Gypsy
09-28-2004, 20:01
Well gee...wonder what comments Mr Personality Plus aka sKerry will have on this latest from the Iraqi PM. Surely he'll be doing all he can to continue to build on his foreign policy experience. :rolleyes:
http://www.gopusa.com/news/2004/september/0928_allawi_media_bias.shtml
Iraqi Leader Challenges Western Media Bias
By Jeff Gannon
Talon News
September 28, 2004
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- In August, Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi banned al Jazeera from broadcasting in Iraq because he said the satellite news service was "inciting violence." A year ago, the Iraqi Governing Council temporarily shut down the network for the same reason. Al Jazeera has long been criticized for its anti-American bias, but Allawi says that Western media is also misrepresenting the events and conditions in Iraq.
The Iraqi leader took on the White House press corps Thursday during a Rose Garden press conference. Reporters for major news outlets confronted Allawi and his host, President George W. Bush, with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry's criticism of both leaders' positive outlook.
Steve Holland, a correspondent for Reuters, began the barrage of Kerry talking points, parroting the Massachusetts senator's accusation of "colossal failures or judgment in Iraq and having failed to level with the American people."
NBC's David Gregory pressed Bush to respond to the skepticism of progress in Iraq expressed by the Kerry campaign.
He asked, "Can you understand that Americans may not believe you when you say that America is actually safer today?"
John King, reporting for CNN, asked the president to "answer Senator Kerry and other critics who accuse you of hypocrisy or opportunism when, on the one hand, you put so much stock in the CIA when it said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and now say it is just guessing when it paints a pessimistic picture of the political transition."
Despite the embarrassment of what some saw as an attempt by CBS to sink Bush's reelection campaign by airing a report based on fraudulent documents, the network's John Roberts disputed the president's quantitative description of Iraqi insurgents as a "handful" of people.
Terry Moran of ABC rounded out the assault from the "alphabet networks" by citing outdated polls that indicated widespread dissatisfaction among Iraqis with life under the Coalition Provisional Authority. The CPA ceased to exist on June 28, 2004 when sovereignty was transferred to the interim government now headed by Allawi.
Bush is accustomed to dealing with a press corps that always seems to be well armed with Democratic talking points. But rarely rebukes members of the White House beat, instead choosing to disarm some of his harshest critics with playful exchanges. During the press conference Thursday, the president turned his opponent's statements back on their source when he suggested that Kerry's criticism was sending "mixed signals" to Iraqis, the American people, U.S. allies, terrorists, and American troops.
Allawi, on the other hand, eschewed camaraderie in favor of confrontation.
"Iraqis are getting on with their daily lives, hungry for the new political and economic freedoms they are enjoying," Allawi bluntly told Moran. "Although, this is not what you see in your media, it is a fact."
The Iraqi prime minister similarly upbraided the CBS correspondent when he responded to a question that suggested elections might not be held in January because of violence.
Allawi said, "I have noticed -- and the [Western] media have ... neglected and omitted several times ... Iraq is made out of 18 provinces. Out of these 18 provinces, 14 to 15 are completely safe, there are no problems."
Allawi asked reporters to present a more balanced view of the situation in his country.
He said, "I call upon the responsible media -- throughout the world, not only here -- to look at the facts as they are in Iraq and to propagate these facts to the international community."
Allawi related his personal experiences with Iraqis who are determined to "beat terrorism and defeat the insurgents" despite the deadly attacks.
Allawi said that following the bombing of a police station that killed over 40 recruits, "I found hundreds of people coming to volunteer to the police and to the army. I spoke to them. They are all upbeat."
The Iraqi leader told Roberts, "These are facts that one really needs to explain to you and you need to explain it to the people."
Allawi challenged the reporters to come to Iraq to speak with the people.
He said, "You can find out yourselves that the Iraqis, tremendously, by and large, respect the United States, and respect the other partners in the coalition for helping Iraq, not only in liberation, but now in helping Iraq to rebuild itself and to rebuild its institutions."
Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
http://www.gopusa.com/news/2004/september/0928_allawi_media_bias.shtml
Iraqi Leader Challenges Western Media Bias
By Jeff Gannon
Talon News
September 28, 2004
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- In August, Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi banned al Jazeera from broadcasting in Iraq because he said the satellite news service was "inciting violence." A year ago, the Iraqi Governing Council temporarily shut down the network for the same reason. Al Jazeera has long been criticized for its anti-American bias, but Allawi says that Western media is also misrepresenting the events and conditions in Iraq.
The Iraqi leader took on the White House press corps Thursday during a Rose Garden press conference. Reporters for major news outlets confronted Allawi and his host, President George W. Bush, with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry's criticism of both leaders' positive outlook.
Steve Holland, a correspondent for Reuters, began the barrage of Kerry talking points, parroting the Massachusetts senator's accusation of "colossal failures or judgment in Iraq and having failed to level with the American people."
NBC's David Gregory pressed Bush to respond to the skepticism of progress in Iraq expressed by the Kerry campaign.
He asked, "Can you understand that Americans may not believe you when you say that America is actually safer today?"
John King, reporting for CNN, asked the president to "answer Senator Kerry and other critics who accuse you of hypocrisy or opportunism when, on the one hand, you put so much stock in the CIA when it said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and now say it is just guessing when it paints a pessimistic picture of the political transition."
Despite the embarrassment of what some saw as an attempt by CBS to sink Bush's reelection campaign by airing a report based on fraudulent documents, the network's John Roberts disputed the president's quantitative description of Iraqi insurgents as a "handful" of people.
Terry Moran of ABC rounded out the assault from the "alphabet networks" by citing outdated polls that indicated widespread dissatisfaction among Iraqis with life under the Coalition Provisional Authority. The CPA ceased to exist on June 28, 2004 when sovereignty was transferred to the interim government now headed by Allawi.
Bush is accustomed to dealing with a press corps that always seems to be well armed with Democratic talking points. But rarely rebukes members of the White House beat, instead choosing to disarm some of his harshest critics with playful exchanges. During the press conference Thursday, the president turned his opponent's statements back on their source when he suggested that Kerry's criticism was sending "mixed signals" to Iraqis, the American people, U.S. allies, terrorists, and American troops.
Allawi, on the other hand, eschewed camaraderie in favor of confrontation.
"Iraqis are getting on with their daily lives, hungry for the new political and economic freedoms they are enjoying," Allawi bluntly told Moran. "Although, this is not what you see in your media, it is a fact."
The Iraqi prime minister similarly upbraided the CBS correspondent when he responded to a question that suggested elections might not be held in January because of violence.
Allawi said, "I have noticed -- and the [Western] media have ... neglected and omitted several times ... Iraq is made out of 18 provinces. Out of these 18 provinces, 14 to 15 are completely safe, there are no problems."
Allawi asked reporters to present a more balanced view of the situation in his country.
He said, "I call upon the responsible media -- throughout the world, not only here -- to look at the facts as they are in Iraq and to propagate these facts to the international community."
Allawi related his personal experiences with Iraqis who are determined to "beat terrorism and defeat the insurgents" despite the deadly attacks.
Allawi said that following the bombing of a police station that killed over 40 recruits, "I found hundreds of people coming to volunteer to the police and to the army. I spoke to them. They are all upbeat."
The Iraqi leader told Roberts, "These are facts that one really needs to explain to you and you need to explain it to the people."
Allawi challenged the reporters to come to Iraq to speak with the people.
He said, "You can find out yourselves that the Iraqis, tremendously, by and large, respect the United States, and respect the other partners in the coalition for helping Iraq, not only in liberation, but now in helping Iraq to rebuild itself and to rebuild its institutions."
Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.