6.30pm *Institute of Technology, Aungiers St. *A Debate on the Media and the War

by Miriam Wed Apr 09, 2008 14:01

There are gaping holes and contradictions in what the US is saying about Iranian relations with Iraq - som of which may be covered during the discussion tonight.

In case anyone is still wondering about whether to come or not - there will be an 'overspill' room for people who turn up without having reserved a sapce where it can be viewed live. The seats are all booked now. Or you can see it on the rte.ie news site or on RNN.

by sceptic Wed Apr 09, 2008 00:18

General Petraeus also told lawmakers that Iran plays a destructive role in Iraq by supporting Shia militias in the country.

He claimed that recent clashes between the Baghdad government and Shia militia loyal to militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr highlighted the destructive role Iran has played in funding, training, arming and directing the so-called special groups.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0408/iraq.html

vs

The Times of London reports that US Gen. David Petraeus will report to the US Congress that Iranian fighters fought alongside Mahdi Army militiamen in Basra.

This fixation on Iran just doesn't make any sense to me. The poor slum kids and Marsh Arabs in Basra who follow Muqtada al-Sadr don't even like Iranians. The primary Iran-linked force in Basra is the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq with its Badr Corps militia, which most Basrans code as Iranian puppets. One of my Iraqi correspondents told me that when the Badr Corps was fighting Marsh Arabs, local Basrans characterized it as 'Iranians fighting Iraqis.' The Badr Corps, according to the Iraqi press, fought alongside al-Maliki's 14th Division against the Mahdi Army. The Badr Corps was trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and it is alleged that many Badr Corps fighters are still on the Iranian payroll.

Iranians come through Basra on their way up to Karbala and Najaf on pilgrimage to sacred Shiite shrines, and a handful may have gotten caught up in the fighting. This sort of thing has happened before. [8,000 Iranian pilgrims caught in Iraq because of the fighting have just been recalled home, and a temporary halt on the pilgrimages has been called.) But that Supreme Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei of Iran deliberately sent Iranian troops or agents into Basra to undermine ISCI, Badr, and al-Maliki's Da'wa (Islamic Missionary) Party on behalf of the Sadr Movement just strikes me as daft. It flies in the face of everything else we know about the relationship of these groups with Iran.

In fact, the Iranian leadership benefits from a united Iraqi Shiite community and the head of the Expediency Council, Akbar Rafsanajani, expressed concern about the faction-fighting among Iraqi Shiites. Iran brokered the cease-fire. If it wanted Shiite on Shiite fighting, why would it do that?
http://www.juancole.com/2008/04/5-us-troops-die-in-iraq....html

by Miriam Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:47

There are a lot of bookings for this event. It would be better to arrive as close to 6 as you can so that there is time to check people off on the reservation sheets - the webcast begins at 6.30 so the audience will need to be seated by then. Cheers.

by David - MediaBite Sat Apr 05, 2008 14:02 editors at mediabite dot org

This is a FREE event. Email editors@mediabite.org to reserve your seat.

Reporting War
DIT, Aungier St., Dublin
April 9th, 6:15pm

Panel includes:

Pepe Escobar - Asia Times / Real News Network
Dahr Jamail - Independent Journalist
Patrick Smyth - Irish Times Foreign Editor
Joe Zefran - RTE.ie News Editor
Harry Browne - DIT lecturer
Ciaran O'Reilly - Anti-war Activist
Eamonn Crudden - Independent Film-Maker
Fergal Keane - RTE

Hosted by:

MediaBite
Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)
RTE News Online
The Real News Network

Broadcast live on RTE.ie and theRealNews.com

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm97/MediaBite/Debat...v.jpg

by RobbieS Fri Apr 04, 2008 22:46

As an example of RTÉ's imbalanced regurgitation of official US versions of reality can be found in this article I've just posted on the newswire.

It's a transcript of Morning Ireland's treatment of US (ultimately bogus) allegations of threatening behavoiur by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard last January - a time when tensions were wratcheted up, potentially, to justify a US attack.

by Miriam Thu Apr 03, 2008 17:48 editors at mediabite dot org

Paddy Smyth, Foreign Editor, Irish Times
Joe Zefran, RTE.ie
Fergal Keane, RTE Radio One

Speaker biographies to follow.

by Dispatches Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:52

Talk in Dublin.
April 9th , Dublin @ Dublin Institute of Technology, Aungier Street at 6.30pm
in a debate with RTE, moderated by Pepe Escobar

mailto:dmanning@gmail.com

'Beyond the Green Zone' is now available in book format.

This is a short notice of the upcoming talk on 'Beyond the Green Zone'

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/84489

The stop in Dublin is part of a UK tour which takes place from 7th-10th April 2008.

- http://dahrjamailiraq.com
-http://dahrjamailiraq.com/bookpage

Beyond the Green Zone

by Dahr Jamail info Wed Apr 02, 2008 07:36

Acclaimed Journalist Dahr Jamail Tours the United Kingdom and Ireland,
April 7-12

Beyond the Green Zone:
Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq

"While so much reporting from Iraq has remained embedded and wrong,
Dahr Jamail's courageous
truth-telling from the frontline has been a beacon." —John Pilger

"Essential for anybody who wants to know what is really happening in
Iraq. A book which reports what Iraqis endure and what has happened to
them during the occupation." —Patrick Cockburn, foreign correspondent,
The Independent, author, The Occupation

"From the earliest days of the war, Jamail has been a human conduit for
the voices of Iraqis living under U.S. occupation. In the face of
tremendous personal risk, his commitment to the crucial, principled task of
bearing witness has never wavered, and this extraordinary book is the
result." —Naomi Klein, author, The Shock Doctrine and No Logo

IN LATE 2003, weary of the overall failure of the US media to
accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq for the Iraqi people and
US soldiers, Dahr Jamail embarked to Iraq to report on the war himself.
His unembedded dispatches were quickly recognized as an important media
resource, featuring exclusive, on-the-ground coverage of the major
events of the occupation. Jamail spent a total of 8 months in occupied
Iraq as one of only a few independent US journalists in the country and
has also reported extensively from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Jamail now writes for the Inter Press Service, The Asia Times and many
other outlets, with reports published in the Nation, The Sunday Herald,
Islam Online, the Guardian, Foreign Policy in Focus, and the
Independent. He will be speaking on his new book,
Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches
from an Unembedded Journalist in Iraq (Haymarket Books).

by Another speaker Wed Apr 02, 2008 05:38

Also speaking is Dahr Jamail, author of "Beyond the Green Zone"
- presently on a speaking tour of England, Scotland, Ireland.

See link for more background info....
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/395289.html