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Channel 4 Propaganda Machine Now Churning for Iran War

Azathoth | 13.09.2007 11:41 | Analysis | Other Press | Terror War

Last night, Jon Snow of C4 News grilled the Iranian President on his state's 'quest for nuclear weapons' and his alleged 'holocaust denial'. The interview was so aggressive and one sided, that it recalled the grilling of Tariq Aziz on BBC in the build up to the Iraq invasion in 2003.

JON SNOW - CORPORATE ATTACK DOG

August is a bad month for marketing. But not so September, which is a traditional kick off month for all kinds of corporate advertising campaigns. And lo and behold, last night's Channel 4 News fitted the bill perfectly for 'selling' the White House's up gearing campaign for the next war, this time on Iran. Launching into a full frontal assault on an affable, polite Ahmadinejad, C4 'celebrity reporter' Jon Snow repeatedly accused his government of 'seeking nuclear weapons' (no evidence provided, but never mind about such trifles, and of course the West has a divine right to accumulating many thousands of the things without any questions being asked), then insisted the dastardly Iranians were 'destabilising and promoting violence in Iraq' (no irony intended, obviously), 'deliberately killing British soldiers' (hey, come on), then when all these failed to get results, repeatedly attacking him personally as a 'Holocaust denier'. Now while Ahmadinejad's views on the scale of the Holocaust might well be questionable, the crux of his argument actually boiled down to 'why should the Palestinians have to suffer for these atrocities, which had nothing to do with them?' - a reasonable point of view, surely.

SPLIT SCREEN

Most disturbing of all however was a split screen (that C4 for inexplicable reasons interposed on the above attack dog style 'interview'), the other half screen repeatedly showing wholly unrelated and suggestive newsreel of Iranian test missiles being fired off in the desert, or on parade. Why? Is this legitimate 'documentary news' practice? What earthly purpose could it serve? In fact, it seems our 'free and fair' media has well and truly sunk to the manipulative propagandist levels of Pravda in the 1970s. UK media is becoming an increasingly blatant mouthpiece for its corporate and state/ super-state sponsors.

Footnote:

People may have noticed a recent press story about 'Russian aircraft invading British air space in cold war style aggressive missions'. No, not just that, but also implying that these intruders may be 'nuclear armed'. However, the allegedly contemporary photo shots that accompany the 'story' actually show ancient turbo-prop Tupelov 95 'Bear' bombers, perhaps a state of the art Soviet warhead delivery system in the early 1960s, and definitely used no later than the 1980s as spy planes after being withdrawn from front line service. Even more bizarrely however, and uncommented on in any of our lapdog media sources, is the fact that these pictures (taken last week, they would have us believe) clearly show old Soviet RED STARS on the tail. Erm, correct me if I am wrong but didn't the USSR cease to exist 15 years ago?

Azathoth

Comments

Hide the following 13 comments

dont be a fucking idiot

13.09.2007 12:27

The Iranian government is a repressive regime, it does deny the holocaust, it oppresses dissidents, women and gays, and you know what....they probably do want to make some nuclear weapons. It doesnt mean that those neo-con fascists in the Bush admin. should lead a war against them, but for christ sakes remove your head from your arse and realise that just because a country is 'anti-american' or 'anti-imperialist' it doesnt mean that they are united in the struggles of the anti capitalist movement (as the SWP would like you to believe).

cj


knee jerk

13.09.2007 14:01

CJ, please read the article before having an emotional knee jerk reaction. At no point does the author legitimize or condone the Iranian regime, but merely comments caustically on what he or she observed on Channel 4 news. I don't see an SWP (or any other) line being peddled, I'm sorry.

He who shall not be named


Being told who is bad

13.09.2007 14:19

"The Iranian government is a repressive regime, it does deny the holocaust, it oppresses dissidents, women and gays, and you know what....they probably do want to make some nuclear weapons."

Thats an impressive claim - a whole regime denying the holocaust - only someone forgot to explain to the Interior Minister what he was denying .( http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/16/iran.israel/) So he ended up denying being a denier.

Regimes are by their very nature repressive things, however, we're only supposed to care about that when our own repressive regimes tell us to - thats the point see - supposedly liberal media is jumping on the anti-Iran bandwagon, just like they did on the anti-Zimbabwe bandwagon and the anti-Iraq bandwagon, and wow, didn't they develop such empathy for Afghani women. Pity it disappeared after the invasion, even though for many women the situation is worse.

If the repressive Iranian regime is so repulsive, why do we cuddle up to regimes just like it?

Because they do what they're told, thats why.

You think we can make Iran a nice place? What cj, what?

JC


CJ, you are the idiot.

13.09.2007 14:31

So Iran is an oppressive regime, according to what? The superior morals of the west? Talk about swallowing the bile of the media. Comparing two totally different cultures to each other is a nonsense. Human rights arguments are just a smoke screen when those rights only exist for a few on the planet.

Which countries have consistently committed the worst crimes in humanity such as wars of aggression and genocide, as well as probably attacking their own population to commit such crimes?

Which countries leaders are too scared to meet and talk to the public, let alone walk down the fucking street without a massive security lock-down?

Compare Bush and Blair to Chavez and Ahmadinjahd, two of these guys are provable war criminals the other two are just made to look like criminals.

You fucking idiot.

brainwashed


fuck off

13.09.2007 15:25

fuck off cunt
Brainwashed? Just because i dont believe all anti-american countries are our saviours doesnt mean i'm brainwashed you arrogant little twat. Go to Iran and try to demonstrate against the government, try and hold a gay pride march, try and criticise the Iranian leaders...then we'll see how lovely Iran is. I'm against all states, all governments, unlike you daft shitheads who latch onto Iran, Cuba, Venuezela as the mighty anti imperialists without knowing a fucking thing about them. It was you kind of people who supported Stalin in the forties and fifties. Idiots.

cj


CJ's strawman

13.09.2007 15:39

"I'm against all states, all governments, unlike you daft shitheads who latch onto Iran, Cuba, Venuezela as the mighty anti imperialists without knowing a fucking thing about them. It was you kind of people who supported Stalin in the forties and fifties. Idiots."

I don't see a single pro-Iranian, pro-Venezuelan or pro-Cuban comment on the thread. Maybe thats because there isn't one.

It leads me to think that you are indeed brainwashed, and that you also are not an anarchist despite your "against all states" rhetoric.

If I'm wrong, perhaps you should calm down and explain why Iran is being singled out (why not for example Saudi or Israel?) and what we are supposed to do with the information.

Cos that would be a lot more helpful than your intemperate outbursts.

JC


Two quick points

13.09.2007 15:46

Just a couple of factual points - Yes, the TU-95 bombers are ancient and long in the tooth, but they are still in service. So are the B52s that the cutting edge might of the USA still deploys. Presumably if you want to carpet bomb an orphanage in Fallujah or Chechnya, out of range of hand-held SAMs and anti-aircraft artillery, they're still the best tool for the job.

And the Red Star is still used by the Russian military, and their Air Force roundels still have red stars in them.

Aim Here


Pro-Iranian comment

13.09.2007 16:34

I'm pro-Iranian. I'm pro-American and pro-Israeli too. It's the states not the peoples that cause the problems. So here is a pro-iranian comment.

The most popular TV show in Iran is Madare sefr darajeh, or 'The Zero Degree Turn'. It is made by the state with massive funding, foreign locations and the best actors and production values. It is about a Persian student in Paris who falls in love with a Jewish French girl, and helps rescue her from the Nazi holocaust to Iran.

Danny


here we go again

13.09.2007 19:50

So the spin cycle is gearing up again ... another time, another enemy, another excuse, another line of bullshit from our fascist war-mongering Glorious Leaders. Let us all march in time to the beating war drums. Now it is Iran, next it will be Syria.

Whenever the US/UK administrations (and the Australian and increasingly now, the French) speak, let us simply assume as the default position that these fine upstanding fascist citizens are spouting bullshit. Things are much simpler then, and we can quit all of this divisive bullshit promulgated by the likes of CJ who wish to champion the rights of gays and women against alleged Iranian (and is that also Venezualian?) oppression. Iran may well oppress gays and women, this might be true and this is one issue that may require dealing with at some point in the future. But just in case CJ has swallowed the blue pill, perhaps it would be well to remind him/her/it thatthe US sabre rattling and overtly hostile and threatening behaviour has absolutely nothing, zippo, nada and zilch to do with the liberation of gays and women.

Moreover, it is not because Iran has or may acquire nuclear weapons. CJ, let's be crystal clear on this one: it is highly improbable that Iran will want to acquire nukes because the US/Israel say they might. If they acquire nukes it is probably going to be in direct response to overtly hostile and antagonistic overtures from the US/Israel war-pigs, and that may well be the sole measure by which the Iranians can secure some degree of protection. We have no reason to doubt the sincerity of Iran however, when Iran claims that possessing nuclear warheads violates their sacred beliefs. The IAEA has found no support to the US/Israeli claims that they have blueprints for weaponisation of uranium, nor have they found any evidence that links their civil atomic programme to warfare. While I personally don't agree with atomic energy for civil nor for military purposes, that is hardly sufficient justification to wage war against a sovereign nation. So, CJ please give your head a shake, put your petty prejudices to one side and filter the high grade cow dung that our corporate masters are attempting to feed us on a steady drip-feed diet.

hank marvin


fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me

13.09.2007 21:29

All the ideological signposts for attacking Iran are in place. The
country has been thoroughly demonized because it is not nice to women,
to gays, or to Jews. That in itself is enough to neutralize a large
part of the American "left". The issue of course is not whether Iran
is nice or not ­according to our views -- but whether there is any
legal reason to attack it, and there is none; but the dominant
ideology of human rights has legitimized, specially in the left, the
right of intervention on humanitarian grounds anywhere, at any time,
and that ideology has succeeded in totally sidetracking the minor
issue of international law.

jean


transcript online

14.09.2007 10:02

erisd werds deyus

ycn lsn un c2 on chnul4 webzyt

usde lnk atopov rtical

 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18376.htm

e.e.cummings


Jon Snow Expose - Lauded false Make Poverty History and Wants war with Russia

14.09.2007 21:52

Jon Snow is a massive fraud, he tried to hide the reality of the Make Poverty History campaign and claimed Africa was being helped by the West, he talked about his agonies over loyalty to British soldiers and last but not least the worst scum bags in the world like Litveninenko inspired him to ask some stupid cow who worked for the British MI6 as to whether "we" referring to the UK would go to war with Russia over the issue.

Just over the record, I realise "we" does not mean me or the British people but do the idiots of the corporate press like Jon Snow recognise it. It is not just Iran with this guy, Snow has a much bigger agenda, he is a crazy like the people in the states. His sick views can be heard in what he says and what he thinks. That's the great thing about these fucks, their horrible right wing idiots and hey who ever wanted to listen to them. Do you see many people with a Hitler or Tony Blair t-shirt they hide in their own contaminated shit and that is where they will end up when they die.

Jon Snow expose


Not Soviet but still russian

16.10.2007 13:44

Russian aircraft Red Star on tail
Russian aircraft Red Star on tail

You are right about the turboprops being ancient, but they still use the Red Star on Russian aircraft.

Philip Andrews