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...never having to say they are sorry as they shoot you. A bloody day today in Iraq, but that's OK, its the will of the people - except that they forgot to add that it was the American democracy and the American people who willed it, for sure in the 2004 elections. A neat synopsis from Angry Arab: How US media cover occupied Iraq: some observations First, notice that US media, especially the New York Times and Washington Post, cover Iraq with barely a mention that the country is occupied and has been occupied since 2003. Secondly, notice that every article about repression and protests in Iraq has to mention that the country is a "democracy" as if to express amazement at the willingness of Iraqis to protest against it (this is today's NYT: "Unlike protests elsewhere in the region, the crowds in this young, war-torn democracy did not call for an entirely new form of government..."). Notice that the murder and repression by Iraqi puppet forces are always justified: (in the NYT today it said that people died from "clashes": "Iraq’s “day of rage” on Friday ended with nearly 20 protesters killed in clashes with security forces."). Thirdly, notice that any protests against the occupation and its puppet forces are instantly conflated with Al-Qa`idah terrorism (this is from today's NYT: "But on Friday, he celebrated the fact that there had been no suicide bombings. Their absence was perhaps a fluke, but it suggested that heavy security restrictions..." I mean, why should they link the protests to suicide bombings? Unless they are implying--like the sectarian puppet, Al-Maliki, that Bin Laden was behind the protests--just like Qadhdhafi has claimed in Libya). Fourthly, there is no opportunity missed to heap praise on puppet Iraqi repression forces. (Upon learning that some 20 protesters were killed, this is what a US commander has said: "Col. Barry A. Johnson, a spokesman for the United States military, said Iraq’s security forces appeared to respond well to the volatile, sometimes violent, crowds. “The Iraqi forces’ response appeared professional and restrained,” he said in an e-mail."). Fifthly, It is hard for US media to accept this, but Iraqis and Arabs in general in particular never treat Iraq as a democracy. It is never treated like a model to emulate. If anything, there is wide contempt for a republic jointly run by an obscurantist Ayatullah in cooperation with US and Iran. Nuri Al-Maliki is seen, rightly, like any other tyrant, no matter if he has sectarian support by virtue of the corrupt sectarian system that the US has set up there. In his speech the other day warning against protests, Al-Maliki sounded like Saddam warning ominously against "suspicious" forces. In fact, his rhetoric is a replica of that of Qadhdhafi. Sixthly, the absurd myth that Iraqi Kurdistan is a heaven and haven, is shattered by the daily protests and repression there is still being promoted and for that the coverage of protests there is scant. Seventhly, the nature of non-sectarian protests is ignored because Bush taught them that you can only speak of sects in Iraq. [This is why they want to hurry the "transition to democracy" so they can unleash the repression without reservation or apology] -Matt ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
