tagged w/ US
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A U.S. super-secret spy plane believed to be in Iranian possession could be a major loss for the U.S. military -- and a major gain for Iran.
According to a senior U.S. military source with intimate knowledge of the Sentinel drone, the aircraft likely "wandered" into Iranian air space after losing contact with its handlers and is presumed to be intact since it is programmed to fly level and find a place to land, rather than crashing.
"This is a big prize in terms of technology," a senior U.S. military source told Fox News.
The spy plane uses the same stealth technology as the drone used to monitor the compound during the raid that killed Usama bin Laden, U.S. military sources told Fox News on Monday.
Military sources confirmed that the Iranians have the RQ-170 drone, which is so advanced that the U.S. Air Force has not distributed even a photo of it. However, they did not say that the Iranians shot down the spy plane, as was reported by Iran's official IRNA news agency.
(more at link)A U.S. super-secret spy plane believed to be in Iranian possession could be a major... more
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Julian Assange has been granted an appeal to the UK Supreme Court to halt his extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations. If the appeal had been denied the WikiLeaks founder would have been en route to Stockholm within 10 days.
Assange himself says he is thankful for this opportunity, and “the long struggle for justice for him and others continues.”
“The issue of extradition safeguards is a concern to many people. There are many aggrieved families in the UK and in other countries in Europe that are struggling for justice,” Julian Assange said. “This afternoon the parliament of the United Kingdom is considering in depth the matters that arise from various extradition cases in the UK, including my own. Today the High Court has decided that an issue that arises from my own case is of general public importance and may be of assistance to other cases and should be heard by the Supreme Court. I think that is a correct decision and I am thankful.”
As for now, the team of his lawyers has 14 days to petition the Supreme Court for appeal, RT’s Laura Smith reports from London. Should it be unsuccessful, they can still turn to the European Court of Human Rights.
One of Assange's lawyers, Gareth Pierce, says the judges have accepted his argument that police and prosecutors may not have the power to issue extradition requests under European law as they are not judicial authorities.
For Assange, the latest developments mean that his stay in Britain — where he lives under house arrest at an affluent supporter's rural mansion — is likely to last for many more months.
The 40-year-old Australian whistleblower has spent almost a year on bail in Britain fighting extradition and previously both courts he has appeared in have ruled against him.
In order for his case to be forwarded to the Supreme Court of Britain, Assange’s lawyers had to persuade two High Court judges that the case raises a question of “general public importance”.
His lawyers have argued that he cannot be extradited as the European arrest warrant is invalid, having been issued by the incorrect authority, and because he has not been charged with any crime.
Assange's hearing on Monday came on the same day as a parliamentary debate on Britain's extradition rules. The House of Commons debate will be based upon demands to change controversial extradition agreements.
Earlier on Sunday, Assange told AP that he was heartened that lawmakers are tackling the issue of extraditions, saying that all people ask for is “the right to not be shipped off to foreign lands without formal charges or the presentation of even the most basic evidence."
Assange had been accused by two women he was involved with during a visit to Sweden in August 2010. One of them accused him of coercion and molestation, the other alleged that he had sex with her as she slept. This happened shortly after WikiLeaks released secret US files regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Although Assange has not been charged by Swedish prosecutors with any crime, they demand that he return to Scandinavia for questioning. Assange denies all accusations, saying the sex was consensual and the investigation is politically-motivated by US officials and other governments angry about their secrets being leaked.
http://rt.com/news/wikileaks-assange-granted-appeal-045/Julian Assange has been granted an appeal to the UK Supreme Court to halt his... more
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Was it a crime against fashion or a crime against the feds? Either way, 17-year-old Vanessa Gibbs is outraged that TSA officials wouldn’t let her board a plane at the Norfolk, Virginia airport — because of her purse.
Gibbs tells WJXT-TV from her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida that she had no problem getting to Virginia. On the way back, however, officers with the Transportation Security Administration at Norfolk International Airport threw a fit over her fashion accessory — a small purse that is decorated with a tiny, bedazzled gun.
To clarify, it wasn’t a real gun; nor did it look like a gun. To clarify, it was a purse.
"It's my style. It's camouflage. It has an old western gun on it," Gibbs tells the TV station.
A female agent with the TSA wasn’t so understanding.
"She was like, 'This is a federal offense because it's in the shape of a gun.' I'm like, 'But it's a design on a purse. How is it a federal offense?'"
The TSA told the girl that she couldn’t board the plane with her purse because replica weapons have been outlawed on the aircraft for almost a decade. Gibbs says that they should have exercised a bit of common sense with this case, though.
“It’s a purse, not a weapon,” she says.
The hold-up escalated long enough for Gibbs, who is expecting a child, to miss her flight back home. Although her mother was waiting for her in Jacksonville, her only option became a last-minute trip to Orlando.
“I was on the phone all the way to Orlando trying to figure out what was going on with her. It was terrifying. I don't ever want to go through it again,” adds Tami Gibbs.
http://rt.com/usa/news/tsa-plane-purse-gibbs-927/Was it a crime against fashion or a crime against the feds? Either way, 17-year-old... more
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The terrifying legislation that allows for Americans to be arrested, detained indefinitely, tortured and interrogated — without charge or trial — passed through the Senate on Thursday with an overwhelming support from 93 percent of lawmakers.
Only seven members of the US Senate voted against the National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday, despite urging from the ACLU and concerned citizens across the country that the affects of the legislation would be detrimental to the civil rights and liberties of everyone in America. Under the bill, Americans can be held by the US military for terrorism-related charges and detained without trial indefinitely.
Additionally, another amendment within the text of the legislation reapproved waterboarding and other “advanced interrogation techniques” that are currently outlawed.
"The bill is an historic threat to American citizens,” Christopher Anders of the ACLU tells the Associated Press.
For the biggest supporters of the bill, however, history necessitates that Americans must sacrifice their security for freedom.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a backer of the legislation, says current laws protecting Americans are too lax. Rather, says the senator, anyone suspected of terrorism "should not be read their Miranda Rights. They should not be given a lawyer."
Graham adds that suspected terrorists, “should be held humanely in military custody and interrogated about why they joined al-Qaeda and what they were going to do to all of us,” although other legislation in the bill isn’t exactly humane. Waterboarding, sleep-deprivation and other methods outlawed in the 2005 Anti-Torture Act will be added to a top-secret list of approved interrogation techniques that could be used on suspects, American or other.
Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte said last week that "terrorists shouldn't be able to view all of our interrogation practices online,” and Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) added during debate this week, "When a member of Al Qaeda or a similar associated terrorist group, I want . . . them to be terrified about what's going to happen to them in American custody.”
"I want them not to know what's going to happen,” added the senator and former presidential candidate.
Not only won’t they know their gruesome future, but they wouldn’t know their own rights — that’s because they won’t have any.
"We need the authority to hold those individuals in military custody so we aren't reading them Miranda rights," adds Kelly.
While lawmakers rallied with overwhelming support to approve the legislation against terrorists, it can also be applied to anyone, including American citizens, who are even suspected of terrorist-ties.
President Barack Obama has pledged in the past that he would veto the legislation if it made through Congress, and a White House official told the AP on Thursday that that threat still stands. As Obama is faced with a country on the brink of economic collapse so close to Election Day, however, a change of heart couldn’t be out of the question — the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 comes at a price-tag of nearly $30 billion below what Obama had asked for.
http://rt.com/usa/news/detention-legislation-torture-senate-891/The terrifying legislation that allows for Americans to be arrested, detained... more
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Ron Paul opposes killing Muslims on behalf of Israel so only Zionists who support the mass murder of Iranians and other Arabs Muslims shall be invited to the Republican Jewish Congress debate.
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On Wednesday, Dec. 7, the Republican Jewish Coalition will host a presidential-candidates forum featuring Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. Not invited is the GOP candidate currently polling around third in New Hampshire and second in Iowa: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). The explanation:
Paul was not invited to attend the RJC's candidates forum because the organization - as it has stated numerous times in the past - "rejects his misguided and extreme views," said [RJC Executive Director Matt] Brooks.
"He's just so far outside of the mainstream of the Republican party and this organization," Brooks said. Inviting Paul to attend would be "like inviting Barack Obama to speak."
Brooks gave a more detailed critique of Ron Paul back in May:
"As Americans who are committed to a strong and vigorous foreign policy, we are deeply concerned about the prospective presidential campaign of Congressman Ron Paul. While Rep. Paul plans to run as a Republican, his views and past record place him far outside of the Republican mainstream. His candidacy, as we've seen in his past presidential campaigns, will appeal to a very narrow constituency in the U.S. electorate. Throughout his public service, Paul has espoused a dangerous isolationist vision for the U.S. and our role in the world. He has been a virulent and harsh critic of Israel during his tenure in Congress*. Most recently Paul gave an interview in which he voiced his objection to the recent killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Brooks added, "We certainly respect Congressman Paul's right to run, but we strongly reject his misguided and extreme views, which are not representative of the Republican Party."Ron Paul opposes killing Muslims on behalf of Israel so only Zionists who support the... more
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Another frantic effort to redistribute wealth from developed nations to developing nations is under way, this time in Durban, South Africa. The excuse is the same old, tiresome claim that socialism writ large is necessary to save the planet from global warming.
Fewer people are fooled every year the United Nations brings together representatives of about 190 nations hoping to profit from the shakedown. Just as claims of climate doom are wearing thin, so are arguments for separating you from your money.
We like the way contrarian climate scientist S. Fred Singer describes the confab: "10,000 or so Durban attendees – official delegates, U.N. and government officials, journalists, NGO types and other hangers-on – will have a grand old time: two weeks of feasting, partying, living it up in luxury hotels, and greeting old friends at this 17th reunion – all at someone else's expense."
"At someone else's expense" could be the theme of the global warming movement.
Americans should be pleased that the conference no sooner began than the U.S. was blamed for not taxing and regulating greenhouse gases enough, and for not writing enough compensatory checks to countries less fortunate. In the view of those overseas who want your money, America still hasn't sacrificed enough, despite onerous regulations and punitive taxes imposed domestically, including the horrific California Global Warming Solutions Act.
The United States and other developed nations are realizing that reducing their own productivity – a byproduct of reducing greenhouse gas emissions – isn't smart in hard times. It's good to see common sense prevail.
On the eve of this conference to extend the Draconian Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas-limiting treaty, someone leaked thousands of emails revealing the duplicity, flawed science and conspiratorial inclination of the clique of climate scientists, who have claimed global warming threatens the planet.
A similar leak occurred on the eve of the 2009 global warming conference in Copenhagen, which ended in frustration for climate alarmists and nothing binding for the rest of us. The emails' peek behind the scenes called into question the motives of climate alarmists, the reliability of the science behind their scary stories and pointed up the conspiratorial nature of the clique.
It also hasn't hurt that the public increasingly is aware climate alarmists' catastrophic claims aren't panning out. Sea levels declined in 2010, rather than drowning island nations as claimed. The melting of Mount Kilimanjaro's snow cap was proven unrelated to global warming, contrary to claims. There are fewer, not more, devastating hurricanes. Temperatures at best have remained level for nearly 15 years, despite historic increases in CO2 emissions, which warming theorists insist should drive them higher.
And now, as nations ride out a rough economy, they are becoming more reluctant to cut their own economic throats and throw money at unproductive uses.
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I know the environment is f*cked up, but if you're sophisticated about complex issues, you would understand why CO2 emitted by man is not the cause of so-called "global warming" and paying carbon taxes is not the solution...its a red-herring Ponzi scheme.Another frantic effort to redistribute wealth from developed nations to developing... more
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Police in Los Angeles have cleared one of the last and longest-standing 'Occupy' camps in the U.S, making 300 arrests in the process. These latest arrests bring the total across the whole 'Occupy' movement to almost 5,000, but now police are starting to defect to the other side. Our correspondent Marina Portnaya has been finding out why some people have been choosing to make history instead of making arrests.
http://truthiscontagious.com/2011/12/01/make-history-not-arrestsus-cops-defect-to-occupy-wall-streetPolice in Los Angeles have cleared one of the last and longest-standing... more
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The Western mainstream media falsifies the news resorting to euphemisms, half-truths and lies in the best (worst) style of George Orwell’s novel 1984. We all live in the unreal world of “Newspeak” used by the Global Power Elite to control our minds. When looked at closely, the “official story” of things can be seen to be inaccurate, misleading, often hardly believable if not downright stupid.
The Seven Step Mainstream Media Country Destruction Guide
1. First, they start by targeting a country ripe for “Regime Change”, and brand it a “rogue state”; then…
2. They arm, train, finance local terrorist groups through CIA, MI6, Mossad, Al-Qaeda (a CIA operation), drug cartels (often CIA operations) and call them “freedom fighters”; then…
3. As mock UN Security Council Resolutions are staged that rain death and destruction upon millions of civilians, they call it “UN sanctions to protect civilians”; then…
4. They spread flagrant lies through their “newsrooms” and paid journalists, and call it "the international community’s concerns expressed by prestigious spokespeople and analysts…” then…
5. They bomb, invade and begin to control the target country and call it “liberation”; then…
6. As the target country falls fully under their control, they impose “the kind of democracy that we want to see” (as Hillary Clinton before visiting Egypt and Tunisia on March 10, 2011), until finally…
7. They steal appetizing oil, mineral and agricultural reserves handing them over to Global Power Elite corporations, and impose unnecessary private banking debt and call it “foreign investment and reconstruction.”
Their keynotes are: Force and Hypocrisy, which they have used time and again to destroy entire countries, always in the name of “freedom”, “democracy”, “peace” and “human rights”. Utmost force and violence is used to achieve their ends and goals.
Their Elders recommended this many decades ago in a blueprint for World Domination written on a hoary manuscript of old…
“What did you say…? That you don’t want to be ‘liberated’ and ‘democratized’?!?”
“Then, take this Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Hanoi, Berlin, Dresden, Baghdad, and Basra!! Take that Tokyo, Gaza, Lebanon, Kabul, Pakistan, Tripoli, Belgrade, Egypt, El Salvador and Grenada!! And take that, Panama, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Somalia, Africa!!”
Always bombing people to smithereens… Always, of course, in the name of “freedom”, “democracy”, “peace” and “human rights”The Western mainstream media falsifies the news resorting to euphemisms, half-truths... more
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Barack Obama has been just as zealous as George Bush in stripping away environmental, health and safety protection at the behest of industry, it turns out.
Some environmental organisations were beginning to suspect this, after Obama over-ruled his scientific advisors and blocked stronger ozone standards. Now, a new report [pdf] from the Centre for Progressive Reform has dug up some key data revealing that the White House in the age of Obama has been just as receptive to the pleadings of industry lobbyists as it was in the Bush era. And it goes far beyond ozone.
Under Obama, a little known corner of the White House - known as the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or Oira - has changed more than 80% of the rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
None of these were changes for the good, the report says.
"Every single study of its performance, including this one, shows that Oira serves as a one-way ratchet, eroding the protections that agency specialists have decided are necessary under detailed statutory mandates, following years — even decades — of work."
Oira was set up by Congress with the purpose of performing a last review of government regulations to see how they would work once they were put into effect. Its current chief is Cass Sunstein, a friend of Obama from his days teaching at Harvard Law School.
In practice, critics say the office operates as a one-stop wrecking machine undoing environmental, health, and worker safety protections that could cause political problems for the White House.
When lobbying Congress and the president fails to delay or weaken a regulation, industry has learned over the years that Oira can be their last best resort, the report says.
"A steady stream of industry lobbyists — appearing some 3,760 times over the ten-year period we studied — uses OIRA as a court of last resort when they fail to convince experts at agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to weaken pending regulations."
The lobbyists were particularly obsessed with trying to undo environmental protections. Corporate executives and indusry lobbyists turned up at the White House about once a week over the last decade to try to delay or weaken EPA regulations, or more than 440 meetings.
The steady stream of oil and coal industry lobbyists to Oira did not end when Bush left office – arguably it turned into a flood. Environmental regulations made up only 10% of Oira business in Bush's time, but 36% of the office's business was meeting with outside lobbyists.
Under Obama, Oira has dedicated more than half of its meetings, 51%, to discussing pending environmental regulations with industry lobbyists, the report says.
And for industry the meetings paid off – about as much under Obama as under Bush. Following those meetings with outsiders, Oira changed 84% of EPA rules during the Bush era. Depending on how you calculate it, the change rate was even higher under Obama. Oira changed 81% of environmental rules after meetings with lobbyists. But the change rate rises to 85% once all Oira decisions on environmental regulations are factored in.
Oira does not make public records of those meetings.
Is there any chance that Obama is unaware of what Oira is up to? Rena Steinzor, the law professor at the University of Maryland who wrote the report, doesn't think so. She notes that Sunstein is a longtime friend of Obama, who has for years advocated against government regulations.
Obama will have to own those decisions – and the failure to live up to his election promises of 2008 to run a government that made decisions based on science and expertise, not political calculus.
"To us this is a sharp departure from what we were promised when this president was elected," Steinzor said. "From sound practice what we really want is for the experts to be making decisions at government agencies – the toxicologists, the pediatricians, the geologists. That's what modern government is supposed to be about, not having the decisions made by an office that is not accountable for what it does."
She went on: "What Obama meant to us, what a transformative presidency meant was that the lobbyists wouldn't control government any more. We would be transparent to a fault. We would run a transparency presidency and we would have very protective rules. We have arguably in this specific case not gotten any of this and it is disappointing."Barack Obama has been just as zealous as George Bush in stripping away environmental,... more
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November 28, 2011
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told a media summit that the US government has ordered him to destroy all the material WikiLeaks holds on them – published and unpublished – and to stop using government insiders to gather fresh material.
“[When we released our documents] the Pentagon said we must destroy everything we published and were going to publish,” Assange said. ”And if we didn’t, we would be ‘compelled to do so,’” the summit’s website says.
Assange made the allegation as he addressed the News 2011 Summit in Hong Kong via Skype. News executives and media owners from over 80 countries have gathered there to discuss editorial principles and tools as well as business models for the news media. Reports say Assange has been under police pressure to stop talking – exactly the kind of oppressive official action he has been working to highlight.
He was met with a storm of applause from journalists as he appeared on the screen.
Speaking about modern journalism, Assange claimed it was facing crisis of a legitimacy today and accused the mainstream press of corruption and bias.
Answering a question from the moderator on whether he considers himself a journalist, Assange said, “Of course I’m a goddamned journalist,” and emphasized the role WikiLeaks played in some significant events, such as the revolution in Tunisia.
The WikiLeaks founder has dubbed the Internet the biggest surveillance machine ever built: “Any information stored in Gmail or Yahoo is accessible by any government agency.”
Julian Assange is facing extradition from the UK to Sweden on rape charges. His defense believes the move could lead to their client facing prosecution in America for his involvement in WikiLeaks.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/28112011-assange-says-us-government-demands-wikileaks-destroy-all-files-about-them/
http://rt.com/news/us-wikileaks-assange-summit-371/November 28, 2011
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told a media summit that... more
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The differences in reporting US verses the rest of the world for the December 5, 2011 issue.The differences in reporting US verses the rest of the world for the December 5, 2011... more
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An episode of the BBC's Frozen Planet documentary series that looks at climate change has been scrapped in the U.S., where many are hostile to the idea of global warming.
British viewers will see all seven episodes of the multi-million-pound nature series throughout the Autumn.
But U.S. audiences will not be shown the last episode, which looks at the threat posed by man to the natural world. It is feared a show that preaches global warming could upset viewers in the U.S., where around half of people do not believe in climate change.
The series of six episodes has been sold to 30 countries, including China, one of the world's biggest polluters. World TV networks have the option to buy a seventh 'companion' episode, along with behind-the-scenes footage. Ten of the countries have chosen not to use the final episode on climate change
In the U.S., Frozen Planet is being aired by Discovery. They were involved in the joint-production of the series. Yet they are still refusing to accommodate Frozen Planet in its entirety.
The timing of a one-sided global warming programme could be particularly sensitive in the U.S., where climate change is an issue in the presidential race. GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry accuses climate scientists of lying for money.
A poll earlier this year found that the majority of Americans believe that if climate change does exist, it is not caused by humans. Fifty-three per cent of Republicans say there is no evidence of climate change, while the number is far higher among Tea Party supporters, with 70 per cent saying the theory is 'junk science' pushed by groups with a vested interest.
Sir David Attenborough presents and authors the series, the seventh episode of which, entitled 'On Thin Ice', looks at how the planet's ice is changing and what it means not only to the animals and people at the Poles but also the rest of the planet. A spokesman for the BBC said it would not make sense to force television networks outside the UK to buy the episode as it features 85-year-old Sir David talking a lot of the time to camera, and in many parts of the world he is not famous.
The broadcaster refused to say which countries had shunned 'On Thin Ice'. They said it wasn't included in the main package because it features Sir David 'in vision' which would make it hard for other countries to translate into their own language. Discovery had dropped the full seventh episode due to 'scheduling issues', the spokesman added.
However, environmentalists branded the decision 'unhelpful'. Harry Huyton, head of climate change for the RSPB, accused networks who haven't bought the final episode of 'censoring the issue'. A Greenpeace spokesman said: 'Climate change is the most important part of our polar story.'
The show cost an estimated £16million and took four years to make and has proved hugely popular. It examines various aspects of the polar wilderness over the seasons and follows the lives of creatures from polar bears and wolves in the Arctic to killer whales and Adelie penguins in the Antarctic. It has been produced by the BBC's Natural History Unit in Bristol in conjunction with the Discovery Channel and The Open University. The climate change episode will be aired on December 7 at 9pm.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2061663/Frozen-Planet-Climate-change-episode-wont-shown-US.htmlAn episode of the BBC's Frozen Planet documentary series that looks at climate... more
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RD Magazine | Global & Regional Political Analysis
http://rencadesign.com/wp/2011/11/who-is-the-regional-power-of-the-middle-east-iran-turkey-or-al-jazeera-channel/
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Everybody knows when and where these words were spoken and by who. Thanks to the power of the media, millions all across the world have watched the unforgettable moment when first foot step of the mankind left its mark on the Moon’s surface. July 21, 1969 witnessed probably the most famous live media coverage of the world so far.
Things have changed a lot since those black&white days. In 2011, media does not only mean TV and radio or newspaper publishing, we have internet, mobile phones, tablets etc. Censorship has become the biggest enemy of the free speech, however, it is not likely to win the war against the will of the people to learn what has been going on around them.
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” This quote is from a person who used the power of media in order to promote his views of freedom and democracy to the American public and the whole world. Of course, he faced exactly the opposite as well. Malcolm X became one of the greatest and most influential African-American in the history, despite spending his 6 years in prison from the age of 20 to 26.
Remember how American public believed that Saddam Hussein had WMD and was a threat for democracy, how media decided that invasion of Iraq was legal and how people accepted it. This will never end. Who ever controls the main stream media, controls the public opinion.
People of the Middle East have witnessed the Arab Spring and still watching how masses are rioting and demonstrating against the dictatorships of the region. The game is underway and media is being used in order to bring the public opinion to the deserved point on different occasions. Syria is occupying the headlines as the people of America are occupying the Wall Street. The game is for the leadership of the next Middle East order. Players are outsiders as well as region’s big boys.
Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the most influential countries in the region. Iran does not want to lose it’s leverage over Syria. Turkey and Saudi Arabia however, wants to have more control over Damascus, one of the key capitols of the Middle East, by encouraging and supporting the people to overthrow the government. Iran has the backing of Russia and China, while Turkey as a NATO member has the advantage of having the west with her. Turkey wants to use it’s military and economic power, backing of NATO, while trying to keep the Arab League on her side. NATO approval may cancel out a UN resolution requirement and Arab League support means green light from the region for more serious actions against Assad.
But there is one big problem here. The Emirs and Sheikhs of the oil rich Arab countries know that their turn will come sooner or later. Siding with the west may not help always, because the west is not so reliable when the talk is about the oil and energy. Here comes our Weapon of Media Coverage or WMC.
Qatar is another oil rich Arab country with a powerful WMC in her hands. Qatar has an absolute monarchic government, with Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani as the Emir or head of the ruling family. Qatar has been very busy to promote the country in the world stage lately. They are clearly in a race with the Middle Eastern business center, Dubai in constructing state of the art skyscrapers and trying to become the next Dubai.
Probably Qatar’s biggest move was their bid for the World Cup 2022, which they were chosen to host the event. There were some controversies regarding Qatar’s bid but FIFA did not change its mind and the 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar.
Doha based news channel Al Jazeera, started its English broadcast in 2005 and since then it is region’s most followed news source in English. Al Jazeera has a very well established news network through out the Middle East and some major world capitols. Lately, Al Jazeera is summoned by some Arab leaders for being biased and trying to create a public opinion against some governments, mainly Libya and Syria. Since, Libya has been “liberated”, the headlines are mostly about Syria.
If we go a few months back, Al Jazeera had a stance of promoting Turkey and it’s PM , Erdogan as a regional leader and you could easily see many news coverage about Erdogan and Turkey, mostly in favor of their speeches and actions against Israel, Libyan and Syrian governments. It is very noticeable that these kind of news have been decreased in number lately and the comments and opinions in the Al Jazeera articles are no longer giving full support to the Turkish government. The authors’ opinions have shifted 180 degrees, mostly claiming that Turkey is never a good model for the region and should stay away from Arab’s internal affairs, just opposite of the same authors’ articles a few months back.
We can explain this change with the ambitions of the Qatari Emir and government. Mr.Al Thani wants to have more say on the regional matters and have influence on the Gulf countries. So Al Jazeera decided that Turkish stance is a threat for Qatari ambitions and started promoting Qatari Emir as the mediator and center of influence in the Middle East. How people would react to the idea of a Qatari leadership is unknown.
We have witnessed through out the world history, taking advantage of the media. However, Qatari use of Al Jazeera Channel seems somehow ineffective, when one considers the location of the State of Qatar and its Emir in the scene of politics. Media itself is not such a great weapon when you lack of the most important properties of being a regional power : a strong military, stable economy (not based on only oil exports, but includes manufacturing industry and a good banking system), a functioning democracy, historical background of leadership and having strong allies.
Qatar seems to have a long way to go, before it claims to be a regional power.
Continue Reading Here ... http://rencadesign.com/wp/2011/11/who-is-the-regional-power-of-the-middle-east-iran-turkey-or-al-jazeera-channel/RD Magazine | Global & Regional Political Analysis... more
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