Ukraine Shoots Down F-16 With Patriot, A... Sat Aug 31, 2024 11:53 | Anti-Empire
Surprise Offensive Puts 300 km² of Russ... Fri Aug 09, 2024 08:44 | Marko Marjanović
The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović Anti-Empire >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Deptartment of Psychiatry is so corrupt that when David Stephen says "The Government can do anything... Wed Aug 14, 2024 11:41 | dop
Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy
Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy
It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy
Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left Human Rights in Ireland >>
Bank of England Staff Told to Share Pronouns and Use ?Gender Neutral? Language Sun Sep 01, 2024 09:00 | Will Jones Bank of England staff have been told to share their pronouns at the start of meetings and use "gender neutral" language when speaking to customers.
The post Bank of England Staff Told to Share Pronouns and Use “Gender Neutral” Language appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Government?s Private Schools VAT Raid ?Risks Costing Taxpayer £1.8bn? Sun Sep 01, 2024 07:00 | Will Jones The Government?s VAT raid on private schools risks costing the taxpayer up to £1.8 billion as parents cut their work hours once their children move into the state sector, a report has found.
The post Government’s Private Schools VAT Raid “Risks Costing Taxpayer £1.8bn” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Sun Sep 01, 2024 01:04 | Richard Eldred A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Domestic Abuse Charity Allows ?Men Who Identify as Women? to Apply for £47,000-a-Year ?Women-Only? R... Sat Aug 31, 2024 15:00 | Will Jones A domestic abuse charity has been criticised for encouraging "men who identify as women" to apply for a senior £47,000-a-year "women-only" post.
The post Domestic Abuse Charity Allows “Men Who Identify as Women” to Apply for £47,000-a-Year “Women-Only” Role appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Ed Miliband and Chris Stark Have Just Admitted They Have No Clue What They?re Doing Sat Aug 31, 2024 13:00 | David Turver Ed Miliband and Chris Stark have asked National Grid for fresh advice on how to achieve Net Zero electricity by 2030. In other words, they've just admitted they have no clue what they're doing, says David Turver.
The post Ed Miliband and Chris Stark Have Just Admitted They Have No Clue What They’re Doing appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°97 Fri Aug 30, 2024 12:14 | en
The New Iranian Foreign Policy Fri Aug 30, 2024 12:12 | en
Press lies about the Venezuelan presidential election, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Aug 27, 2024 06:59 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°96 Fri Aug 23, 2024 15:28 | en
China chooses international law, distances itself from Israel and reunifies the ... Fri Aug 23, 2024 15:18 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Morning Ireland's Propaganda Coup
How RTÉ reacted in a recent US-made Crisis
On January 9th, 2008, at approximately 7:20 a.m. RTÉ’sNo. 1 radio show and news flagship, Morning Ireland gives Dr. Rosemary Hollis , ‘expert in the Middle East from Chatham House in London’,an airing to confirm stereotypes and prejudices against Iran and to pedal Whitehouse fantasies and concocted events without any critical questioning.
The following is a transcript of the item. Áine Lawlor: The United States has accused Iran of provocative and dangerous actions after an incident where five Iranian speed-boats harrassed three US Navy ships at the weekend. The incident happened in the Straits of Hrmuz, a major oil-shipping route. American Navy Admiral Kevin Cosgriff described what happened:
KC: ‘At one point during this encounter, we received eh, a radio; the ships received a radio-call that was threatening in nature, to the effect that they were closing our ships and that might eh, the ships would eh, the ships would explode. Subsequentally, two of these ships were observed dropping objects in the water, generally in the path of the final ship in the formation, the USS Angerham. These objects were white box-like objects that floated, and eh [?] re-see the ship passed by them safely.
AL: and htat was Admiral Kevin Cosgriff of the US Navy; the American Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, condemned the Iranian action:
Condoleeza Rice, US Secretary of State: There is nothing normal about what the Iranians did; it is provocative, and that kind of provocation is dangerous.
AL: That kind of provocation is dangerous. I’m joined by Dr. Rosemary Hollis, the Middle East expert at Chatham House. How dangerous, Dr. Rosemary Hollis, in your opinion, was this this incident?
RH: It is dangerous. If you remember the USS Cole episode; this was a US warship that was rammed by a very small boat – a little dingy that was full of explosives – and ended in an explosion that killed US sailors. That all happened in the port of Aden in Yemen, and was attributed to el-Quaeda. In this instance, the Iranians are not to be confused with al-Quaeda, but the Iranians that run those speed-boats in the Presian Gulf, are members of the Iranian Revolutionary guard Corps; and the United States has singled out that Corps of service personnel in Iran as singularly dangerous, and revolutionary and provocative to the United States.
AL: Was this a highly calculated move do you think, or just one of those incidents where one thing borrowed – because we do have President Bush visiting the region this week.
RH: eh, indeed; and in a way, it could actually suit him that this episode occurred, and has been made so public; because, one of the items on his agenda is to talk about Iran. You have the National Intelligence Estimate – the intelligences of the US – saying that they didn’t think Iran was actively pursuing a nuclear weapon at this time; and they said that – or we learnt that they’d said that – at the beginning of december; that took the heat out of an escalating tension between Iran and the US, and took away any kind of justification for a US pre-emptive attack on Iran – which some expected this Spring. However, because the Americans have their forces in Iraq, and the Iranians have a number of personnel and contacts and allies in Iraq; and because the Iranians patrol their own coastal waters and stray beyond them in the Persian Gulf, and the American Navy is there in force in the Persian Gulf; the opportunity for misunderstanding, accidents and something, some episode to spiral out of control, is considerable.
AL: mmhm…and it’s been quite difficult, hasn’t it, in recent times, to read America’s intentions towards Iran; as you say, there was a lot of speculation that there would be an attack eh, before the Bush regime left the White House, but then we had the national intelligence estimate saying they didn’t pose a nuclear threat. What do you think are the chances…?
RH: They say they didn’t pose a nuclear threat at the moment. [pretend laugh].
AL: So, what do you think the chances are that this will come to a confrontation – a military confrontation between the US and Iran before George Bush leaves office?
RH: Well, if we go back to that episode of the USS Cole I was on about, the natural reaction of the United States is going to be to shoot one of these Iranian boats out of the water before they have a chance to do anything dangerous to the American warship. In those circumstances, we would’ve immediately entered direct conflict between the Iranians and the Americans, and that’s what could escalate dramatically. The Iranians have threatened to retaliate against any type of military action by the Americans, and they’ve threatened to retaliate inside Iraq; through their allies Hezbullah in Lebanon, against Israel, and in general across the region; and President Bush goes to the region this week, in order to talk about the importance of being on the Amercan side, as opposed to the Iranian side, in the confrontation between radicals and so-called ‘moderates’ in the region.
AL: We’ve been talking about what’s been happening on the American side, what about the Iranian side; there’s been some speculation recently that Ahmedinijad wasn’t quite as powerful as he had been in Teheran; what’s going on there?
RH: This speculation goes around and round; in fact, the supreme leader has the last say including, on whether the Iranians will have some kind of repairing of relations with the Americans (with whom, they haven’t had diplomatic relations since the Iranian Revolution and the American hostage crisis in 1979-80. Now, em, in those circumstances, Ahmedinijad has to keep on the right side of the supreme ledader, but, he’s also done rather well in garnering rather a lot of populist support on the streets – beyond the sophisticated Middle Class millieau in Teheran, but across Iran in general – by fuelling anti-Americanism and blaming the Americans for most of the ills of the region, including, the Iranian economy.
AL: Alright, Dr. Rosemary Hollis, Middle East expert with Chatham House, thankyou for that eh, update on the situation that applies there ahead of President Bush’s situ eh, trip to the region tomorrow – its twenty-five past seven.
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3Later that day, it transpires that the US version of events is false. The US navy video that was used as initial evidence, is shown to be doctored, and the subject is quietly dropped. However, from January 7th when the initial US press briefings were made on the matter, it seemed to many that this incident was going to spark something much bigger in the way of US retaliation.
At this potentially critical time in international politics, three versions of events are given – all supporting the official US position. Rosemary Hollis, in a remarkably supine interview (even by Áine Lawlor’s standards), expounds an orthodox neo-con view of the world at large, with all the factual inaccuracies one might expect from such a contribution.
So, it seems, the falsehoods propogated by US and British i’intelligence’ as justification for the Iraqi War was all forgotten. The Irish listener was expected to believe this stuff all over again (as the producers and Áine Lawlor apparently did).
As a neutral(?) country, Ireland can feel confident that when the going gets tough in some part of the world that the US wants to invade, RTÉ knows which side it’s bread is buttered on – Pentagon Service Broadcasting.
The above programme is at .( The date is, in fact,Monday, January 8th).
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0108/morningireland.html
Audio can be found there.
On April 9th, RTÉ's representation of perspectives on the Iraqi invasion and war, will be discussed at DIT, Aunger's Street, Dublin 2.