So to my sisters and brothers of the Muslim faith I make this entry.
I just can't believe Aaron Brown lends legitimacy to this type of journalism. Biased to say the least. I shake my head in astounding reality everytime I hear it.
As the scandal of the current Oval Office plays out with aids of all Executive Branch Members having access to sensitive information while using it for political pundancy, this trash was displayed Friday night. I don't know what purpose it serves other than propaganda because it was all edited and taylored as an infomercial to promote the war.
If this country cannot count on an honest and exempliary press then we need not be involved in any aggression such as this anywhere.
In Vietnam, the truth regarding our troops there ended it because we could count on the press to bring the sad reality of their deaths as well the sad reality of our losing the war back home.
In the reporting of Iraq, the news media, especially Cable Network News which acts as political pundits at any cost to our society through bad government, there is nothing trustworthy anymore as they seek to entertain imaginations rather than chronicalize the fact that Iraqis still cling to their own social structure through religion and little if any value a centralized government. What Iraqis do value is for their lives to proceed without death being upon them every minute of every day. That hasn't happened there yet. And as long as this type of irresponsible journalism continues in the USA I believe the conflict in Iraq will continue without an end.
The 'idea' of an Iraq Progress Report. By whom's definition is there progress in Iraq?
The first thing one has to realize is that this program was sponsored at the Ten O'Clock hour by Big Oil and Big Beef with minimally one oil commercial every fifteen minutes.
Additionally the only 'introduction' to religion minding you this is about Iraq was Baptist in a 'Then and Now Segment' regarding Kelly Duncan Moore a crash survivor from Air Florida Crash in 1982 who realized she was spared death to live a life as God's servant. The segment neglected to ask Ms. Moore whether or not she ever flew again.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2000/001/6.48 [...]
There was one statement that screamed sanity the entire 59 minutes by a well spoken Iraqi man (Did you get that? A WELL SPOKEN Iraq man that spoke in English so I could understand. I am confident the number of Iraqis who speak English is rare. REMEMBER THAT AS i WEED THROUGH THIS MESS.) and that was stated : "Those that returned our liberties need to leave now."
Those words were then trampled by John King who went on NOT about the priorities of the Iraqis but about the Bush White House.
There was also the most ridiculous statement by an Iraqi man who spoke in English but not clearly more with an accent (Mind you this is a country that has never known democracy, has no reference point to democracy. So to ask Iraqis how things are going in relation to democracy is a hideous question.) and he stated (I paraphrase.) : 'Democracy is always worse in the beginning because there is so much freedom people cannot provide lawful behavior. There is no real good transition to democracy no matter how it comes.'
I refer to countries like Brazil that transitioned just fine without killing their own citizens in civil war.
Then there is the most hideous military statement from a very tall GI carrying a very big gun speaking to an Iraqi man nearly a full one third less in height. The soldier is putting his hand on this Iraqi man's shoulder as if to not let him leave and states in perfect English without any accent, "Your government wanted up to come into Fallujah to kill the terrorist but you also have to realize your government has several hundred million dollars to help you rebuild."
CNN called that segment 'The Battle FOR (not OF) Fallujah.' Fallujah has always been where the Sunnis lived. Now, thanks to the USA military Fallujah lays in rubbles except for people starting to rebuild grateful they still can go back to rebuild their destroyed city.
That was another incredible statement by an Iraqi woman who was forced to be a refugee due to the 'flattening' of Fallujah. She returned to her home and celebrated with Henna on her hands at the joy of returning home. The entire segment came across as a return to her home after a refugee status due to Saddam. It wasn't. It was a return to her home as she fled to refugee status from the invading Americans.
Additionally, his segment was discernable because an interpretation of the Iraqi language. We don't know what the woman was actually saying except she did have henna on her hands. Women who wear henna on their skin are usually getting married. It is a common practice even in places like Inida. It is sort of like getting a hair style before you walk down the aisle.
All during the early minutes of this 59 minute long Propaganda News Piece I looked at the photography of Iraq. Everything is in rumble. It looked like Beirut did. That rubble is due to the USA invasion. That rubble did not exist before the war. These were communities with life as reasonable as it comes under scrutiny of The United Nations Security Council Inspectors.
The entire concept of this news item was completely bizarre. The CNN network was 'creating' a version of Iraq without Iraqi consent. Mind you, I said CONSENT, and not participation. There were Iraqis that could speak English and contributed to the program but the CONTEXT of the show was without their consent.
To address 'consent' of the Iraqi people to this news item by CNN as a Progress Report; it was plainly clear with every Iraqi person that spoke they were mad as hell. There is no getting around it. Every person who spoke in English never had a good word to say about the USA. They were all profoundly upset with Bush and his huge statements about making Iraq the best country in the Middle East. A country to envy, an example of Democracy.
They were empty words to these people who live in a moment to moment fear for their own lives.
To prove the USE of these words as spoken by the Iraqis then taken out of context by CNN was the word frustration. In the early minutes of the program the word was used by Iraqis to exhibit their feelings about their lives since occupation by the USA. There was the overriding question by most of how long this insanity would go on and when reflecting on Don Rumsfeld replies to same question he could not answer that question.
So, too frustration.
At the top of the program that was a given by the Iraqi people. By 10:21 PM Aaron Brown stated, "To the Iraqis frustration is a permanent state of mind. PERHAPS."
PERHAPS. That single word statement is a departure from any statement by any Iraqi. A complete departure from their intended meaning. THAT is what I call TAKING CONSENT away from their participation. Removing the meaning of their statements to a different context. Everything from 10:21 PM on was bogus and had no true meaning. To say it was unethical is to realize as a result of that act people will die as the truth of Iraq eludes this country through manufacturered images as created here.
What followed were 'elements' of Iraqi life that takes place in secured areas of the city. A "Horse Club" that found it's way to survival past the invasion even though all the original RACE HORSES were gone after the invasion. Another element of Iraqi society is a Recreational Club where there is a swimming pool and people come everyday to escape their reality otherwise. There are film makers who have managed to seclude themselves in a small apartment that is a little bit of heaven to enjoy their friendship and inspire each other to makes films. One film maker made a stark reality film of the dangers journalists face in Baghdad. There were scenes of a wedding in Iraq. Very fancy wedding.
Elements of Iraq but NOT THE NORM of Iraq. These elements were among people who could afford them. They were not the general society.
When men at all these 'element' events were engaged in conversation regarding the 'state of play' in Iraq the response was always the same. They found no one oppressed them from doing what they wanted but they all lived in fear day to day, moment to moment for their lives. The man who gave his daughter the wedding was a former Captain in Saddam's Army, therefore logically a Sunni, and he was furious complaining how none of his children regardless of age were safe enough to attend their schools without fear of death.
There were pictures of Iraqi children in refurbished school rooms with 90 children per teacher but there was no guarantee to their safety and only yesterday children were killed when lured away with candy. So, hence this Sunni father was absolutely correct, there was no safe place for his children to attend school.
Every Iraqi had the same reply to the occupation. They hated it.
These 'elements' of life as shown by CNN to be huge events of Iraqi society never before seen to the American public and a cause to rejoice was simply life in the face of moment to moment threats and real threats of death. I mean won't you? If life was as tenuous here as there to the degree it is in Iraq wouldn't you live life to the fullest knowing it might be your last moment?
You darn right you would.
I want to regress to the beginning of this Racist Work to realize the degree the poor caucasian executives at CNN had to settle in order to get those pictures to exploit.
Right in the opening minutes of the program were the words of Aaron Brown regarding the dangers that awaited outside the hotels of Western Journalists. He stated due to those dangers the Western Journalists could never go to the city of Baghdad to get the film they were looking for, so in order to do this piece they had to call on Iraqi journalists to find events worthy of the theme they were perscribed and then do all the filming and interviewing.
Got that?
The Iraqi journalists were NOT the first choice of the CNN executives.
That level of racism came from the mouth of Aaron Brown in the very first minutes of that 59 minutes program. Scripted perhaps, but, spoken just the same by someone I had admired until recent. I cannot in good conscience consent to this degree of hatred as he does.
Now, I ask you, am I going to consider any of this context seriously in a way that is unbiased?
I kept an open mind but as the minutes rolled out it was all too obvious the level of hatred of the Iraqi people for not being good and 'ordered up' subjects. The word 'frustration' again came to mind after the 10:21 PM moment but more of the 'CNN Editors.'
At 10:28 PM after the second oil company commercial is when the programming turned to politics and Bush's face was everywhere discussing the initiative of these huge events such as the Janaury vote. The point was made by an Iraqi official that although the HUGE events noted as success by Bush were "Power Moments" but were also moment that were wrong to recognize as a statement of progress.
Can anyone disagree with that?
The reality of this piece of bigotry ended with that segment at abotu the 10:33 PM moment. From then on it was propaganda to justify the occupation of our military.
The justification came by scapegoating the Sunnis. It was stated the Sunnis were marginalized with mistrust and fear as the motivating force. What this message did not relay was the fact the mistrust and fear did not come from the other ethnicities so much as the American Coalition. If one recalls the Sunnis were at roll call in the new centralized government right up to the point where Fallujah was leveled by the USA military.
I remind at this point Fallujah was a High Value Target 'of this man's Army' because all of the Islamic World was worshipping and praying for the people in Fallujah to stand strong and resist the occupation. So, to realize there was no standing down by the USA to make a point to not only the Iraqis but the entire Islamic world that George Walker Bush was boss!!!
Now, to say the Shi'ites and Kurds were the problem of the Sunnis estrangement is projecting blame on the wrong entity and creating an argument for an understanding of a guaranteed civil war between all these ethnicities and the USA must stay to see all this through.
Right, Sure.
Of course there is no nobler cause except perhaps protecting the USA interest of Bechtel and Halliburton.
The entire REMAINS of the program was waving the American Flag with talking heads expounding the virtue of all we, the Americans have done and then there was a film tribute to a dead American soldier to round out the patriotic nature we all need to properly put this into humble perspective and continue to worship Bush for his valor on all fronts in Iraq.
The 59 minutes ended with three miinutes of commercials including a final Kerr McGee oil commercial.
To say I wasn't impressed is an understatement. "I am however hoping the film makers find a way to get their films reproduced to make it in time to Michael Moores Film Festival this month."
