The Media And The Attack On Libya
By Dan Lieberman
03 April, 2011
Countercurrents.org
The attack on Libya is essentially an attack on one person, Colonel Muammar Gadhafi, who is the present poster boy for evil. Every Gadhafi deed is interpreted as malevolent; every word as an untruth. The characterizations might be correct, but when the media uses spurious and contradictory statements to expose his 'untruths,' its rhetoric become questionable and its reports lose credibility.
Although insurrections and civil war generate mass killings and accusations of retribution, no authoritative reports confirm these occurrences in the Libyan conflict. After rebels retook several cities, reporters had entry and came up with nothing but shrill words. Estimates of casualties are contradictory and without confirmation. Never stated is how many of the deceased are fighters on both sides.
ITN News, Feb 23, 2011
Italy has said 1,000 people may have been killed in Libya after an armed uprising against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
March 04, 2011 , Businessweek by Massoud A. Derhally
The conflict in Libya between government troops and opponents of leader Muammar Qaddafi has left 6,000 people dead, the rebel forces spokesman, Colonel Abdullah Al Mahdi, said on Al Jazeera television today.
AAP March 10, 2011
At least 400 people have died and 2,000 been wounded in eastern Libya since the uprising broke out against Muammar Gaddafi, medics told reporters in the rebels' Benghazi base. "There have been 400 dead since the beginning in Derna, Baida, Brega, Benghazi, Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad," Salah Jabar, a medical coordinator for cities held by the rebels in the east, told reporters.
Paul Wolfowitz , former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, without citing or being asked sources, volunteered on CNN, March 21, 2011 that "at least 8000 dead, equivalent to 500,000 in the United States ," have been killed.
CNN lost credibility with its one-sided commentaries and reports .
Arwa Damon, the CNN reporter in eastern Libya, wearing the Arab keffiyeh to give her legitimacy, never presented interviews, always stated to the camera what she heard, and quoted rumors that soon grew into facts. As one example, her presentation of only having heard that Gadaffi soldiers asked civilians to come out and then shoot them soon became a fact and yet had no conformation from other reporters.
A typical unconfirmed report which trusts the words of a partial person. Note how the reporter transcribes one resident's words to become 'residents.'
“Residents painted a grim picture of the situation in Misrata.
The situation here is very bad. Tanks started shelling the town this morning," a resident called Mohammed told Reuters by telephone from outside the city's hospital, adding: "Snipers are taking part in the operation too. A civilian car was destroyed killing three children on board, the oldest is aged 13 years."
Nic Robertson, CNN reporter in eastern Libya , after being shown shrapnel at the Gadhafi compound, related that it looks like a missile, smells like a missile, tastes like a missile but couldn't say it's a coalition missile. Robertson did confirm Fox News duplicity, in which a Foxie reporter intimated Libya was attempting to using reporters as human shields. "The idea that we were some kind of human shields is nuts," Robertson said. "I mean, if they had actually been there — Steve Harrigan, the correspondent here, is somebody I've known for many years — I see him more times at breakfast than I see him out on trips with government officials here."
Constant appearances on CNN of Fouad Ajami, a neocon Hawk, an outspoken supporter of the Iraq War, and a commentator who actually credited the Egyptian Revolution and Tunisian Revolution to the Iraq War and Bush's advocacy of democracy, skewed the CNN reporting.
Then there is the case of Journalists being detained . Headlines have:
Times Journalists Held Captive in Libya Faced Days of Brutality
March 22, 2011 , New York Times
Nothing but the usual scare techniques in headlines, but on inside pages:
"But moments of kindness inevitably emerged, drawing on a culture's far deeper instinct for hospitality and generosity. A soldier brought Tyler and Anthony, sitting in a pickup, dates and an orange drink. Lynsey had to talk to a soldier's wife who, in English, called her a donkey and a dog. Then they unbound Lynsey and, sitting in another truck, gave Steve and her something to drink."
CNN stressed “the journalists had a chilling account.”
Here were journalists in a foreign nation with no visa and reporting as an enemy of the state. If they were correspondents from Al Jazeera, wandering the United States with no entry visa and apprehended in a sensitive area, how would they be treated? In 2003, the US military shelled the Basra hotel, where Al Jazeera journalists were the only guests. One of their Iraq correspondents, Tareq Ayoub, was killed a few days later in Baghdad .
The reports favorable to Gadhafi always contain a question or doubt .
"Thousands of ordinary Libyans had poured into the compound on Saturday, willingly, it seemed, and with great enthusiasm. Gaddafi supporters denounced the strike as barbarous
They had come to express their solidarity with their leader. Young men chanted rhythmic slogans of support; women said they loved Muammar Gaddafi; old men said he was their brother and their father.They had come to show that if he was to die, they were ready to die with him.There seemed no doubting their sincerity. But how representative are they ?"
"We cannot know what is in the minds of the hundreds of thousands of Tripoli citizens who do not join these spontaneous demonstrations of devotion. The true sentiment of Tripoli , in the current atmosphere, is unknowable ."
"One Tripoli resident - who did not want to be identified for his own safety - describes the latest scenes in the capital.
Life goes on, but under the surface there is tension.
Information is coming through at a snail's pace due to heavy surveillance of modern communications.
On the ground, people and families only exchange tales when they meet in person .
As for the claims made by the Libyan opposition abroad of a fighter jet suicide attack on Col Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizia compound that evening - it's unlikely, but who knows? The rumour around town is that some even saw smoke rising from the compound."
Greetings are always done with fake smiles ."
All this topped by CNN's Elliot Spitzer comment: Stop the genocide!
Not a verified case of retribution after Gadhafi forces recaptured cities and no known case of internment in Tripoli . Where is the genocide?
Another “report.”
"One resident said an attempt by government forces to take control of the city center had been fought off by rebels but that afterwards pro-Gadhafi forces started indiscriminate shelling of Misrata's port and the city center.”
"They used tanks, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and other projectiles to hit the city today. It was a random and very intense bombardment," a rebel spokesman called Sami told Reuters by telephone. "We no longer recognize the place. The destruction cannot be described."
"The pro-Gadhafi soldiers who made it inside the city through Tripoli Street are pillaging the place, the shops, even homes, and destroying everything in the process. They are targeting everyone, including civilians' homes. I don't know what to say, may Allah help us," he said.
CNN international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen traveled to Misrata, and obtained an exclusive look at “a city of fear, uncertainty and human suffering.” Plietgen mentioned hearing one shell fall near the port and his photos show limited damages, more like Watts after a riot. One photo showed rebels firing an anti-tank missile at a tank, which must have done some structural damage.
CNN's video on http://www.mediaite.com/online/ drew these comments.
"Wonder if they came under fire from Quadaffi or Al Queda?"
"Are such journalists “war profiteers” since they get richer and become even more famous because of these wars?"
"Maybe the sniper forgot he was in Misrata and not Fallujah."
"It was probably Phil Griffin taking aim at CNN since neither one of them can catch Fox News."
Dan Lieberman is the editor of Alternative Insight, a monthly web based newsletter.
He can be reached at [email protected]
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