Last Straw » Propaganda

Jason Burke’s Bin Laden obituary perpetuates myth that Taliban refused to hand Bin Laden over

Christiaan — Mon, 02 May 2011 10:13:27 +0000

Jason Burke's Osama bin Laden obituary for The Guardian perpetuates the myth that the Taliban never offered to hand Bin Laden over:

Faced with an ultimatum, the Taliban again refused to surrender Bin Laden, who initially denied involvement, and an American-led aerial bombing campaign followed.

In fact the Taliban publicly offered in October of 2001 to hand Osama bin Laden over to a third country, provided the U.S. halted the illegal bombing of Afghanistan and produced the necessary evidence about involvement of Bin Laden or any of his associates in the 11 September attacks. Would they have gone through with the offer? We'll never know because Bush rejected it, putting an end to any possibility of a potentially peaceful, legal resolution to the events of 11 September 2001, and opened up the way for the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, along with the millions who have lost their lives or had them destroyed as a result.

Update: Jason Burke says he'll correct obituary.

Obama perpetuates “wiped off the earth” lie

Christiaan — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:51:45 +0000

Barack Obama:

Understandably, Israel is very concerned when the president of a country, a large country near them, states that they should be wiped off the face of the earth.

Which is simply a lie. Is it any wonder Americans are so brainwashed?

Poll reveals: people are easily confused

Christiaan — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:14:14 +0000

Sharp decline in public's belief in climate threat, British poll reveals:

The proportion of adults who believe climate change is "definitely" a reality dropped by 30% over the last year, from 44% to 31%, in the latest survey by Ipsos Mori.

What I don't understand is that we've been here so often before. Why do people listen to the propaganda of oil companies and the like over scientific evidence? How many times do you have to have the wool pulled over your eyes by propagandists denying that smoking causes cancer, denying that CFCs lead to ozone depletion, denying that certain pollutants cause acid rain or denying that climate change is manmade (or, originally, that it even existed)?

This is a great time to be born, a great time to be alive. This generation gets to completely change the world we live in. We have a chance here to reimagine every single thing we do. But, no, perhaps we'd rather go down with the ship and listen to rich old men trying to squeeze every last dollar, euro and yen from their investments in outdated industries.

Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq War is a whitewash before it starts

Christiaan — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:06:51 +0000

The Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war is already running a propaganda campaign that it "won't be a whitewash." But you only need to realise that its members were appointed by Gordon Brown—one of the perpetrators—and read the terms of reference to realise this is a whitewash before it even starts.

The truth about Amersterdam vs. Bill O’Reilly 2

Christiaan — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:40:49 +0000

Bill O’Reilly being called out again out on what can only be described as his feeble fact-free attempt to paint Amersterdam as a cesspool of crime and corruption. You can watch the original Bill O’Reilly clip here, and the Roberwter’s first response here. (via Russell Brown’s Hard News)

Cheney: an evil person for evil times

Christiaan — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:19:23 +0000

The Guardian: ‘Memoirs to reveal Dick Cheney thought Bush had gone soft on war on terror.’ Who knows what dark place we’d all be in if this man had become U.S. President.

Want to be bemused?

Christiaan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:13:34 +0000

Then try following the debate propaganda war on health care reform in the U.S. Daring Fireball has a couple of pearlers: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up, Part One You Can’t Make This Stuff Up, Part Two Update: Stephen Hawking: I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS,” he told us.…

Colonel Julian didn’t get the memo

Christiaan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:09:42 +0000

Ahh, yes, there’s nothing like a little American exceptionalism to get one going in the morning. According to Reuters, Colonel Greg Julian, a U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, has been complaining that the Taliban is violating international law by parading a captured U.S. soldier on camera. It seems Colonel Julian didn’t get the memo: the…

No, Afghanistan is not “a war we should be fighting”

Christiaan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:30:10 +0000

Afghanistan is spun as a war we should be fighting. In fact, a fact long forgotten by the Western media and others involved in the invasion of Afghanistan is that, on 14 October, 2001, the Taliban publicly offered to hand over Osama bin Laden to a third country, provided the U.S. halted the illegal bombing…

Neda’s death used selectively as a propaganda tool

Christiaan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:36:12 +0000

Neda Agha-Soltan is a young women from Iran who was shot dead while protesting against repression in Iran. She has a page on Wikipedia. Photos and video and of her death have been widely broadcast by the Western media, with copious amounts of faux sympathy. She deserves our sympathy because she appears to be a…

Prefer more than a caricature of North Korea?

Christiaan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:54:24 +0000

Look no further than Media Lens: How much do you know about the increased political tensions on the Korean peninsula? The answer, even for diligent readers of the mainstream press, is likely to be ‘not much’. In place of serious, penetrating analysis the public has been sold a cartoon version of events based on a…

The train wreck that was Donald Rumsfeld

Christiaan — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:01:29 +0000

Fascinating article on Donald Rumsfeld in GQ magazine that will make you cringe.

Capitalist democracy in action: the fossil fuelled campaign for global warming

Christiaan — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:15:44 +0000

Here they are, having weaselled themselves into a position to dig up hugely valuable resources from under our feet for a steal, only to flog them off to be burnt and dangerously pollute our only atmosphere. When we realise how dangerous it is, they use these stolen proceeds to block any attempt to mend the…

The PR assault begins

Christiaan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 06:36:15 +0000

Doesn’t look like the UK police are going to get a clean up afterall. Instead what appears to be a propaganda campaign begins, first up: how “astonishingly” good the G20 police actually were. And all those videos of police runing amok, well they were just a few bad eggs, we’ll sort that out don’t worry.

I can’t believe he said that

Christiaan — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:40:07 +0000

Groups of people all over the world calling themselves “news organisations,” such as The Times, continue to spread myths about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, such as that he called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” or that he denies the Nazi Holocaust. In the mean time the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister has been quoted as…

Can you believe this guy?

Christiaan — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:32:01 +0000

Under his and Blair’s leadership the economy tanks. What does he do? Blatantly tries to divert attention by screaming “War on Terror.” Little more than a propaganda tool to take away the freedoms of the people of Britain.

Israel’s new propaganda unit: the National Information Directorate

Christiaan — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:54:26 +0000

Naturally, Zionism sees new media as “a new war zone”: The body, known as the National Information Directorate, was set up eight months ago following recommendations from an Israeli inquiry into the 2006 Lebanon war. Its role is to deal with hasbara — meaning, in Hebrew, “explanation”, and referring variously to information, spin, and propaganda.…

Scammer Blossom Goodchild and the aliens that stood her up

Christiaan — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:21:11 +0000

Blossom Goodchild, the scammer who claimed aliens were coming to town on 14 October, now has her own Wikipedia page (since deleted). I can see the point of recording it, considering the number of people she hoodwinked, but I wonder how many more book sales she’ll receive as a result of a dedicated webpage on Wikipedia.

U.S. spending $100 million a year on propaganda in Iraq

Christiaan — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:24:36 +0000

Washington Post: U.S. to Fund Pro-American Publicity in Iraqi Media The Defense Department will pay private U.S. contractors in Iraq up to $300 million over the next three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements for the Iraqi media in an effort to “engage and inspire” the local population to support…

Bush invokes UN Charter

Christiaan — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:12:16 +0000

Bush Junior at today’s UN meeting invoking, I kid you not, the UN Charter: The United Nations charter sets forth the equal rights of nations large and small. Russia’s invasion of Georgia was a violation of those words. Bwahhh… haha! He’s not seriously suggesting that UN bollocks about justice means anything these days is he?

The mechanisms of propaganda in a “free press”

Christiaan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:18:10 +0000

Ben Kuchera, of Ars Technica, writes about the relationship between game software developers and game reviewers, and the mechanisms each have at their disposal to manipulate the other, namely paid advertising and access to information. It’s a good practical example of some of mechanisms that corrupt a “free press” in a capitalist society and, of course, similar…

A glitch in the media matrix

Christiaan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:37:17 +0000

The NZ Herald has published a remarkable editorial today which offers rare insight into just how well our “free” media system serves to undermine democracy, while the background story offers great insight into how much National Party politicians deplore democracy and how deplorably dishonest they can be in the lead up to an election. As an aside: the only politicians…

Iran is not the belligerent party

Christiaan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:08:59 +0000

The media in the West has a lot of blood on its hands already. Is it going to have more blood on its hands in Iran? Iran is not the belligerent party: When it comes to demonising Iran, the US, Israel and Britain have a unified message and a compliant media, which has learned nothing from…

How the New Zealand media breeds ignorance

Christiaan — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:39:34 +0000

The other day I posted an example of how the American media breeds ignorance. Today No Right Turn points to an example of New Zealanders being subjected to much the same thing.

Photographobia: an irrational fear of photographers

Christiaan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:33:17 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I was on the overland train to Camden Town, London when a tourist was taking a photo out the window. Some local got up and harassed him, telling him he wasn’t allowed to take photos on the train, then went and sat down again. Rolling my eyes I suggested he…

Why the meaning of “anti-Semitism” has changed

Christiaan — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:48:08 +0000

Here’s just another example of why the term “anti-Semitism” has increasingly come to mean “mild criticism of Israeli government policies,” rather than “hostility to or prejudice against Jews.” Something I’ve experienced myself.

Chomsky on U.S. policy toward Iran

Christiaan — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:40:26 +0000

Paul Jay interviews Noam Chomksy on U.S. policy toward Iran: Suppose it was true that Iran is helping insurgents in Iraq. I mean, wasnâ€™t the United States helping insurgents when the Russians invaded Afghanistan? Did we think there was anything wrong with that? I mean, Iraq’s a country that was invaded and is under military…

Information War: 85% of U.S. troops in la la land

Christiaan — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 10:59:33 +0000

A recent poll of U.S. troops in Iraq shows that 85% say the mission is mainly "to retaliate for Saddam's role in the 9-11 attacks."

Should the Americans invade Oz next?

Christiaan — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 09:28:15 +0000

In terms of the war on terror, who should be the next country to invade? Read on to see some of the better results of "engineering consent."