Chances are you’re here at Kos because you have an itchy curiosity about the world, a nagging social conscience, and a wonkiness bent. Or maybe you’ve heard the voices-- and you’re on a mission.
Whatever the case, you probably bang away relentlessly at your keyboard, sign the petitions, and call out the perps at every opportunity you get. In between holding down those "uniquely American" multiple jobs in order to maintain health care, a roof, and that vexing habit of eating meals a few times a day. It’s grueling, I know. And you don’t want to be chided into doing anything else, I know.
But like it or not, you’re already enlisted, informally, in the Army of Counter Propagandists-- spontaneously hatched to tackle the criminally negligent, fraudulent American press corps. The "lying sacks of crap" - per Stephanie Miller. And although it’s likely no one has officially informed you... you are now fighting on the front lines of a major battle. In the Global War on Propaganda. Yeah, the GWOP. But it is a noble cause.
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When the autopsy of our democracy is performed, it is my belief that media silence will be given as the primary cause of death. -- Jonathan Simon
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The American press currently ranks at a pathetic number #53 in Freedom of the Press ratings amongst countries of the world, per Reporters Without Borders, October, 2006 Annual Report. Report here. Ghana, Mozambique, El Salvador, Tobago and Namibia all beat us out handily, fercripessake. This is embarrassing. This needs to be changed. You can help to change it. (You may want to make note, when news gathering, that the top four countries were: Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Finland. Helsingin Sanomat anyone?)
We Americans are spoon-fed on big soft dollops of junk news. To complement stuffing our faces with junk food. Ask Paul Rieckhoff how it feels to come home from Iraq and see what folks back home are lapping up as "news". Fallen troops don’t rate more than a crawl on the screen. What war?
The corporate press, merchants of fear, hate us for our freedom. They wield their sword, slicing up remnants of reality beyond all recognition, then serve it back up on the airwaves in a flash package. They manufacture paper tigers with scary sounding islamofascistic names. What used to be called "brainwashing"-- once thought to be a complex and elaborate process-- now seems to be... well, not so difficult after all, with 24/7 cable news and media consolidation... perfect recipe for a propagandist's wet dream.
But you probably already know all that.
Multiple Theatre Warfare
Like its evil cousin the GWOT, this GWOP is also a multiple-theatre war. And the current spark, set to erupt full-flame straight ahead, lies in the theatre of--- Iran.
That’s where you come in.
My Counter Propaganda unit and I have mounted a little preemptive offensive, and we’d like to invite Kossacks who haven’t already, to sign up to fight alongside us. Yes, recruiting.
Today, I have one new tool to share for the Iranian front of the GWOP --- a podcast just released on i-Tunes, featured on General Wes Clark’s Clark Cast series, entitled:
"Iranian Voices in America"
We recorded voices of Iranians living in America to hear a different tune from the media’s on the subject of Iran, our relations with them, and the possibility of war with them. In doing so, we discovered them to be... real human people with real human desires and needs. Oh my. No fire-breathing, America-hating, effigy burning, screeching radicals? They were educated, reasonable, concerned and ... really scared shitless that we may be about to shock and awe the hell out of their loved ones in Iran. See, they love their families too. And prefer them living-- just like us.
The people interviewed on the podcast speak for the larger Iranian community and are begging to be heard. Please give them a little of your time and at least one ear. And if you are so moved to join up — enlist in the counter propaganda corps. Boot camp is not rigorous – in fact, it’s nonexistent! You will NOT need to cut your hair or do any push ups. Uniforms are come as you are, pajamas and bathrobes are fine. There’s no blood shed, no weapons fired, no kicking down of doors. Just a lot of clackety-clack and yakety yak.
Background: Oil and Cowboys and Coups, Oh my
The people of Iran are looking to the U.S. and the west to help them evolve through this tense period in an already complicated history – to help them out from under. Lorded over by a radical Islamic government which is figuratively headed by a President who rivals only George Bush for unpopularity at home. Ahmadinejad’s approval ratings are around 20%, while Bush is polling a solid 28% in the most recent Harris survey and at MSNBC.
Iranians are striking out in any way they can against top-down oppression from their leadership, but they are crying out for some international media attention to help gain more world support for their struggle. Their identity as a people is largely ignored and under reported. Apart from the foaming at the mouth, bellicose Ahmadinejad-- who no more represents the populous of Iran than W represents us— we don’t get the pictures and stories from real Iranians from our anemic media. Ahmadinejad can be vetoed off the island on any issue at the drop of a hijab by the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the real power broker in Iran. Ahmadinejad is not the one calling the shots, but rather a noisy and annoying frontman. One of our Iranian podcast interviewees refers to him as a "cowboy".
Turns out our cowboy wants to challenge their cowboy to a duel in the sun. Only instead of riding in on horseback like John Wayne, we want to fly over in B-52s and drop a few ‘strategerically’ placed cruise missiles on their heads. ‘Smart weapons’ ordered up in a 24 hour window by a none-too-smart Commander in Chief. Now that’s a scary combination. It’s got something to do with ‘evil’ and ‘freedom’. And oh, by the way, it’s got nothing to do with the 132 billion barrels of oil reserves from the world’s fourth largest supplier of oil, and second largest supply of natural gas reserves. And it’s got nothing to do with 20% of the world’s oil passing thru the cozy, neighboring Strait of Hormuz either. Or with the Iranians’ recent proposal to transition from the usual US dollar oil trading to a Petro-Euro system. Nope. Nothin’ to see here. Pay no attention to that Chevron truck behind the curtain.
Iranians seem to hate our government about as much as they hate their own, but conversely, most claim to love American people and our original ideals. (Remember those?) The 1953 CIA sponsored American/ British coup of their democratically elected leader, Mossadeq, left a bleeding scar on Iranians’ psyche and a bad taste in their mouth for anything Made in USA. That was only rubbed with salt by our collusion with the Shah and subsequent further oil plunder. As far back as 1952, now declassified documents disclose that we had decided to engineer the coup, along with the Brits, because the Mossadeq government would not reach an "equitable oil settlement" with us. And so, only four days and one million $$$ later— Voila! A new government and Shah were magically in place, happy to receive that little $5 million post-coup "bonus" from the CIA under the table for their troubles. And Iranians have not forgotten.
As a country, Iran has not attacked, invaded or declared war on another country in our time, yet we continue to portray them as terrorist aggressors ready to leap into attack mode at any moment. Granted, Ahmadinejad’s 'colorful' locution hasn't helped. However, US military documents leaked to the New York Times revealed that we have already designated 10,000 air strike targets recommended to destroy Iranian infrastructure. Just in case. A few thousand more targets and perhaps we too might be characterized as an "aggressor".
So won’t you join us?
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Three Easy Steps to Enlist in the GWOP— Theatre: Iran
Step One: SIGN UP
If you have not yet done so, take about 26 seconds (14.5 seconds if you’re the nimble fingered advanced blogger type)—to click below and sign the Petition from VoteVets and General Wes Clark at Stop Iran War urging your public servants (yeah, you have servants!) to resist the urge to bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.
And while you're there, check out the kickass new General's ads (mcjoan has frontpage story) just begun today with former General's stripping naked the oft repeated Bushian lie: "I listen to my Generals on the ground." No, you don't.
Wes Clark and VoteVets are guys who know a thing or two about real war—experientially. Not from the imaginary wars churned out by the American Enterprise Institute white papers or the PNAC gallery. But from taking bullets to the body. From commanding forces in a successful war, without incurring the loss of one single Allied life. And they have wisely concluded that war should always be a last, last resort. If you do not take the time to sign, please provide the General and VoteVets with a bullet-proof reason why you did not.
Note: "I didn’t have 14 ½ seconds." is not an acceptable excuse.
Students and youth tend to get arrested in Iran for protesting, but they still do it. They make the time, take the risk. The average age is 25, and that in itself says a lot about the biochemistry and hormonal makeup of the bulk of their 70 million citizens. The literacy rate hovers between 86% and 97%, with younger women, ironically, commanding the highest rates. Female students in state universities outnumber the males. A third of all doctors, 60% of civil servants, and 80% of all teachers in Iran are women. Why don’t we hear more about this?
With miniscule effort, we can help their voices to be heard, but not until we make sure our voices are heard first. So just do it. Nearly 40,000 people have signed already. Please, no lame excuses about how your particular public servant is the genre that doesn’t listen or can’t comprehend. They need to hear you anyways. You can craft a clever message to your Reps. Even if they don’t give a damn, they need to minimally be terrified that their own legacy is at risk. They can decide which pages of the history books will bear their names for all their offspring to see-- Appeal to their vanity. Even the most upright legislators have at least some stock in this commodity. And although some may be willing to sell their country down the drain within one Lobbyist luncheon, many will tread oh-so-much-more delicately when handling their own legacies...
Witness the fancy footwork going on right now by some who originally supported or voted for the IWR. Perhaps more care will go into authorization for the next war(s) if congresscritters can remember the Alamo. In Iraq.
Step Two: WATCH & LISTEN
Listen to the ‘Iranian Voices in America’ podcast here
That part is easy, informative and self-explanatory. Check out Iranian websites, search for the voices of the people—they’re out there. With over 700,000 blogs, Iran is the fourth largest country of bloggers. And yes, they do sometimes get arrested for their views, and incarcerated. But they still do it. One blogger was arrested just for writing about the arrests of three fellow bloggers. In a new development this week, it appears that Google has now blocked access from within Iran, as a "forbidden country". See story here.
This is a thorough list of English written Iranian blogs.
Watch the "Peace Train" YouTube vid, with images of real everyday Iran you may not have seen anywhere else.
Step Three: DISPEL MYTHS
Keep an eye out for the viral anti-Iranian propaganda currently being shotgunned by the admin and their cohorts. It may be in your inbox. Spot the distortions, read between the lines, notice the repeat choruses from the last war-- changing the Q to an N. Then find first hand accounts-- not generated by the Department of Defense’s circle of friends— that dispel those myths. Lots of good sources right above ^ in the blog links. Go forward and spread the word. Digitally, verbally, smoke signals, freeway blogger —whatever suits your style. Don’t let the propaganda stand without calling it out. You know the deal. You’re doing it already. Widen the net and tell some truths about Iran and its people. It’s like taking your Karma to the cleaners.... it feels good.
And before any contrarians slam me for 'emboldening the terrorists' or ignoring the dark underbelly that does exist in Iran, please recognize that I am not romanticizing or idealizing in any way Iran’s government: its President, the Supreme Religious Leader Khamenei or his Council of Merry Mullahs. Or Hezbollah. This is not about them. And that is the point. They are not representative. We, of all people, should understand and empathize with what it’s like to live in a non-representative form of government and be virtually voiceless, given these past years here. This is to help shed some light on to the dark side of the moon that doesn't get seen here. On the people. That huge hunk of population, many born after the 1979 Revolution, who are hungering for coverage and for reform.
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On behalf of the Counter Propaganda Unit, batallion 444, of General Clark’s Blogging Army of CCN-- Thank you for your efforts here and everywhere to restore truth, justice, and freedom of the press to America. And thanks for helping to give real Iranians a voice that will be heard. And maybe a future free from the shadow of a 'smart' cruise missile.
May you all be greeted as liberators!
Note: There will be no ‘Mission Accomplished’ declarations until the statue of Rupert Murdoch has been toppled...