American Media Fears Al-jazeera

Post-9/11 Era Forum

Al-Jazeera tells the truth about war

My station is a threat to American media control - and they know it


Last month, when it became clear that the US-led drive to war was irreversible, I - like many other British journalists - relocated to Qatar for a ringside seat. But I am an Islamist journalist, so while the others bedded down at the £1m media centre at US central command in As-Sayliyah, I found a more humble berth in the capital Doha, working for the internet arm of al-Jazeera.

And yet, only a week into the war, I find myself working for the most sought-after news resource in the world. On March 23, the night the channel screened the first footage of captured US PoW's, al-Jazeera was the most searched item on the internet portal, Lycos, registering three times as many hits as the next item.

I do not mean to brag - people are turning to us simply because the western media coverage has been so poor. For although Doha is just a 15-minute drive from central command, the view of events from here could not be more different. Of all the major global networks, al-Jazeera has been alone in proceeding from the premise that this war should be viewed as an illegal enterprise. It has broadcast the horror of the bombing campaign, the blown-out brains, the blood-spattered pavements, the screaming infants and the corpses. Its team of on-the-ground, unembedded correspondents has provided a corrective to the official line that the campaign is, barring occasional resistance, going to plan.

Last Tuesday, while western channels were celebrating a Basra "uprising" which none of them could have witnessed since they don't have reporters in the city, our correspondent in the Sheraton there returned a rather flat verdict of "uneventful" - a view confirmed shortly afterwards by a spokesman for the opposition Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. By reporting propaganda as fact, the mainstream media had simply mirrored the Blair/Bush fantasy that the people who have been starved by UN sanctions and deformed by depleted uranium since 1991 will greet them as saviours.

Only hours before the Basra non-event, one of Iraq's most esteemed Shia authorities, Ayatollah Sistani, had dented coalition hopes of a southern uprising by reiterating a fatwa calling on all Muslims to resist the US-led forces. This real, and highly significant, event went unreported in the west.

Earlier in the week Arab viewers had seen the gruesome aftermath of the coalition bombing of "Ansar al-Islam" positions in the north-east of the country. All but two of the 35 killed were civilians in an area controlled by a neutral Islamist group, a fact passed over with undue haste in western reports. And before that, on the second day of the war, most of the western media reported verbatim central command statements that Umm Qasr was under "coalition" control - it was not until Wednesday that al-Jazeera could confirm all resistance there had been pacified.

Throughout the past week, armed peoples in the west and south have been attacking the exposed rearguard of coalition positions, while all the time - despite debilitating sandstorms - western TV audiences have seen litte except their steady advance towards Baghdad. This is not truthful reporting.

There is also a marked difference when reporting the anger the invasion has unleashed on the Muslim street. The view from here is that any vestige of goodwill towards the US has evaporated with this latest aggression, and that Britain has now joined the US and Israel as a target of this rage.

The British media has condemned al-Jazeera's decision to screen a 30-second video clip of two dead British soldiers. This is simple hypocrisy. From the outset of the war, the British media has not balked at showing images of Iraqi soliders either dead or captured and humiliated.

Amid the battle for hearts and minds in the most information-controlled war in history, one measure of the importance of those American PoW pictures and the images of the dead British soldiers is surely the sustained "shock and awe" hacking campaign directed at aljazeera.net since the start of the war. As I write, the al-Jazeera website has been down for three days and few here doubt that the provenance of the attack is the Pentagon. Meanwhile, our hosting company, the US-based DataPipe, has terminated our contract after lobbying by other clients whose websites have been brought down by the hacking.

It's too early for me to say when, or indeed if, I will return to my homeland. So far this war has progressed according to a near worst-case scenario. Iraqis have not turned against their tormentor. The southern Shia regard the invasion force as the greater Satan. Opposition in surrounding countries is shaking their regimes. I fear there remains much work to be done.

Can Al Jazeera pretend to be neutral in this conflict? I mean, how can a TV channel be neutral?

Al-Jazeera is a lying tribe of radical arab [RACIST SLUR].

al-jazeera and other arab news channels will all show you more gruesome images than western media, because thats the truth about war, people die, and if we don't see it in someway with our eyes, we (the 98% that don't serve in the army) will not know the reality of the horrors war inflicts. So for you flinching Rambo bittches watching our news channel, DEAL WITH IT

Mohammad Ali,

I wasn't speaking strictly of the images specifically. That in itself is just tacky. Even Russian news isn't that pathetic.

I did, however, err in what I said earlier.

I had said that Al-Jazeera was a lying tribe of radical [RACIST SLUR]
I meant to say:

Al-Jazeera is a lying tribe of radical arab desert [RACIST SLUR]

i thought you all were stupid before now I think you are just plain idiots, I mean, how do you belive stuff that you see on a newstation like that, no wonder you think everything is Americas fault beause that is the crap that they have been spoon fedding you on that network

PLEASE EVERYBODY IGNORE CAPS/RAMBO

THERE IS NO POINT OF TALKING TO THESE 10 YEAR OLD KIDS

BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER GET AN INTELLEGENT RESPONSE

"Search4Truth"

You are dictating this thread like your old buddy Saddam. I suggest you go to your true home sweet home"Iraq" and kiss him right on the smelly bum before we blow him away.. m-kay..

Al Jazeera is "SNN" Satan News Network.
The US should pull the plug for good on that evil network.

Down with Al Jazeera the network of evil and endless Lies!

aljazeera is well known to the arabic public for supporting Sadam with whatever crimes he commit and that is no secret to the world now.

watch aljazeera nowdays and see how it try to ignore the good work Americans and allies do to the people of iraq and how they skip the aids news and raises the hatred against the Americans.

one of the Qatari princes the owners of this channel gave Sadam an airplane as a gift !


Sadam is not iraq but aljazeera is Sadam.

take care

Keep living in your government controlled news channels that are'nt aloud to tell you, the public,whats going on truthfully.
We on the other side will put down as much info as we can, not hiding anything from our people, that is known as informing, not bullshiiting

you brainwashed fool, i feel pity for you, your country fu.cks the president to a certain extent,,comicly,criticly,.....but to a limit,,,nothing that threatens the country's security.....this means controlling you idiots, telling you what they want you to hear, only 10% of the US have travelled abroad, and trust me, that 10% are the ones strongly opposing war today.
Al Jazeera is based in a country that doesn't have an opressive muslim gov dumb asss, and there are only a few gov that are opressive in some way.
about the pow, would you rather not here anything about them, not know whats going on, limiting the safety of the pow. when broadcast worlwide their families are probably feeling a bit better inside, even if some dont show it,,,,,,why do you want to shut the mouth of a country, how can they communicate fairly to the world, you call it propoganda, but its the honest truth with footage, its cuz the US news doesn't show you certain footage, when we do, its weird, we believe in informing on the truth, with evidence,,,not big men talking and every brainwashed idiot agreeing
about your 4th point, that is true, but only in times of conflict, which is true for all governments. ..... on normal occassions, they have arabic serials and sitcoms, with news and all the other shiit

p.s all top news channels, and newspapers in the US are jewish owned.........need i say fuc.king more

Thanks for joining the show Ali, it will be interesting to share point of view with someone who is somewhat in close connection with the events.
while i still believe there will be propangada in both channels, having 2 views so differents of the same thing can only help to understand it better.

hallo, i'm a spaniard boy, so i think, relatively neutral, and after reading this descussion i can only confirm my darkest fears, what are you thinking about, rambo, caps and others?????
you are racist, anti democratic, fascist and worser things!!!!

i have read both, al jazeera and cnn, and the only thing i can say is that al jazeera seems to be more neutral ant objective than the american chanels (fox, cnn, abc, etc...)
their information is contrasted (not always, but most of cases) and good worked, what is not very comon in american televisions.

the problem is that al jazeera is giving information that the american government dosent like, they wold like to have the control of the information to lie not only his people, but the whole world. thank you al jazeera and other tv channels because you are aprouching us a little more to the truth.

this dosen't means that every information is partial, because it pases thorough the subjective vision of the journalist, we have to learn to filter all the information we receive!!!!!

sorry, i meant impartial

I have sought out aljezerra and other news stations, and all I can say is they have just as skewed a perspective as the US channels like fox and cnn does, but on the opposite side.

BTW, if your watching cnn and fox, both are very pro american, so of course you are going to see a skewed version off of their coverage, but there are many more places to get news. BBC, ABC (fairly fair in their coverage), NBC (a bit more skewed than abc but fairly objective).

In all of the Arab stations, no mention of death squads; no mention of coerrsion of the people to get them to fight; No meantion of the F Sadam shooting people in the backs because they just want to get on with their lives and not fight for an oppressive regime; no mention of any of Sadam's crimes; nor the reason we are in this in the first place, his failure to comply with UN resolutions. It is all "america the baby killers" bull ****. So, how is that objective?

By the way, If the US were not responsible for market bombing, they would not vaguely say, it might be the Iraqis, they would make it into the biggest story of the news,,,,,,,

for robert135....We were talking about watching news from both worlds through time, having seen events unfold infront of your eyes. Not only in times of war, which no doubt news is controlled by the gov.

dumb ignorant fool,,,,,,majority of people in our world have the same views, its not a perspective of one person, its a population of over 1.5 billion that believe so, all brought up in different atmospheres and cultures, but all end up with the same conclusion,,,,,,US is goodfornothin

I don't think you are a sensible person, I see why you don't care about the majority of people, probably because the minority of your people are AGAINST the war. As for barbarians who barely realise the world is round, the barbaric behaviour in the 21st century is clearly coming from the US,,,if you can't see that i feel sorry for u ....
As for you repulsive Americans, you should travel more....the world is bigger than California and New York.....and maybe then you can be more open minded, and not come out with untrue, sorry, and unjust comments

Aljazeera is the biggest Propoganda machine I have ever seen

It is easy to blow yourself up, it is hard to live in an envirnment and try to make change.

They are cowards.

Rambo take this and put it in your next thread......rambo-is-a-piece-of-shiit
mr.original

haha Rambo!! that's what I'm saying...
WHy are the Saddam lovers STILL talking about the US being "lied to"?
....ROFL
Over here, In America, The "goofornothing" Land of the Free, we practice, FREEDOM OF SPEECH. What are they protecting us from? You don't think 3/4 of the population of America has access to the internet? Do YOU have ANY idea the amounts of news you can dig up on the web? I don't know about YOU, but I look in to the war coverage on a much much deeper level than even 4-5 different news sources. You paki's, afghani's, and donkys need to do some serious *** research. And that does mean looking to other news sources than just ALjazeera.

@ MaRyJaNe
As far as I know you didn't post anyhting ....

maybe you have too much info and are unable to args your position ?
or maybe you will join the brainy team of Caps#1, Rambo, and others ?

not maybe, you are

Oh, I suppose that you reference is Fox News or CNN America ....

one more in the list ....

I am an American women. You brag about the news company you work for and how you tell the truth.We here in America do not like AL-jazeera,Because first of all its amazing how everytime someone is being killed, tortured.you all seem to know about it ahead of time and are there,(dragging people through the streets after being burned)..You seem to enjoy having the first tapes of be-headings.If I had the power I would suggest someone find out your links to Al-queda and other terriorist.You seem to get all the threatening tapes from them also in Afghanistan..And yea, I can see how you are so proud of having little kids acting like they are be-heading people on tv. Thats how these kids end up being terriorist.They dont know any different. It seems like alot of people turned their head when Saddam Hussien was murdering Muslims.Is that ok? with you? If I could and had the means I would love to go to Iraq and help all the people there just like our Military. To just tell the women I love them and give their kids anything they want.and hug them, They have all been through hell. Not Allah's hell, but Saddams..Things are rough there now.But down the road they will be ever to go any where , say what they want and not be afraid of having their daughters raped and their kids put in prisons and their husbands tortured.And all the countrys next to Iraq will not have to fear Saddam trying to take over their country....Your news company will never expose the good in Iraq, Only the bad..But you cant imagine why your not liked here.and not just in the United States...Theres alot more I would like to say,but it wouldnt do any good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think they fear Al Jazeera, they just let them publish what no upstanding American would publish. Better them than us.
If you want insight into the Islamic world of hatred, Al-Jazeera can oblige.

I suggest reading Foaud Ajami's NY Times article about Al Jazeera:

http://www.tbsjournal.com/Archives/Spring02/ajami.html

no one can say aljazeera is bias unless they live over there. calling some other country bias while you live safe across the ocean is naive and arrogant. living in the battlezone will give you a more truthful perspective than watching it on FOX. just because they have an accent doesn't mean they are bias. with our CONSERVATIVE media, how can we criticize any countries media?

Which Ocean are you talking about? does 9-11 ring a bell?.
No one is safe.So much for fair and balanced.

ali,
It is people like you who give Arabs and Muslims a bad wrap.
Your hatred for Jews is evidence that you have also been brainwashed. I feel sorry for you. I see why you think Al -Jazzera is truthful. It is what you have been brainwashed to think and it continues to feed your hatred.

What a waist of a human mind.

Here it goes. First of all you know dont me or what I have been through.I know what terriorism is.I have lived through it. It affects you the rest of your life.First you are submissive to it and passive.(SURVIVAL)Being shot at and told what you can do and say etc.Now I have gotton to the point that I am not afraid of dieing.(ANGRY)!!!!!!!!!!!
Then once you do get away, like people(Iraqis) here in Dearborn Michigan.You know what freedom feels like. Anyone in their right mind does not want to live in fear for themselves and their family.Just ask especially the Iraqi"s here.If you support Al-Jazerra. You support terriorism and admire how they always seem to be first on the scene during torture,tapes from the chicken Bin Laddin and others ,They are hurting the Muslims and their beliefs..I believe that Palestine would have their own state if Hamas would stop etc, their suicide bombings..And bad news, I do not believe that God-Allah would allow an orgy in heavan meaning 72 virgin wives. You are brainwashed .Maybe I am out of line.But you attacked me, with my honest answer & questions , So heres my response.
Take care and just think what things will be like 20 years from now, If the Americans didnt help the Afganistanian people and Iraq and other countrys,.I think Al-Jazerra should be looked into,Someone affiliated with them know an awfull lot.. Right now I am upset, so I may edit this response, Thats called freedom,like your expressing.

In alot of what you have is right. And I do remember all those things and the USS Cole in Yemen and the 1993 WTC bombing etc..This is what I have been trying to say.I have also been a victim of terriorism.I know how it feels. I wish the world wasnt like this, but it is. My only wish is that I could make a difference,But I dont know how.I hate it because so many people are suffering. I am trying to think of how once the terriorist leave Iraq,Our military can leave.. How happy the Iraqis will be. After all they have been through, they deserve peace.And I know other countries would like to be free also.I have seen how the Iranians -well some-want to be..I also think about my children and yours and everybody's.Their future, Right now it doesnt look to good in the future.I just dont understand Al-Jazerra news.They make people mad at us and to show be-headings.people see stuff like that , they become numb to it.I know things are different for Arabs and us here in America.But some things are also the same.With threats day after day of terriorism.People , well some are numb to it now.I am not trying to be mean to people of any nationality,I try to treat other people the way I would want to be treated.Doesnt always work that way..Thats why I wanted to come here and meet people from all over and learn.And understand.I am learning alot.Take care and nice talking to you all..........

http://www.travelbrochuregraphics.c...th_sympathy.htm

As one of the Islamic fanatics who inspired al-Qa'eda said: "We are not trying to negotiate with you. We are trying to destroy you."
http://www.travelbrochuregraphics.c...hvictorious.htm