| MND COMMENTARY |
Islamist Snuff Films to Become Propaganda Weapons by Tom Marzullo
This surely is a damning claim and one that needs significant backing for any reasonable person to even consider its veracity. It is therefore incumbent upon this writer to provide you with the information, evidence and analysis that you require to make sense of the situation. Be aware that this issue will also bring an immediate knee-jerk response of the part of the Western left and the de rigor protests of Islamist groups in general. You will hear the typically shrill cries of condemnation, racism, bigotry that is trotted out whenever there is no evidence to back what they have to say, so pay attention what is said as that will be an education in itself. Perhaps the most convincing items of evidence at hand is a Chechen/Islamist-made video clip of deliberately slow and barbarous murder. This film was made and distributed by the Islamists and have already briefly appeared on the Internet on various sites that themselves just as quickly disappear. (Warning! Extremely grisly and nauseating video: Beheading [425kb]). It will also interest you to know that these types of videos were made as fund-raisers for the Islamist cause and that it was possible to have placed a custom order for the type of person and style of execution. For the majority of those Westerners who have had the gumption to view the video clips, they represent a shocking introduction into the twelfth century morality that seems to be irrevocably entwined in the Islamist mentality. It is also an indelible introduction to the use of video as a weapon in and of itself. For those who may not recall the scenes of dead American soldiers being abused and dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, it is necessary to remind them of the purpose of those videos. The purpose was to use the Western media to revolt the sensibilities if the Western viewers and create a response that would lead to the withdrawal of American forces from Somalia and leave the warlords in charge. It succeeded and so presented a workable template for the Islamists to enlarge upon. We frequently see some of the Western media in action as the de facto tools of the Islamists in Iraq and elsewhere. The evidence for this lies in paying attention to the tenor and level of error of the immediate reporting done from the scene of events. The clear preponderance of immediate reporting from some outlets is anti-coalition and although most of it is later disproved, it is the bulk accumulation of initial impressions that is sought and obtained by the Islamists and Baathist holdouts. This plays well into the chronic lack of depth and need for immediacy endemic in the Western visual media as well as to prejudices of many of their decision makers. These videos already have a ready outlet in Al Jezera and other Middle Eastern media outlets as well as the Internet, but what gains access to the American public are our own media companies. What is seldom dwelt upon by some members of the Western media is their own, now well-entrenched habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, insofar as the efforts of the United States and its allies are concerned. From Walter Cronkite’s 1968 pronouncements to Somalia and CNN/TIME’s collapsed ‘Tailwind’ smear, it is the journalist who now takes the lead in pronouncing the judgment of history in this latest perversion of yellow-journalism run amuck. The unwilling primary actors for this deliberately cold-blooded exercise in psychological terror operations are to be western, but preferably American military personnel, business people, non-governmental organization (NGO) charity workers and lastly journalists themselves. The ranking of potential victims is purposeful as it is the journalists who must complete the distribution cycle and it would not do to unduly alarm them, unless of course they fail to cooperate as expected. So what we have before us are the means, opportunity, motive and a clear history of prior similar bad acts. But we are not in court of law yet, just the court of public opinion and perception. So here is the bottom line for the consumers of mass media… It is the decision of whether to continue to become shocked and dismayed by the already-announced dissemination of barbarous images though our own media outlets that lack the mature and objective self-restraint required… or to finally become aware of who we are as a nation and a culture, the true nature of whom are at war with and begin to deal with it rationally and decisively. As for the left’s predicted response, that will also be illuminating exercise. Thoughtful readers will be interested to note just what media outlets, organizations and individuals immediately stand up to condemn this report without any rational examination of the facts of the matter and will begin to understand that therein lies the heart of this issue. It always pays to know who your friends really are, but at no time
is this more important than in these days of danger. Tom Marzullo is a columnist/physicist/educator who is a former US Army Special Forces combat soldier and US Navy Submariner with special operations experience in both services. He was the leader of the Internet-based effort by Special Forces veterans that debunked the false CNN/TIME magazine nerve gas story, 'Tailwind' and has provided testimony before the US Senate on military and intelligence matters. He resides in Colorado. | |||
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