Meanwhile, here's an interesting perspective: The western media pays scads of attention to the allegedly "home grown" dissenters in Iran, but while ignoring the rebel movement in Egypt.
Confused? So are many Egyptians, who have seen their intense and sometimes deadly struggle against the repressive regime that rules them almost completely sidelined by the international media.
There is no space in this forum to detail all the ways in which the unelected political elite of the Arab world's biggest country consistently reject democratic freedoms, subvert the rule of law to protect their hegemony, and encroach on the human rights of that country's citizens day in, day out.
Nor is there room to describe the full breadth and strength of the grass-roots reaction these injustices have triggered in Egypt, from the spread of a strike wave so large it has been labeled "the largest social movement the Middle East has seen in half a century" to the astonishing trend of local communities not only facing down the bullets and tear gas of riot police, but doing so with such vigour that fleeing security officers have been forced to bunker down in their own headquarters to protect themselves from the masses.The rage felt against Egypt's government may be one of those things that the U.S. will ignore until an Egyptian terrorist commits an act of mass atrocity on American soil. Oh wait -- that already happened. Isn't it odd that our right-wing media organs never discuss Hosni Mubarak's Egypt...?
The skewed news coverage is, of course, hardly anything new. I can recall when conservatives screamed daily about the imaginary horrors perpetrated by the Sandanistas in Nicaragua -- even though the same conservatives didn't give a rat's ass about the very real horrors perpetrated by Indonesia in East Timor, starting in 1975. That was a case of an Islamic nation committing genocide against Christians, yet even today you can't any right-wingers who will acknowledge that it happened. Why? Because Indonesia was and is our strategic ally.
Nevertheless, if you say that the press is managed, people will call you paranoid. People in the press will call you that.
4 comments:
Why is it dangerous? Do you think we might invade Iran? With what military?Three wars at once?Even Obama is not that out to lunch.
I think Israel is dangling a carrot to the administration, saying that the U.S. must first stop Iran's nuclear work before Israel will consider negotiating any peace agreement. It's a waste of time. Israel, like the GOP, does not negotiate in good faith and will find, even if minor, a point to disagree about.
Invade? No, unless you count the number of special forces already in country doing targeting and other intel as invading it.
Bombing is the worry. We do have plenty of bombs and bombers.
Yes, that would be insane, regardless. However, it isn't necessarily as insane if the country wishing this be done can get it done by the US via their control here.
HRC is a fairly reliable asset of that country, along with 97% of the rest of DC. That's how the Iraq war was sold so well. Obama looked to be less so, until pressures were brought to bear.
So please do not credit Obama with pushing HRC's position, when it is fairly clear she'd be there anyway, and any pushing is probably in the opposite direction from that you may imagine.
XI
Won't you be our friend?
Say you will and we won't give a rat's butt about what you do to your own people.
In fact if you want we will train your thugs in all sorts of repression and torture.
Just be our friend (and let us strip your natural resources for pennies on the dollar).
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