[casi] Media war

[Sallydean22@DELETETHISaol.com]

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Yes, Nermin, I agree.
There is a shelf of books on the same topic at Exeter University Library, and
I would think in most academic libraries throughout the world, I think most
people who write agree that the Gulf War was "The Triumph of the Image over
Reality", where in the end, politicians and reporters were given untrue facts
which they debated, discussed, elaborated on, got excited about, and spread
to the ordinary person in the West.  I disagree that the incubator story was
important though, I don't think that people are won over by one image, they
are won over by repeating the same sort of story in many ways.  The media
image against the Arab began long before the Gulf War, there were lots of
books written showing how the world's press discriminated against the Arab,
that's what made it easy to turn the world against Iraq, the world had been
gradually bit by bit over centuries given the impression that the Arab is not
to be trusted, the Arab is inherently bad or foolish. (The most noted
critique of Western attitudes to Arabs was Edward Said's Orientalism
published in 1978). This same process continues to the present day.
Populations everywhere including the West are controlled without force,
making them think what the rulers want them to think, giving "consent" to
things which are not in the interests of humanity. That's what makes it so
easy for Sharon, Bush, etc to get their way when they are planning to do
something which is incredibly wicked.
Breaking this image is going to be a long, long job and it needs Arabs to
unite in order to do it properly.  You can't blame Bush for following his own
interests (or for that matter, Sharon or Saddam) and you can't blame them for
controlling the media to try to get what they want.  You can blame Arabs for
not putting their act together and acting in their own interests; they don't
do it.  What Arabs need to realise is that they are educated, intelligent,
wealthy (at least some Arabs) and numerous and if you put your act together,
YOU CAN WIN THE MEDIA WAR. Your "enemy" is the oil lobby and the
Zionist/anti-Arab lobby in US/Europe (particularly US), but ARABS TOGETHER
HAVE MORE RESOURCES THAN THESE LOBBIES HAVE.  YOU CAN WIN, YOU MUST WIN, FOR
HUMANITY.  But if you continue to squabble between yourselves, you might as
well give the Iraqi, Saudi, Iranian, Kuwaiti oil wells to Bush as a present
to go with his oil and gas pipeline in Afghanistan because in the end, that
is what he wants. If you aren't able to join together, you needn't even
bother with a war, just lie down and die, or kneel at the feet of Bush and
worship him and pledge your undying (or dying) support and say you will live
on peanuts and do everything he wants.  Why bother to lose bits of wars which
could go on for ages and cause a lot of hardship when you can get it all over
and done in one go; if you don't influence what's written in the
Western/world media, you will never win. Either start now to fight the media
or you will all be crushed by the powers of USA, with the consent of the
world.  We need a "Wake Up" call to Arabs in general so that rich and poor,
and every Arab nation, starts standing shoulder to shoulder, and saying,
enough is enough, we want peace and justice for Arabs and all the people of
the world, and finding a way of getting that message through to the media
together.  America and Israel between them have enough nuclear power to wipe
out the Arab states, these weapons are sited close to the oil states NOW, and
you can't believe that the consequences of a nuclear strike on Arabs would be
so bad that they wouldn't do it, believe me, they might, all they need is an
excuse, and that is why they are still going round telling everyone that
Arabs are bad and mad, in so many words. So that when they want to press that
red button, no-one in the Western world will say "Well, no, I don't agree".
They will all say "Go ahead, that's just what those nasty Arabs deserve".
Without Arab unity, no hope for Iraq, no hope for the Middle East, and if
that happens, no hope for humanity.  This argument is not about the
misrepresentation of Arabs in Iraq, it is about human rights for all.
Judith.

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