[lit-ideas] Re: News via the web
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 21:31:42 -0700
> This is a story about the extensive US media coverage of these events, so
it may
> not, on Andreas' view, count as direct coverage, as it were. I have no way
of
> calling up the relevant front page.
The real story is what will happen tonight (it's morning in Iraq at the
moment). A cleric named al Sadr is defying the US troops and they are trying
to arrest him on murder charges. He is in a mosque, protected by thousands
of defiant Shiites.
A few days ago, the US shut down an Iraqi newspaper that was pro-al Sadr.
That sparked violent demonstrations and some 60 died, incl. 8 US soldiers.
A number of Shiite cities are in open rebellion against the US occupation.
This is significant: until now, it was Sunni in one area that were annoying
the US. Now, it's both major factions.
The US military now is looking for reinforcements. They want more troops in
Iraq immediately.
At Google News, there's currently 1,840 news stories about the confrontation
with al Sadr.
Here's a bit of followup on the censorship of the four "contractors". A
friend worked for a military contractor company. She said these guys were
not "security guards". They are trained by the US military as special
forces, and then they "retire" from the military and join "private
companies" that are under contract to the Dept of Defense. This gives the US
"plausible deniability" if something goes wrong ("...rogue elements...") and
the "contractors" can be sent to do jobs that the US can't admit. If there's
an investigation, nothing comes of it because the company dissolves and
reforms itself elsewhere.
She said the idea for this came up in South Africa during the apartheid
wars. The South African government developed groups of mercenary
"contractors" and sent them out on search and destroy missions. But the
mercenaries got a bit out of control, shall we say, and the South African
government had to get rid of them.
Where did they go? Just guess.
But none of this was in the US newspaper articles on what happened in
Falluja.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
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