Iraqi Government Shuts Al-Jazeera Station

[mbperrin]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040807_595.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq Aug. 7, 2004 — The Iraqi government closed the Iraqi offices of the Arab television station Al-Jazeera for 30 days, accusing it Saturday of inciting violence.

A spokesman for Al-Jazeera called the closure "unwise" and said it restrained freedom of the press. <snip>

Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said the government convened an independent commission a month ago to monitor Al-Jazeera's daily coverage "to see what kind of violence they are advocating, inciting hatred and problems and racial tension." <snip>

"They have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they transfer a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals to increase their activities," he said. <snip> <more>


Freedom at last comes to Iraq! And some of you doubters here were thinking that this would not be a successful transition to truth, justice, and the American way!

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Correction

The Iraqi government Bush junta, acting through its puppets in Baghdad, closed the Iraqi offices of the Arab television station Al-Jazeera for 30 days, accusing it Saturday of inciting violence reporting the news.

[arwalden]

3. Nicely Done, JackRabbit!

[number6]

8. !!!! EXACTLY !!!! Nicely Done, JackRabbit!

"The (Iraqi government) Bush junta, acting through its puppets in Baghdad, closed the Iraqi offices of the Arab television station Al-Jazeera for 30 days, accusing it Saturday of (inciting violence) reporting the news."

thats the truth

[trogdor]

41. You tell me...

...in what way is al-Jazeera any different from Fox News? How many people here secretly wish somebody would shut Hannity's mouth for him? I know I would. If al-Jazeera is inciting violence, and I find it hard to dispute such a charge, then they can't really claim First Amendment protection, or the Iraqi equivalent thereof. You can't do that shit in the USA either.

[Tight_rope]

45. I don't think al-Jazeera is promoting voilence...IMO they are just showing

the news the way it happens...but you know some people have a weak stomach...They don't want to see all the blood and death that they help to create.

[HuckleB]

50. Al Jazeera: Leave it to viewers

http://www.iht.com/articles/532569.html

No one has been able to give an even remotely reasonable argument to defend the claim that Al Jazeera is "inciting violence," so, if you can offer one, please do.

Also, please check out the English language site of Al Jazeera. Are you going to tell me that they aren't worlds beyond our own networks in terms of being objective?

[Tight_rope]

44. Now that's the way news should be reported....Weed out the lies...

[Darranar]

52. Yep...

the "liberation" of Iraq is proceeding apace, I suppose....

[Swede]

2. Don't you love democracy?

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Yes. I hope the Iraqi people will have some . . .

. . . after they drive the neocons out of their country.

[whistle]

5. It sounds to me like it is progressing exactly the way....

...Bush's appointee, John Negroponte, has planned it:

<see: From Central America to Iraq by Noam Chomsky>

http://www.chomsky.info/articles.htm

[HuckleB]

6. Bush is gonna be pissed. He only wishes he could do this in the US.

:)

[gatlingforme]

14. He's working on it though.

[MaineDem]

7. "They have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV"

Gee, you mean like the US media do? Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld???

Let's here it for democracy! It's working so well in Iraq.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saigon68]

10. IRAQI DEMOCRACY IS AN OXYMORAN

THERE IS NONE ----- THERE IS ONLY DEATH AT THE HANDS OF THE BUSH CRIMINALS

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, PBS

were doing the same a year-and-a-half ago. Where were you?

[llmart]

12. Then those standards must apply here in the US also.

Shut down Fox so we can make the "goals of democracy" easier. For your information, one of the goals of democracy is freedom of the press.

[nolabels]

46. (the corporate press)

"Propaganda," says Noam Chomsky, "is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state"--in other words, the means by which leaders keep the masses in line.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1583225366/ref=pd_null_recs_b//104-8182496-3148738?v=glance



http://mua.org.au/war/

[floda]

13. Oh, and how did they do that?

How did they incite violence? Did they encourage people to get their guns and start shooting and murdering?

[saigon68]

15. IT ISN'T TALKING

[newbie2be]

24. I only respond to politeness

FYI

[saigon68]

39. I don't think you are here to be anything more

Than someone who wants to waste bandwidth

[saigon68]

47. ADIOS

Vaya Con Dios

[HuckleB]

17. Please explain how you come to those conclusions.

Surely you're not going to say that our TV news outlets are more honest than Al Jazeera?

I highly suggest that you check out the movie "Control Room," if you want to see the reality of Al Jazeera and media coverage in general.

[newbie2be]

25. Nope...not saying that

BTW, I don't get my politics, opinions or reality from movies.

[thebigidea]

26. but where did you get your opinion of Al-J? Teevee?

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. Then maybe you should open your eyes

It's a documentary:
Control Room gripping look at Al-Jazeera

This is just one of dozens of fascinating moments in “Control Room,” an unnerving documentary profiling this unique network that’s faithfully watched by many in the Arab world yet reviled by the U.S. government and condemned by some Arab regimes as well.

However one might feel about Al-Jazeera or about the war, one has to applaud director Jehane Noujaim for her deft, thoughtful handling of an incendiary subject.
...
But the same U.S. officials might be surprised to hear one of the main characters in this film, for example, express deep respect for American values. The affable ex-BBC journalist Hassan Ibrahim expresses horror at the Bush administration’s actions in Iraq, but great admiration for the U.S. Constitution.

And Samir Khader, a senior producer at Al-Jazeera, surprises us when he speaks of his own future. “Between us,” he says, “if I’m offered a job tomorrow with Fox, I will take it.” And he hopes his children will study and then settle in the United States, getting a piece of the American dream.

[HuckleB]

36. Huh?

You have an opinion with no basis? That makes no sense.

I'll ask again. Please explain.

Also, do you get news from TV outlets?

[thebigidea]

18. and your proof of this is, what?

Let me guess - you've never actually watched Al-Jazeera or read the english site, you're just going on what someone else told you. After all, if a pundit sez it - it MUST BE TRUE!

As far as making democracy in Iraq difficult - uh, just who is the one postponing elections and installing puppets instead?

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

16. Insuring that NO independent media will cover soon-to-be slaughter...

Make no mistakes about it...this removal of Al-Jazeera is calculated to make sure that there are NO embarrasing pictures/videos of a planned AGGRESSIVE movement against Al-Sadr's forces.

We wouldn't want folks to see any video or pictures of dead innocent bystanders, would we? Particularly, right before the US elections...

JB

[HuckleB]

19. Exactly. Just like what Bush did with bombs on the media in Bagdad...

the day before they paraded Chalabi's crew in front of the state-run cameras, as they "took down" Saddam's statue.

[saigon68]

20. Unfortunately the Slaughter of children will be hidden

BY THE BUSH CRIMINALS

[HuckleB]

21. It already is being hidden.

How many children died this last week, when we supposedly killed 300 insurgents? The US press doesn't even bother to ask.

[newbie2be]

27. Nassan, 11, abducted June 2003 at Palabek Kitgum.

I was digging in the morning when they took me at gunpoint. We crossed Aswa River with the the rebel group.

Then a certain man in the group tried to escape. Seven of us were ordered to beat him to death. The commander told us to lick all his blood or his spirit would haunt us. Many children died in the bushes.

One day, I tried to escape, but I was caught and beaten with a hoe until I fainted. Some people in the group wanted me killed, but the commander stopped them. One day, a helicopter attacked and scattered us in the bushes.

I jumped into River Pager and swam across it, then I ran into the bush. The rebels shot many times at me, but missed. For many days, I roamed the bushes until I met a woman who took me to the soldiers

http://allafrica.com/stories/200407270055.html

[funnymanpants]

31. You got the wrong story

The question refers to how many children died in Iraq when the US killed 300 Iraqis.

If you look on a map, you will notice that Uganda and Iraq are two different countries. In fact, they are not even on the same continent.

[HuckleB]

37. Yeah, that has to be up there with the strangest responses in Hx.

Bizarre.

[saigon68]

40. ITS WEIRD ALL RIGHT

Yikes

[anarchy1999]

22. This is bad news!

I fear for what is coming in Iraq.

On edit:

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! But, yet when you stop to contemplate, and think about Negroponte, this is no surprise. God, please end this nightmare soon.

[mom cat]

23. Kerry had better do better.

[newbie2be]

28. Umm...it was Iraq and not the US that gave Al-J a 30 day timeout

I don't see how President Kerry would make any difference in a sovereign decision by the Iraqi government.

[mbperrin]

29. Any evidence that there is such a thing as a sovereign Iraqi

government, like the ability to raise an army to defend itself, pass laws governing its own elections, remove barriers erected by foreigners in the streets and so on?

Please.

[allemand]

32. By recalling Negroponte maybe...?

Or was that intended as a Faux-naive statement?

[daleo]

34. Sovereign Iraq is a modern version of the tooth fairy

It is time to grow up and see the world as it is.

[mom cat]

42. Yes, now that we have graciously relinquished all control there.

Sarcasm off/

[daleo]

33. Let freedom reign

They plan to allow "free speech zones" out in the desert. Perhaps they will allow A-J to broadcast pictures of the desert. That will satisfy Bush. Maybe they will do a palm tree for Powell.

[salin]

35. Didn't I just read a major item on the decreasing credibility of the new

govt in Iraq among the Iraqis? Doubt that this move will improve that situation.

[saigon68]

38. kick

[Naipes]

43. Al-Jazeera is the Fox of the Arab world...

Neither one of those two networks do anything to further the cause of peace.

When are we going to get Fox shut down?

Oh, I forget... no one shuts down Ruppert.

[HuckleB]

48. How do you come to this conclusion?

Have you watched Al Jazeera? Have you spent time reading its English web site?

[HuckleB]

49. Independent UK: Al-Jazeera 'no more biased than other TV channels'

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=549052

[HuckleB]

51. Aljazeera vows to cover Iraq despite closure

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9C888134-9481-485A-A675-DD3C50DA224D.htm