Thursday, February 08, 2007

Iraqi Govt Looking For Scapegoats?

'In other Iraq news, the Iraqi government has asked parliament to take legal action against the pan-Arab satellite news network Al Jazeera. In a statement, Iraq's cabinet said Al Jazeera's coverage is contributing to "spreading death and destruction in Iraq." The move comes two years after the Iraqi government banned Al Jazeera from reporting in Iraq. In response, Al-Jazeera editor-in-chief Ahmed Sheikh said: "The Iraqi government is looking for a scapegoat to justify their failure in bringing security and stability to Iraqis."'
 
I have never liked Al Jazeera's coverage of Iraq, except for the 'debate' between Baathist extraordinaire Mish'an al Jabouri and Iraqi Journalist Sadeq al Musawi.  It is obvious that Al Jazeera has glorified the insurgency in Iraq, and I get irritated when I hear an Arab say that the Iraqi government is looking for scapegoats to 'justify their failure in bringing security and stability to Iraqis' without mentioning the murderous actions of insurgents.  Arab media in general have avoided blaming the insurgency for the chaos in Iraq.  In their minds, the US and the Iraqi governments are responsible for every bombing and murder that occurs in Iraq, which only encourages insurgents to mass murder more Iraqis.  It is ironic that Al Jazeera shows commercials like these, which are intented to unite Shia and Sunna, and yet in their news coverage and 'documentaries' they golrify the 'resistance' that ostensibly targets only the occupier.  In the comments section of this YouTube video, Zeyad points out that "several Saudi channels also used to air this advertisement but they cut out the part where the Shi'ite and Sunni cleric hug each other."  It makes me wonder if they show these commercials just to take money from the Iraqi government.
 


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