bad you're seriously out of your mind

[cintron]

actually its more like we're bombarded with doom and gloom from the media who craves ratings, since negative events gain great interest and positive events gain great skepticism.

the middle east just hears tons of negative stuff about us, usually furthered by the intense control that clerics have in that region, as well as the close link said clerics and religious figures have with government and the control said government has over the media.