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| Paris Match 'Propaganda' | |
| 2008-09-05 | |
| Staring out from a glossy eight-page spread in the latest edition of the magazine Paris Match, several Taleban fighters show off their trophies of war. Guns, walkie-talkies and even a wrist-watch are photographed - all spoils taken from the 10 French soldiers they killed in an ambush last month. Accompanying the pictures is a long interview with the Taleban leader who calls himself Commander Farouki. He claims they were tipped off about the French mission in their area and were able to prepare an ambush with 140 highly trained insurgents. "If night hadn't fallen we'd have killed every one of the soldiers," he boasts. He denies reports that other French paratroopers were captured and tortured but warns that every single French soldier found on Afghan soil will be killed. Propaganda On French radio today, Defence Minister Herve Morin criticised Paris Match for peddling Taleban propaganda. "Should we really be doing the Taleban's propaganda for them?" he asked. "The Taleban have understood perfectly that Western public opinion is probably the Achilles' heel of the international community present in Afghanistan." A diplomat from the foreign ministry said it was the responsibility of the media to decide what they covered and how they did it, but added: "The reactions of the families of the servicemen speak for themselves. We can only imagine the pain that they felt when they saw these pictures, as well as that of the comrades of these men who are still in Afghanistan."
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| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Media have entirely on their own volition made themselves allies of the enemy in order to show "both sides" of the story. This crew would have covered up Buchenwald to get an interview on what happened at Wolfsschanze. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-09-05 12:52 |
| #3 For some reason this movie quote comes to mind when I consider France and its reaction to this. Wyatt Earp: You skin that smoke wagon and we'll see what happens! Johnny Tyler: Listen mister, I'm getting awful tired of your... [Wyatt slaps him] Wyatt Earp: Are you gonna do something? Or just stand there and bleed? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-09-05 12:49 |
| #2 Media have entirely on their own volition made themselves the object of loathing and well-justified contempt. As with other institutions or groups, the good ones among them have faced a choice (to resist the collapse of standards and self-respect) and done nothing, putting themselves at moral risk like their pitiful peers. My impression from the start has been, contrary to the comment above, that the Bush administration has always had a steely-eyed view of the challenges of "developing" Afghanistan, and appropriately from the outset set our sights very low there. Denial of a base to the enemy and just barely keeping the lid on at minimal cost would constitute complete strategic success, IMHO. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2008-09-05 12:13 |
| #1 Being a "Gut Check" or not, the act of parading around dead soldiers personal effects is reprehensible. Some newspapers and magazines take the low road in reporting things we do not wish to see or read. This is the ugly part of the news. The truth of the battle in Afghanistan is the duplicity involved with working with the Afghan people that do not want foreign soldiers there and the religious ties they have with fellow muslims. When given a public stage, must Afghanis would defer to their local Imam. Thus, the people's loyalties are divided. Each must serve one government publicly to restore electrical power, water, heat, and infrastructure. Then they must adhere to hardline islamist teachings during Ramadan. When hiring a local guide, you never TRULY know whose side he's on. Once a trusted ally is contacted, you never know if the Taliban came to his house later that night and threatened/kidnapped his wife and children to coerce him into being complicit. Some Afghanistanis are just plain traitorous. Rival drug warlords compete for power in addition to religious fanatics. The dynamics of rebuilding this nation were GROSSLY under-estimated by the Bush regime. Best of luck to the French people in their efforts to help settle this lawless area. No one likes to be lied to and ambushed. 140 to 10 soldiers is a slaughter. Parading their remains and desecrating their bodies is just plain low. Un-islamic even by their standards. Paris Match has the right to report on this atrocity, but did a very poor job framing the story. You can report on the Taliban and their viewpoints as a journalist without sounding like a cheerleader. |
| Posted by: Unavins Dingle3445 2008-09-05 09:06 |