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Why?

Autobot

05:07 / 13.09.01

Ok I am curious on a few things but they all kinda tie into one thing, which is "why?" I see this film footage of these Afgahn people celebrating, and there were some on L.A. (i think) who were celebrating on the street. I am not from america and I'm not too up to date with what goes on in the world, so why would an entire country be cheering at what heppened. I know that the US isn't well liked in some places..... I'm just curious to see if anyone knows if the US has done anything to Afgahnistan or what?

Ganesh

05:22 / 13.09.01

The (brief, oft-repeated) footage showed Palestinians, not Afghan people. Check out CNN Online for details of the apparent backstory on 'Bin Laden's Grudge'.

[ 13-09-2001: Message edited by: Ganesh ]

Regrettable Juvenilia

07:03 / 13.09.01

Then read this thread.

autopilot disengaged

07:18 / 13.09.01

autobot: even in palestine, where they have very good reason not to think much of the US, ONLY A HANDFUL of people in the streets celebrated - and they were stuck in some godawful refugee camp. Yasser Arafat condemned the bombings - as did almost every other arab leader.

the repeated use of the Palestinian footage has gone beyond a media virus - it is now PROPAGANDA. they are using it as a justification for the invasion of Afghanistan, amybe another attack on Iraq. the US media are ACTIVELY fanning the flames of revenge. they are repeating the footage (disaster & celebration) to channel the way you think about these events.

read the chomsky thread for the reasons this is happening, unpleasant truths though they may be.

Ganesh

07:22 / 13.09.01

Yasser Arafat's done everything he can to defuse the situation - including making the personal statement of donating some of his own blood.

Ganesh

08:11 / 13.09.01

Another useful perspective, again from The Guardian.

Ellis

08:18 / 13.09.01

I don't think Americans are thinking of the causes right now, and instead are trying to pick up the pieces, I think reflection will come later.

And that Palestine footage is terrible propaganda, very nasty stuff- it made me angry when I saw it I will admit.

Ganesh

08:22 / 13.09.01

What worries me, Ellis, is that the US media is already directing 'reflection' towards a particular conclusion: that 'evil genius' Osama bin Laden has been 'proved' to be responsible, and responses should focus on swift retribution rather than further self-questioning.

And Blair, with his simplistic talk of "good versus evil" is not helping.

[ 13-09-2001: Message edited by: Ganesh ]

rizla mission

08:42 / 13.09.01

quote:Originally posted by Ganesh:

And Blair, with his simplistic talk of "good versus evil" is not helping.

fuck yeah.

Blair's soundbites have been becoming increasingly obnoxious and ill-considered in recent months..

Autobot

14:27 / 13.09.01

Thanks all. I'm very new to this board, but it's nice to know there are people out there who aren't just spouting crap like "nuke em all" and actually thinking. I'm just curious as to why these people (if it's the ones they are saying) are so pissed at the US?

deja_vroom

14:36 / 13.09.01

Hello, Autobot.
Perhaps you will find thise article meaningful. I'd suggest you to use the web and search for more independent media reports. It's an impressive, powerful tool.
It's candy to the mind, only it's bitter.

autopilot disengaged

14:38 / 13.09.01

again, check out the chomsky thread - i've tried to contextualise the events via the better, more reasoned analysis i've come across.

fluid_state

14:41 / 13.09.01

It's kind of scary that the Toronto Sun (our tabloid-newspaper-rag) has a front page photo of the Pit with the word "HELL" in big bold letters.... right underneath a picture of Bin Laden. The full headline read "Usama Bin Laden's HELL" with the name being in really tiny type. so I guess whether or not the Taliban is responsible is kind of irrelevant, now.

Ganesh

17:22 / 13.09.01

Autobot: if you check out the links (and I'm probably biased, but particularly The Guardian one), you should get a general impression.

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