General Discussion
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The two faces of journalist Assange:
Assange conducted his first interview for RT TV today. His choice of interviewee was a bold move.
Assange's show here:
Four paragraphs of from The Dissenter:
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/04/17/about-julian-assanges-new-revolutionary-television-show/
The first questions from Assange involve the vision of Hezbollah for Israel and Palestine. He asks what the organization would consider victory and whether or not the organization would disarm if victory was achieved. His next question is why Hezbollah has launched rocket attacks on civilians. Then, he asks if a move into Lebanese electoral politics has corrupted Hezbollah, because in diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks he is described as shocked by members who are driving around in SUVs, wearing silk robes, buying takeaway food. The first questions are really based on conventional wisdom that Hezbollah is just a terrorist organization. If any US pundit had the guts to put Nasrallah on a TV show and grill him, these would be the first questions what will it take for you to disarm and why do you launch rockets at civilians.
Nasrallah calls Israel an illegal state. He says the progress of time does not legalize occupation, but if ideology, the law and political realities of the time were combined, Hezbollah would accept a one state solution where Christians, Jews and Muslims live together. He says Israel and Palestinian once had a deterrent balance that Israeli villages would not be shelled by Hezbollah if Israel didnt shell Palestinian villages. The truce has obviously been broken multiple times.
Next comes the part of the interview that makes the first episode essential viewing. Assange wants to know why Hezbollah refuses to support the Arab Spring in Syria when it has supported it in Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt. Nasrallah describes how President Bashar Assad has supported the resistance in Lebanon and the resistance in Palestine and has not backed down in the face of Israeli and American pressure. So, Hezbollah supports dialogue and reform over the alternative, which would be civil war. [cont'd]
Assange understands the logic but presses because, at the time of the recorded interview, one hundred were just killed in Homs. British journalist Marie Colvin, who he had dinner with a year ago, was killed. Is there a red line for Hezbollah? If 100,000 are killed or 1 million are killed? When will Hezbollah say enough? Nasrallah replies Assad is willing to carry out radical reforms. The problem is the opposition refused to agree to dialogue and is not prepared for reforms. Hezbollah contacted the opposition to help broker peace, but the opposition would rather bring down the regime. He notes the armed groups fighting Assad have killed many too.
Four paragraphs from the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/arts/television/julian-assange-starts-talk-show-on-russian-tv.html
The show is unlikely to win high ratings or change many minds, but it may serve Mr. Assanges other agenda: damage control.
His reputation has taken a deep plunge since he shook the world in 2010 by releasing, in cooperation with The New York Times and several other news organizations, masses of secret government documents, including battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan. Most news organizations edited and redacted the papers to protect lives. Mr. Assange put everything on his Web site. To some he was a hero, to others a spy, but nowadays he is most often portrayed as a nut job.
Sweden is seeking his extradition on multiple charges of sexual misconduct; disgruntled former WikiLeaks colleagues describe him as grandiose and paranoid. Mr. Assange tells reporters that he is being persecuted for political reasons, which, even if true, doesnt exactly help his case. Perhaps having worn out his welcome, Mr. Assange has left a British supporters country estate, where he spent more than 300 days under house arrest, and is now in more modest quarters in the south of England.
On his talk show Mr. Assange was a little stiff but sounded rational, didnt talk much about himself and asked Mr. Nasrallah some tough questions about Hezbollahs support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. He even cited reports, found by WikiLeaks, that suggested corruption and high living among some members of Hezbollah. (Mr. Assange cited S.U.V.s, silk robes and take-away food as signs of decadence.)
TheWraith
(24,331 posts)But I will give him real credit for asking Nasrallah actual, serious questions. (It's probably the most journalistic thing that's ever graced RT's airwaves.) Particularly with regard to the benefits to Hezbollah leadership of being in conflict--like the Likudniks, they have no motivation to seek peace because war is what keeps them in charge.
Of course, if he keeps doing things like questioning Russia's beloved allies like Syria, instead of ponying up the anti-American polemic, I wouldn't expect him to be on RT for very long.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)And thanks for taking the time to check out the interview. I'm looking forward to the next show.
Joe Shlabotnik
(5,604 posts)Will look to find it on the web tomorrow. I look forward to the prospect of Assange using his resources to shed some light into areas and hopefully debunk some the official talking points that mainstream media passes off as unquestionable, and verboten.