2 weeks ago a bbc online newsflash read:
"Latest: North Korea to return to six way talks on its nuclear programme -
state media."
Yesterday, the same people
reported that, "There is fear on the streets of
Leeds - but perhaps more than anything there is shock that some of its young
men are suspected of being the first suicide bombers to carry out their attack
on British soil." Under the headline, "Leeds asks: What made them do it?" the
report went on, "But what makes young men from Leeds become so radicalised?
Councillor Mohammed Iqbal is among those who has spent 24 hours trying to work
that out."
what is there to say to this deeply cynical
faux childishness? First off, the bbc +is+ the state media. Not in north korea
maybe, but certainly here. That sounds kind of harmless, like it's parody, in
much the same way that calling the american military-government 'fascists' has
a kind of humorously exaggerated connotation. But there's nothing humorous
about the top being ripped off a number 30 bus and the lies and distortions of
the bbc directly contributed to that outcome.
One of the main functions of state media - the
propaganda arm of government and other power centres in an established social
order - is to sow the seeds of doubt about issues which are in fact clear cut
and simple to understand but threatening to the status quo if understood that
way.
Hence the ludicrous contention that any muslim
would spend 24 hours trying to work out why muslim suicide bombers - from leeds
or anywhere - would do what they do.
On CNN last week retired CIA officer Michael
Scheuer, who led the hunt for Osama bin Laden in the late 90s, said, "We're
being attacked for what we do in the Islamic world, not for who we are or what
we believe in or how we live."
Reporting these comments,
Inter Press pointed out that Scheuer's view "has
been bolstered by numerous public-opinion polls conducted in predominantly
Muslim countries over the past several years that have consistently shown
popular admiration for western political ideals but widespread resentment over
U.S. policies throughout the Middle East, particularly its alliance with
Israel, its invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq, and its backing for
autocratic regimes in the region."
the motivation for islamic militancy is,
firstly, well known, and secondly, it's been well known for a long time. To
pretend otherwise, as does the bbc, is what? Corrupt? Lethal?
pretending otherwise is a propaganda strategy
also known as credible denial which has been well used by israeli zionists for
a long while. There, the straightforward issue of occupying someone else's land
is obfuscated by the phrase 'but it's a very complex issue' which opens up the
way for a very long trip round the houses in order that the simplicity of the
issue is indefinitely avoided.
Similarly, the straightforward observation
that muslims and arabs might be so angry (they've got 100 000 dead in iraq for
starters) that they'd kill themselves to wreak havoc on a murderous, aggressive
enemy, is too dangerous to mention. Why? Because it would mean admitting that
we are the aggressors and that although we have the solution for peace in our
own hands we won't use it because we wish to keep exploiting the middle east.
while the victims of islamic terrorism in
london were the victims of bbc propaganda, a propaganda which exists to further
belligerent british nationalism, they were also victims of themselves. By
voting for parties that endorsed war, that were +responsible+ for war,
occupation and the wider exploitation of the middle east, or by not voting
against them, people knowingly chose a path of self-serving bloody nationalism.
Despite the lies and distortions and denials of the bbc, everyone still knew
the basic facts of western aggression and exploitation but a massive majority
of londoners (83%) voted for self interest before peace. this too was deeply
cynical.
The facile and sentimental and vain
response heard this week from Londoners and Britons more widely, in which
outraged hypocrites proclaimed that in the face of terrorism they would stand
'united', 'defiant' and 'resilient', is woeful. what difference does
intransigence make to the next suicide bomber? But with 7 million people in the
capital, no doubt everyone is happy to indulge in a little defiance certain it
won't be them on the next number 30 bus.
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