U.S. Gov't TV Station Draws Arab Fire

[dArKeR]

(They now have aFrOaXb in the Middle East)

CAIRO, Egypt - Even before its first broadcast, a satellite television station financed by the U.S. government and directed at Arab viewers is drawing fire in the Middle East as an American attempt to destroy Islamic values and brainwash the young.

Al-Hurra, or The Free One, is to start broadcasting Saturday. President Bush (news - web sites) has promised the news station, which will build up to 24-hour programming within a month, will "cut through the hateful propaganda that fills the airwaves in the Muslim world."

It already has landed a one-on-one interview with Bush. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has said the interview allows Bush to tell of "his commitment to spreading freedom and democracy in the Middle East."

The Bush administration's hope is that a fashionably produced Arab-language station will help stem anti-Americanism fueled by the war on terrorism, the occupation of Iraq (news - web sites) and U.S. support for Israel.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040213/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_whose_news_5

[worldgonekrazy]

1. The Bush Admin continues to underestimate Arabs

They seem to think they are a race of idiots or something. In fact, their pathetic propaganda attempts will not work nearly as well abroad as they do at home.

[SemperEadem]

8. what a stupid waste of time and money

" and U.S. support for Israel."

They will never accept anything close to our support of Israel, so I'd like to know who the fool is who is convincing Bush that this is a good thing?

[earthman dave]

2. Metaphorical fire, unlike the US fire that al-jazeera draws

Is this gonna work? Will they not just laugh at it? I would have thought that they'd need the whole think-tanks and PR firms propaganda infrastructure and about ten or twenty years to have a serious effect.

[KissMyAsscroft]

3. It shows a level of arrogance that is astounding...

It already has landed a one-on-one interview with Bush. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has said the interview allows Bush to tell of "his commitment to spreading freedom and democracy in the Middle East."


>>>It "landed" an interview? LMAO!!!...

Im sure this is going to go over well with the Muslim world...

[salinen]

4. Maybe the station will

broadcast episodes of "The 700 club". After all Pat has bought the right to spread his hate.

[sampsonblk]

5. Does anyone have the URL for "Hi" Magazine?

Or the URL for Radio Sawwa?

[starroute]

6. Arabs are good at separating the programming from the propaganda

A year or two ago, I read an article about the reaction to the Middle Eastern radio station launched by the US. (I think the writer may have been in Jordan.) He said that every taxi in town seemed to have its radio tuned to the US station -- gotta have their Brittney Spears and Backstreet Boys, after all -- but that everyone he talked to agreed that they just laughed at the obvious and heavy-handed propaganda.

I don't doubt that a US-produced Iraqi TV station will meet the same fate. If they manage to meet an MTV standard of slickness, the young people will tune in for the entertainment. But they will continue to get their beliefs and their attitudes from the society around them, and will not be swayed in those for a moment.

[SemperEadem]

9. I agree

while the younger ones might be intrigued by Spears and Timberlake, etc., their culture still places religion very, very high on their priority list--and it is something that American's can't grasp because our country was the only one founded with the guarantee of freedom of religious expression placed into version 1.0 of the Constitution. No one has ever invaded our borders to crush our religious expression or try to convert us en masse or be killed. Their history is peppered with western Christians attempting to anihilate them and their beliefs for over 1000 years.

Their religion is their life and they proceed accordingly... they might wink and nod at western style and such, but deep down, it will be their relgion that guides them, not the seduction of a western pop artist or western pop culture.

[tom_paine]

7. Were the Cazechs stuck with Isevstia & Soviet TV any more screwed

No, I would say the Czechs of 1968 and the Iraqis of 2004 are EQUALLY and VERY SIMILARLY screwed.

Totalitarians realluy don;t change their core values and startagems, do you.

Bunnypants* and his Stooges probably ask the question

WWBD?

What Would Brezhnev do?

Clearly he would set up Soviet Pravda TV in the conquered nation as quickly as possible.

hell, I'll bet Soviet Pravda could have even "landed" and interview with ol' Brezhnev himself!

wow...