Ah, liberation

Iraq is “liberated”. The people are thankful for the invasion and civilian casualties. Perhaps the new enemy is the onslaught of American culture. Riverbend explains the reality on the ground, media-wise:

“Two years ago, the major part of the war in Iraq was all about bombarding us with smart bombs and high-tech missiles. Now there’s a different sort of war – or perhaps it’s just another phase of the same war. Now we’re being assailed with American media. It’s everywhere all at once.”

“Al-Hurra, the purported channel of freedom, is the American gift to the Arab world. What they do is show us translated documentaries about certain historical events (American documentaries) or about movie stars (American stars) or vacation spots. Throughout this, there are Arab anchors giving us the news (which is like watching Fox in Arabic). It’s news about the Arab world with the American twist.”

“…I’ve always sensed from the various websites that American mainstream news is far-removed from reality – I just didn’t know how far. Everything is so tame and simplified. Everyone is so sincere.”

Read the whole thing.

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