eek, these accusations are like hearing nails on a chalkboard.....
In all fairness, aljazeera does a decent job of keeping their stories clean and free of propaganda. the story is unconfirmed and furthermore i question the letter's authenticity when neither the source nor origins of the letter can be (or will be) confirmed.
rarely with this particular news source, does one encounter reports that cannot be sourced or that are based on inconclusive data. that is why i will go out on a limb and say they pass on this type of reporting, which could just be speculative nonsense. for all we know dick cheney could have written it on his way to work one day.
Aljazeera skewing the news again
by Elsewhere 14 Replies latest jw friends
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chrissy
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Elsewhere
Yup, they are at it again....
When looting broke out in New Orleans, Aljazeera was all over it:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5A228067-1793-4177-8B9E-C453F8762712.htmNow that looting has broken out in Pakistan after the earth quake, you can't find any mention of it. I did a search for the works "loote" and "looting" and the most recent mention of the words is Sept 13th.
The closest they got was "Shops attacked as desperation mounts".
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8333A9A6-360E-404B-8E03-92BE477EA771.htmThe reports about New Orleans talk about savagery but the reports about Pakistan talk about "Survivors lack[ing] food and water amid little sign of any official coordination".
In all fairness, aljazeera does a decent job of keeping their stories clean and free of propaganda.
Their propaganda comes in the form of what they do and do not report along with the terminology they use.
They use the word "martyr" to describe terrorists.
They report "savagery" and "looting" in America but then report " Shops attacked as desperation mounts" in an arab country.
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upside/down
Geee...."media" and "spin"...together....the shock and surprise...
I want my MTV...
u/d(of the how do you know if a new reporter is lying...class)
p.s.-It's the same as a politician.
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Gerard
The reason it is not in Aljazeera front page today is because it was there two days ago:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/31E6BF7F-D644-45EA-9505-2D70E3FB1E7E.htm
'Al-Zawahiri' wants civilians spared
Saturday 08 October 2005, 12:22 Makka Time, 9:22 GMTThe letter says al-Qaida's No 2 is running low on funds
Related: Tools: Email Article Print Article Send Your Feedback The US military says it has intercepted a purported letter from al-Qaida's number two to its top operative in Iraq, which reveals concern over the impact on Arab opinion of beheadings and videotaped executions.
The letter, which the US says is from Ayman al-Zawahiri - reportedly Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant - to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's top leader in Iraq, also complained about communications, unity of command and funding problems to the extent that he asked al-Zarqawi for money, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said on Friday.
Al-Zawahiri "says they should avoid tactics such as bombing mosques and slaughtering hostages in order to not alienate the masses", Whitman said.
But an internet posting of an audio recording attributed to al-Zarqawi has him saying that targeting "infidels", regardless of whether they are civilians or soldiers, was legitimate.
The US has not released a copy of the al-Zawahiri letter, and officials declined to quote it verbatim apparently because of the difficulty of translating the Arabic version into English.
Its existence was disclosed to certain US news organisations on Thursday after President George Bush gave a major speech aimed at shoring up eroding US support for the war against al-Qaida.
Iraq key
Whitman said the letter laid out in a blunt manner al-Qaida's broader strategy of driving US forces from Iraq, establishing an Islamic state across the Muslim world and ultimately destroying Israel.
"What this letter demonstrates is that they also know the importance of Iraq," he said. "They understand how important Iraq is to their effort, as being central to their efforts right now, to their strategy and to their long-term plans.""It also demonstrates that among the terrorist leaders there are differences of opinion concerning the terrorist tactics, but it also shows unity in terms of their overall objectives" Bryan Whitman,
Pentagon spokesmanThe 6000-word letter was dated in July and obtained sometime after that, apparently by the US military.
It was unclear whether it was intercepted electronically or captured in a raid. But it had been received by al-Zarqawi, a defence official said.
"It's believed to be authentic," Whitman added.
As described by US officials, the al-Zawahiri letter buttresses Bush's view that the United States faces a long war against a determined enemy, and that Iraq is now at the centre of that struggle.
Differences of opinion
Whitman said the letter demonstrated that the Islamic extremists "have the overall goal of the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, establishment of an Islamic state centred on Iraq and its neighbouring nations and eventually focused on Israel".
The letter purportedly hits out at
the practice of killing hostages"It also demonstrates that among the terrorist leaders there are differences of opinion concerning the terrorist tactics, but it also shows unity in terms of their overall objectives," he said.
The letter also noted that the majority of the battle in Iraq was conducted through the media and that al-Zarqawi should conduct his actions outside the view of the Western media. The impression left was that "the sensationalised killings that
alienate the masses that are covered by the Western press are harmful to what they are trying to do", Whitman said. Al-Zarqawi: Infidels fair game But in an audiotape broadcast on the internet early on Saturday, al-Zarqawi purportedly says Islam permits the killing of "infidel" civilians. "In Islam, making the difference is not based on civilians and military, but on the basis of Muslims and infidels," said the voice attributed to the fugitive leader who has a $25-million price on his head.
"The Muslim's blood cannot be spilled whatever his work orAl-Zarqawi tape says infidel
civilians are legitimate targets
place, while spilling the blood of the infidel, whatever his work or place, is authorised if he is not trustworthy," said the tape, whose veracity, as with most internet postings, could not be determined. Al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in the Land of Two Rivers has claimed, often in internet statements, responsibility for some of the most gruesome attacks in Iraq, including the beheadings of foreign hostages and Iraqis. Al-Zawahiri's letter also said they had lost key leaders, that they had, to a large degree, resigned themselves to defeat in Afghanistan and that their lines of communication and sources of funding had been "severely disrupted", he said. Al-Zawahiri also purportedly tells al-Zarqawi that, because of the disruptions, "they don't know what's going on so much, and that they have this lack of support, suggesting that perhaps Zarqawi can help Zawahiri with money", Whitman said. "Zawahiri, again talking to Zarqawi, says there appears to be a lack of unity of effort, and perhaps even a unity of command," the spokesman added. -
chrissy
hi elsewhere. how ya doin? all swell in texas...liking your new car? cool.
you seem like a totally reasonable guy, sensible on many accounts. so listen, about this aljazeera thing:
are you absolutely certain you are not just looking for reasons to charge this news source with foul play? i'm not accusing. really. but hear me out.
for one, i kind of agree with the label martyr. i think it's fitting when factoring in the cultural/religious differences, which have to be considered in certain terminology and how it translates. also when you consider the level of development and the economic advantage of a city in the USA vs. N. Pakistan...it is shocking to hear of the new orleans citizens, highly civilized and advantaged in comparison (in opportunity alone) to our friends in mention, engaged in looting activity. They are so poor! i'm not defending their actions. just pointing out the obvious in that it is quite possible their specific "desperate" actions may be, more or less, expected or more easily understood.
i realize i may sound like a spokesperson for aljazeera. its just that i also realize a lot of, shall we just say, americans for lack of a better way to put it, are overly critical of anything that comes out of this region. i see aljazeera as a good balancing tool to the typical domestic, corporate news conglomerates who's sponsored messages flood us with lots of rubbish. in particular, in regards to topics geo-relevant to this area.
it is bad enough many misguidedly believe aljazeera is affiliated with al-qaeda. i hate to see this pigeonhole way of thinking regarding aljazeera spread on in any way.