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U.S. Middle East Propaganda Station Broadcasts Terrorist Messages

TUESDAY MAY 22 2007 10:30 PM

Submitted by Subrosa. Edited By erin_broadley.

TAGS: Bush, broadcasting board of governors, anti-semitism, idiots

Just in case you were under the impression that stupid doesn�t trickle down from the top, it should now be abundantly clear how wrong you were.

Al Hurra television, the U.S. government's $63 million-a-year effort at public diplomacy broadcasting in the Middle East, is run by executives and officials who cannot speak Arabic, according to a senior official who oversees the program.

That might explain why critics say the service has recently been caught broadcasting terrorist messages, including an hour-long tirade on the importance of anti-Jewish violence, among other questionable pieces.

See, I don�t know about you, but when I�m setting up my own personal propaganda network to attempt to �win the hearts and minds� of the people of the Middle East, I�m going to make sure that the people I hire speak the fucking language. I mean, I wouldn't want to set the bar too high or anything, but it might be useful in the broadcasting industry to actually know what you're broadcasting. I dunno. Just a thought.

Facing tough questions before a congressional panel last week, Broadcasting Board of Governors member Joaquin Blaya admitted none of the senior news managers at the network spoke Arabic when the terrorist messages made it onto the air courtesy of U.S. taxpayer funds. Nor did Blaya himself or any of the other officials at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the network.

"How does it happen that the terrorists take over?" asked Rep. Gary L. Ackerman, D-N.Y., at a hearing last Wednesday of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee he chairs. "Is there no adult supervision?"

Silly Representative Ackerman. "Adult supervision" would require that the administration be run by actual "adults."

Blaya conceded that the top officials in the network's chain of command could not understand what was being said on al Hurra broadcasts.
[�]
The station's gaffes have included broadcasting in December 2006 a 68-minute call to arms against Israelis by a senior figure of the terrorist group Hezbollah; deferential coverage of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial conference; and a factually flawed piece on a splinter group of Orthodox Jews who oppose the state of Israel, according to the Wall Street Journal, which has reported the network's travails for months.

The station is run by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is an independent federal agency in charge of all government sponsored non-military worldwide broadcasting. Its board is comprised of nine members. Eight of those members are appointed by the President. The ninth is the Secretary of State. You may be sensing a pattern with the whole �presidential appointee� thing.

But rest assured, my friends. Everything is now under control.

At the hearing, Blaya and other officials assured lawmakers that some of the staffers involved in the controversial broadcasts had been fired.

Whew. Thank goodness some of them have been fired. I feel so much better.

Hat tip: herbancowboy

40 Comments

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JekyllAndHyde

Nottingham, MD

April 2005

MAY 22, 2007 10:52 PM

It is incerdibly hard for stupidity to surprise me anymore, but this somehow managed it. I thought I had seen it all this day and age, but I just started bleeding out my ears after reading this. I honestly don't have any words....

JekyllAndHyde

Nottingham, MD

April 2005

MAY 22, 2007 10:53 PM

Except... HOW?! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, HOW THE HELL DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

nueve

Rowland Heights, CA

June 2004

MAY 22, 2007 11:11 PM

this article is fucking hysterical. the only thing that's somewhat surprising to me is that my tax dollars are actually going towards funding televised propaganda.

I mean, honestly. This is what it means to be an American in 2007.

Aren't you proud?

Coliwali

I'm lost

February 2003

MAY 22, 2007 11:40 PM

The US has been broadcasting propaganda for nearly as long as it's been able to broadcast. Radio Free Europe comes to mind as the best example of this sort of thing.

The clear difference here is that this program is being staffed by patronage appointees rather than experts.

hav818

Houston, TX

May 2004

MAY 22, 2007 11:51 PM

Yup, sounds about right.

polverso

Kansas City, MO

December 2005

MAY 22, 2007 11:53 PM

Bush's lackeys drop the ball on another major government expence. But hey look on the bright side, at least people aren't starving on roofs waiting for rescue this time.

Ridley

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

MAY 22, 2007 11:57 PM

nueve said:
this article is fucking hysterical. the only thing that's somewhat surprising to me is that my tax dollars are actually going towards funding televised propaganda.

I mean, honestly. This is what it means to be an American in 2007.

Aren't you proud?

What that surprises you? That is what promoting democracy in other nations has been about since day 1. That is how the U.S. (and any other country for that matter) has always worked...

It hasn't changed at all, so I'm not surprised about that. Hell I don't think I'm even surprised that no one speaks the language in this deal.

Subrosa

San Francisco, CA

July 2004

MAY 23, 2007 12:09 AM

creativename said:

Yeah. The fact that the US runs propaganda broadcasts is not unusual. The fact that we're doing it without knowing what they're broadcasting... is kind of disturbing.

RudieCantFail

Intercourse, PA

January 2006

MAY 23, 2007 12:27 AM

Subrosa said:
The station is run by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is an independent federal agency in charge of all government sponsored non-military worldwide broadcasting. Its board is comprised of nine members. Eight of those members are appointed by the President. The ninth is the Secretary of State. You may be sensing a pattern with the whole "presidential appointee" thing.

You're doin' a heckuva job, there, Blaya.

ianbuon

Pasadena, CA

August 2006

MAY 23, 2007 02:22 AM

Quite typical of an American corporation for the executives on the top of the ladder to not understand the language of their workers or their customer base.

joker_

Windsor, CA

October 2005

MAY 23, 2007 02:28 AM

I really don't give a shit what these people do anymore except...

They are wasting my fucking money!!!

I am not comfortable with my hard earned cash going towards all this bullshit. In fact I'm ridiculously pissed off. I could have got that convertible if I wasn't helping pay for these fucktards.

Some one start some kind of national movement to not pay taxes unless it can be demonstrated that tax dollars are being used for reasonable things, like improving alternative energy, actual national security, etc..etc..

Oh wait, don't do that. You lose all rights if they throw you in Gitmo.

erleichda

Germany

May 2003

MAY 23, 2007 02:38 AM

Does anybody know what Al Hurra means?

Because Hurra is also the german version of the injection Hurray! And I find quite a bit of weirdness in this being the name of an american propaganda station in the middle east.

Trahern

United Kingdom

March 2003

MAY 23, 2007 03:41 AM

How!? Just how... could they possibly...

...Fuck it. I can't even type surprised anymore.

pariah002

Yugoslavia

July 2003

MAY 23, 2007 03:56 AM

*sigh*

softdog

I'm lost

January 2004

MAY 23, 2007 06:16 AM

As we had that guy who was running Radio Free Europe and the CPB pushing his own agenda and doing his own business on our dime, this isn't surprising. It is a step up from other Iraq funding in which we just gave out money without keeping track of it. At this rate, our tax dollars should be funding something in Iraq which actually works in about 2020.

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