Inside Al Jazeera -- and Rumsfeld's attack on journalism.

[HuckleB]

Control Room -- Inside Al Jazeera

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney07272004.html

"There's a chilling scene in Jahane Noujaim's new documentary Control Room where an American F-16 is seen slowly turning in the sky over Baghdad. The plane arcs lazily in the blue sky and then quickly noses downward, following a straight line towards the building that houses the Al Jazeera news facility.In a flash, two laser guided missiles are fired at the building and their impact knocks out the visual. It all happens in a matter of seconds. Veteran journalist, Tarik Ayoub was killed instantly in the attack.

Later that same day, fighter pilots would bomb the Abu Dhabi media facility in similar fashion. The day's events would end on the streets of Baghdad where an Abrams Tank slowly turned its turret towards the Palestine Hotel; the accommodation for all the visiting media in Iraq. The tank lifted its muzzle towards the 13th floor, and moments later fired...killing a Spanish journalist and wounding three others.

No one who sees this shocking segment will confuse it for anything other than what it was....cold blooded murder, authored and directed by the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. (Al Jazeera even provided the US Military with its exact coordinates so they wouldn't be attacked as they were in Kabul.) No officer, however vindictive, would have ever jeopardized his career with such a reckless and ruthless attack on innocent people. The order came straight from the top, and it bears Rumsfeld's imprimatur.

The footage of Ayoub's colleagues back in Doha is devastating. They all know what they've just witnessed, and the control room is silenced with a palpable sense of horror. No one has any misgivings about the message being conveyed. As Al Jazeera's chain smoking manager avers, "We were told that 'you are either with us or against us'....we have received receipt of that message."

More...

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney07272004.html

Anyone who sees this movie and doesn't wonder how the heck Rumsfeld isn't behind bars, not just for this incidient, but for numerous fascistic orders, would be well-served to see a mental health professional, IMHO.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. i concur..it is disgusting and rumsfeld belongs on trial in the Hague.....

for that and the Abu Graihb tortures and hundreds of other crimes he has committed

[HuckleB]

3. Interestingly, the author of this piece didn't mention the next day.

This all occurred the day before the staged "pulling down" of the Saddam statue in Baghdad, leaving these outfits without people to cover the event. There is little doubt what our intentions were with these attacks.

[peacetalksforall]

2. And no media-propagandists coverage. It's time to raise this one up.

Rumsfeld = PNAC co-architect, model liar, prison director, and journalism eliminator.

[HuckleB]

4. Fahrenheit 9/11 Sucks!

Fahrenheit 9/11 Sucks!

That's right.

I said it. Right here. Right now.

At DU!

Woo hoo.

[thebigidea]

5. Thanks for contributing to the debate. That was very thoughtful.

Almost Hitchensian in eloquence.

[HuckleB]

6. Interesting.

Few people reply to anything about Control Room around here, but when you make a post about the great media spectacle known as Fahrenheit 9/11, no matter how mundane or ridiculous, you immediately get a response.

Wow!

[thebigidea]

8. You'd get the same response from me if you bashed Control Room like that

I had no idea you were only allowed to like one documentary at a time.

Wow!

[HuckleB]

9. Yeah, sure, you betcha.

Not bloody likely.

[thebigidea]

10. I've defended Al-Jazeera on this board dozens of times.

Stupid attacks just rub me the wrong way, whether its an empty-headed attack on F/911 or some idiot calling A-J a terrorist channel.

Speaking of stupid attacks - not bloody likely? Are you John Cleese or something? Is this the right room for a needless argument?

[HuckleB]

12. And you just magically, suddenly showed up when I made that post?

Very interesting.

:eyes:

[thebigidea]

13. Yeah, its called replying to your post. Strange, huh?

Anyway, what a bizarre distraction. It was a good article, and I don't see why you want to pick a fight over a totally unrelated movie.

I guess you just want to irritate people so the thread gets kicked... next time, try posting something about how great Dick Cheney is and you'll get the same sort of magical response.

But not from me - because I think i'll bow out now, and make a mental note not to ever respond to a post of yours. Have fun!

[HuckleB]

15. I didn't pick a fight.

And I'm not fighting now. It's you who's fighting.

I tried a little experiment, and it proved successful. Thanks for your help.

[Wind Dancer]

7. Lt. Rushing will retire after serving 14 years.

"Rushing comes across as a sympathetic character in the movie -- earnest and thoughtful, a patriot and a skeptic -- with shrewd observations about partisan media coverage (Al Jazeera and Fox) and the failure of U.S. media to fully explain what is happening in the Middle East. But now the Pentagon has silenced Rushing, 31, ordering him not to comment on the movie. And as a result, the 14-year career military man, recently promoted to captain, plans to leave the Marines, his wife told Salon in an interview Thursday.

When first contacted by Salon about Rushing on Thursday, the Pentagon denied even being aware of the film, much less any order regarding Rushing. Lt. Col. Jim Cassella at the Pentagon press office said, "I can't remember us ever telling people not to speak to the press. We have the principles of information that the secretary of defense has signed which mandates that we are forthcoming and honest with the American people. As a matter of policy, we don't go around telling people they can or can't talk to the press."

He referred Salon to the Marine Corps, but there, too, the first response was denial that this sort of thing even happens. Capt. Dan McSweeney, commenting on whether Marines are typically asked not to talk to reporters, said, "I haven't heard of that going on except under extreme circumstances; in the middle of an operation, I can see that being the case."

Later in the day, however, McSweeney confirmed that "Captain Rushing is not available for interview on this topic." And on Friday, the Pentagon released the following statement to Salon about Rushing: "The reason why he's no longer able to talk to the media is that he is no longer in the billet that he was at the time, so he is no longer the appropriate person to speak to regarding this documentary."




http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/muzzling.html

[HuckleB]

11. Yup. As noted in another quickly ignored thread on the topic.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x1456146

[southlandshari]

14. word on wider release?

I've been eagerly waiting to see "Control Room" all summer, and would love any news on distribution anyone has...

I live in a small town in Alabama, so chances are quite slim it will actually be shown on the big screen here, but I'd be willing to drive to see it, and definitely want to buy the dvd if and when available.

I'm not from the Middle East, but speak fluent Arabic and have a journalism degree from one of the top programs in the U.S. - I have also watched Al-Jazeera on satellite since it was created. I don't see it on a daily basis like I used to (* economy has hit our family budget hard, and satellite had to go for a while!), but for more than six years from the late 90's to well past 9/11/01, Al-Jazeera was one of the broadcast news sources we watched every day.

Nothing makes me angrier than attacks on this network by people who are only repeating what they've heard from politicians or our own gutless media. How can folks who don't even understand what is being said by the reporters on the screen make such definitive condemnations?

This I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears over nearly a decade: Al-Jazeera has been amazing in its willingness to air all opinions throughout the Arab world, and around the globe. It has always offered equal time to those on opposite sides of issues. One sign that they are pretty balanced is that they have pissed off virtually every world government at some point or another. When a network has an unconditionally loyal group of defenders who think it can do no wrong, red flags should go up.

[HuckleB]

16. There are a number of recent reviews in Florida papers.

So it must be getting on a number of screens there. It's been playing in Portland and Seattle for six weeks now.

[HuckleB]

18. Here.

Go to: http://www.controlroommovie.com/site/01.html

Then click on "Screenings" to see where it is playing. You can click a specific state to limit the list for your area, as it has gone quite wide in the past few weeks, via word of mouth, though it's not in Alabama yet, from what I can see.

[southlandshari]

21. already bookmarked!

I've been checking the site for weeks! I have sent a link to the trailer to several friends. I emailed the person listed as responsible for distribution nearly three weeks ago to ask for info, but got no reply. Guess I'll try him again.

Thanks for trying to help!

[Cat Atomic]

17. I've been dying to see this movie, but it's not in my area.

This episode with the attacks on Al Jazeera is nothing short of criminal. Rumsfeld should be a jumpsuit right now.

I remember when that tank fired on the Palestine Hotel. And that wasn't the only instance, either- there was footage of tanks firing on stationary cameras with their machineguns, IIRC. I believe it was the same day.

[HuckleB]

19. Where do you live?

[Disturbed]

23. How many Dems, Greens, Socialists in Amerika?

We should all boycott the Right Wing Whore Media.

Rumsfailed Admitted violating Geneva Convention

Rumsfailed admitted in public that when CIA Tentet requested that a prisoner be sent to a secret Afghan/US Prison that Rumsfailed did so. After four months a DOD Attorney stated that this was an (illegal act) so Rumsfailed ordered that this prisoner be sent back to Abu Graib but the prisoner was not listed at that location on purpose. That is two violations of the Geneva Convention. Not one complaint or charge was made regarding Rumsfailed, not even by any Dem in Congress. Does the US no longer follow the Geneva Convention? It appears so.

[Wind Dancer]

20. It was only in Raleigh, NC

for a short time but it may be available on DVD now. It is a must see for everybody interested in the truth re: the war and our media propaganda. It is very hard to watch, the scenes of innocent injured and murdered Iraqis will haunt you forever.

[HuckleB]

22. It just opened in Greensboro.

And, heck, next week it stops in Asheville and Wilmington.

[HuckleB]

24. Who said that?

Said what?