CNN on Chechnya: Christiane Amanpour Showed Total Incapacity for Honest
Reporting
Pakistanis Humiliated, Tortured, Deported in Shackles: Given $1.40 each
to
Start Anew
Pakistani Jewelers Being Investigated Across USA: Accusation of Funding
al-Qaidah
[Imam W. D. Muhammad's Support for U.S. Government Raises Questions]
On June 22, 2002 CNN carried an hour-long program on Chechnya. It
was
narrated by Christiane Amanpour. In many ways it was a travesty of
honest
journalism. Here are a few salient features.
1. Ms. Amanpour claimed that Chechnya was a "forgotten war." The claim
doesn't make sense because the whole world, in particular the Muslim
world,
knows that Russia has been waging war in Chechnya. Perhaps what Ms.
Amanpour
meant was that CNN had forgotten the war in Chechnya for almost a year.
2. Muslim sources have said for a long time that RUSSIA CANNOT WIN THE
WAR IN
CHECHNYA. Amanpour admitted that fact but did not admit that Islamic
sources
have been saying this much before she stumbled on this fact.
3. She admitted that Russia is losing an average of 125 SOLDIERS EVERY
WEEK
in Chechnya EVEN NOW. Again this is a well known fact to Muslims and
all one
has to do is to visit an Islamic site to find this out. Again honest
journalism required that Amanpour should have admitted that Muslim
sources
turned out to be correct BEFORE CNN.
4. She did refer a number of times to the terrible suffering of the
Muslims
of Chechnya and the resistance of the Chechens but did not use the
appropriate language which would have been used if the victims had been
Jews:
There is a holocaust of the Muslims going on in Chechnya. Even the
weaker
word "genocide" could have been used but the CNN lady didn't.
5. The FOCUS of the report was on RUSSIAN SOLDIERS and their
psychological
suffering owing to the fact that they have to go to Chechnya and kill
people.
Thus the victimers were humanized by Amanpour. These killers and
butchers of
the people of Chechnya are traumatized because they have to kill
people. This
was low down cheap journalism but CNN is good at it having practiced it
repeatedly in stories about Palestine. The Jews kill Palestinians
every day
but they suffer because they are such good human beings!
5a. Amanpour is good at propaganda. The average viewer sees that
Chechen
suffering is mentioned but the suffering Chechens are shadows ("the
other",
"strange, different beings") while the Russians are seen as complete
European
humans ("like us") and their "suffering" is analyzed in detail (they
get
killed by a poorly armed people who are fighting back).
6. The one-hour report lacked context in another way too. Amanpour
conveniently failed to mention that BUSH and PUTIN are great friends
and
there is close military and economic cooperation between the U.S. and
Russia.
The U.S. has not penalized Russia IN ANY WAY for the genocide in
Chechnya.
6a. Instead the U.S. has, every now and then, claimed that "terrorists"
(code
for Islamic jihad fighters) are operating in Chechnya.
7. The U.S. has squashed every move to bring up the issue of RUSSIAN
REPARATIONS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF AFGHANISTAN (now compounded by
American
bombing) as well as destruction of Chechnya. Iraq is under sanctions
owing to
the invasion of Kuwait which ended 11 years back. THE U.S. DOES NOT
PERMIT
THE IDEA OF SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA for genocide in Chechnya from
being
brought up in the U.S.
--------------------------------------------------
LOCAL NEWS:
YOUNG PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW: Is the organization led by Imam W. D.
Muhammad an
Islamic organization or a Muslim nationalist organization? Is it not
true
that Imam W. D. Muhammad supports just about all the moves of the U.S.
power
elite against the Muslim world. He supported the U.S. assault on Iraq
and now
he supports the U.S. "war on terrorism." Question: Does this imam's
group
take the Qur'an and the Sunnah as decisive in its operation as a group?
If
this imam violates the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, do his
followers have recourse within the rules of this group to challenge
him?
We doubt it. But perhaps the imam himself will inform us. Our columns
are
open for his answer.
----------------------------------------
PAKISTANIS BUSH'S TARGETS:
Afrikom reports that the U.S. has started a series of deportations of
Pakistanis from the U.S. back to Pakistan. In the first wave, 130
Pakistanis
have been deported. It appears that the Pakistanis were put on a
plane,
chartered for the purpose, and were dumped without warning at a
Pakistani
airport.
THEY WERE KEPT SHACKLED DURING THE 20 HOUR JOURNEY. In other words,
they were
being treated as "terrorist suspects."
Returnees have accused the U.S. of torture and extremes of humiliation
and
mistreatment. When they landed in Pakistan they were given the
equivalent of
$1.40 to find their way back home. [Their relatives were not informed
of
their arrival.]
-----------------------------------------
PAKISTANI JEWELERS in 15 U.S. cities are being investigated on
suspicion of
transmission of funds to al-Qaidah!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAKISTANI OBSERVERS SAY that all this Bush-Ashcroft activity is part of
the
U.S.-Israeli war on Islam. No Muslim is safe from oppression. Those
who have
not been "investigated" today will be "investigated" tomorrow. The Jews
have
really taken over this great country leaving its people totally
disenfranchised.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2002-07-03 Wed 00:07ct