Propaganda 10

Propaganda is soms bijna onzichtbaar. De onafhankelijke journalist William Bowles geeft enkele voorbeelden. 'Media Misinformation RoundupHow the BBC and the Guardian transform torture into bad PR and “history” for the occupiers. The Western propaganda onslaught is relentless and most goes unnoticed largely because it appears to be ‘objective’ reporting. What is important to note with this alleged news is the insidious nature of the way events are presented to us, cloaked in seemingly innocuous language, yet an entire mindset is embedded in the way events are presented. Take this piece on the BBC’s Website, "Oil attacks costing Iraq $6.25bn
Iraqi oil exports have been hit by attacks on oil pipelines. Attacks by insurgents on Iraq’s oil industry cost the country $6.25bn (£3.6bn) in lost revenue during 2005, according to the Iraqi oil ministry. A total of 186 attacks were carried out on oil sites last year, claiming the lives of 47 engineers and 91 police and security guards, a spokesman said. Iraq’s government has been struggling in the wake of a violent insurgency following the US-led invasion in 2003." news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4729178.stm Hidden in this piece of newspeak are a couple of assumptions about the cause of the losses. Firstly, surely it’s the illegal occupation that’s responsible for the losses, not the resistance which has every right to use whatever means necessary to make the USUK occupation untenable, especially depriving them of the oil that belongs to the Iraqi people. Secondly, the piece uses the phrase “violent insurgency following the US-led invasion in 2003". Surely the invasion, which led to at least 100,000 deaths, was violent, so why doesn’t the article say ‘following the violent invasion…’? The “violent insurgency” is in reality a quite legitimate and legal response to an invasion that broke every international treaty the US and the UK are party to.' Lees verder: http://williambowles.info/ini/2006/0206/ini-0395.html