[T]he most striking thing about the "Abu Zarqawi Hour" is how it demonstrates the deranged, almost hallucinatory, quality of our 21st century global village, in which the remaining boundaries between reality, propaganda and entertainment are all being rapidly erased, ..
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January 13, 2006
WB: The Abu Zarqawi Hour
Comments
Had we only bombed Al-Jazeera when we had the chance, we might have sent these guys enough of a message to preempt this sort of troublesome media activity…
Posted by: ralphieboy | Jan 13 2006 20:31 utc | 1
Now you gotta admit, that’s a pretty slick piece of work — especially for a bunch of desperate terrorists who are relentlessly being hunted down and killed by the U.S. Army and its heroic Iraqi allies in their drive to total victory. That probably explains the wardrobe problems.
Desperate as he is, Abu Zarqawi isn’t going to let a rival network steal audience share so easily. According to Kazimi at Talisman Gate, he put up the first installment of his own new show the same week that the JAS version of 60 Minutes (well, 30 Minutes) debuted. I guess it must have been sweeps week.
Hilarious.The mon returns.
…./
Posted by: hanshan | Jan 13 2006 20:58 utc | 2
Nice one, Billmon. I can see it now, we have in fact gone through the singularity, approaching the event horizon. And it’s funny out here. I mean funny ha-ha, although it sure as green apples is funny strange too.
NickM, what ultimately failed in Ulster was a violent overthrow of northern Ireland’s occupiers, the British (English) and these guys. So Billmon says that the Sunnis might not fail in their struggle against their own occupation by an armed force.
Posted by: jonku | Jan 13 2006 22:00 utc | 4
This shows that the Sunnis having controled the levers of power for such a long time are much very smart, have a high level of sophistication and know the ins and outs of Iraq much better than we do.
I am sure the intellectuals are concentrated in the Sunnis, the war planners and the experiences politicians also. So, the Shia and Kurds are behind the curve and have yet to master the propaganda wars.
I can see the civil war now, and the minority Sunnis with their education, experience in planning, and dollars and weapons hidden before regime fall, can likely stick it out and win the war in the long run.
Public relations is very important, and I think the insurgency has the upper hand.
Posted by: jdp | Jan 13 2006 22:31 utc | 6
That’s more like it billmon. Irrelevancies like the obese hacks in suits laughingly referred to as democrats are about as interesting as watching paint dry.
The ulster comparison only withsatnds shallow scrutiny though. Big daddy was just the toss of a velvet wrapped iron glove away there, whereas Iraq is a considerably more challenging area to control, with extremely insecure supply lines, bases that are regularly subjected to enemy attack and a totally demoralised occupying force who feel very cut off from their own propaganda whilst having the rather more graphic and real enemy version right in front of them.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jan 13 2006 22:39 utc | 7
To tired to read it all, but in the morning I will give my 2cents.
Nice to see Billmon back.
Posted by: Cloned Poster | Jan 14 2006 0:03 utc | 8
Billmon I am glad you are back! Missed you.
You’ve hit this one out of the park. Up is down and down is up. Welcome to the neo-“con” era.
Posted by: Max | Jan 14 2006 2:24 utc | 9
Billmon! I’m excited, as usually, at about this time of night is when bmon posts, I hope he is back to satuated us w/a few new posts. for these dark dark nights.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jan 14 2006 6:33 utc | 11
lets me get this straight, if i am in the minority, the majority is being supported by the global power, all the cards are on deck…slick move, these guys are not living in the dark ages, it’s information warfare.
thanks billmon
debs, let go of the dem thing, we have bigger fish to fry
Posted by: annie | Jan 14 2006 8:40 utc | 12
…. it demonstrates the deranged, almost hallucinatory, quality of our 21st century global village, in which the remaining boundaries between reality, propaganda and entertainment are all being rapidly erased… But there is more..
Xymphora:
Why is my face on TV?
From the Washington Post account of the ‘solving’ of the David Rosenbaum assassination (my emphasis throughout in bold): …
Xymph
One of the last alleged perps who did something similar that I recall was Abdulaziz al Omari (Alomari, etc.), a Saudi Pilot for Saudi Airlines, a happily married man with 4 children (the last was born in Florida, Vero Beach.) He obtained an apology from the US consul (or his deputy, unclear) in Saudi Arabia, in a special ceremony.
Note: It wasn’t his face on the TV and in the press, but his name, correct DOB, correct or almost correct no. of children, profession and employer, the localisation of his previous home, and a close friend of his wanted for questioning.
On occasion it can become necessary to reclaim one’s identity. In other cases, one needs to pretend one is someone else.
Pentagon to families: Go ahead, laugh
When the stress of the war in Iraq becomes too severe, the Pentagon has a suggestion for military families: Learn how to laugh. With help from the Pentagon’s chief laughter instructor, families of National Guard members are learning to walk like a penguin, laugh like a lion and blurt “ha, ha, hee, hee and ho, ho.”
USA today
Malleable identities and real war as comedy.
Posted by: Noisette | Jan 14 2006 10:59 utc | 13
omg bill’s back! our long national nightmare is finally over!
Posted by: mc | Jan 14 2006 11:18 utc | 14
Josh marshall weighs in: Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks’ nightmare scenario–it’s their plan.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jan 14 2006 14:01 utc | 15
As was posited earlier Ayman al-Zawahri the alleged number 2 in al Qaeda wasn’t in the Pakistani village when at least 18 people were reduced to the primary ingredients of flesh, blood and bone by 4 us missiles which were fired at them following 2 days of un-manned drones circling the village.
The bit about the drone came from an on the spot interview with a tribesman on the Beeb last night who was somewhat (naturally and to say the least) irate at the mindless destruction of his village.
Perhaps BushCo could explain to the world how it is that this is not an act of terrorism.
Tha pakistanis appear to be pretty pissed whether this is for the benefit of the media or because they are angry is anyone’s guess:
“Anger has been building in Pakistan over repeated U.S. attacks, and on Saturday hundreds of protesters chanted anti-American slogans at Inayat Killi village, near Damadola.
The incident came days after Pakistan, an important ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, lodged a strong protest with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, saying cross-border firing in the Waziristan tribal area last weekend killed eight people.
President Pervez Musharraf, addressing officials in the town of Swabi to the north of Islamabad, made only a passing reference to the attack in Bajaur, saying it was being investigated.”….
….”People from Damadola said no foreigners, only local people, were present and killed in Friday’s attack.
“I know all the 18 people killed. There was neither Zawahri nor any other Arab among them. Rather they were all poor people of the area,” Haroon Rashid, the area’s National Assembly representative, was quoted by the Afghan Islamic Press news agency as saying.”
to add insult to injury:“U.S. sources in Washington said the remains of the dead would have to be examined to determine whether Zawahri among them.”
The US claim they had intelligence (whatever that means) that Ayman al-Zawahri spent some time in the village last winter.
Even if it were true he doesn’t seem like the type of person to spend 2 winters in the same spot and if the drones had been circling for days what chance would there be of him still being there?
Maybe this was an act of revenge but I reckon it’s more likely to be an arrogant uncaring fuck-up. “I mean there’s lots more where they came from whats 18 more or less?”
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jan 14 2006 20:24 utc | 17
I saw the comedian Steven Wright on TV last night and he said “there
are a lot of things in the world that are wrong, that people dont know about” — which was funny. And evidently, the primary mission of the bush administration; to reveal in every word and action, evermore of the misguided side of world of the wrong — which in double irony, cannot even get the funny part right.
Posted by: anna missed | Jan 14 2006 21:02 utc | 18
anna missed I am so sorry to not undersand you.
I try to see “evermore of the misguided side of world of the wrong.”
I have a full experience of life so far at 45 years but I have not killed or expereinced war or killing, so I’m without words right now.
Posted by: jonku | Jan 15 2006 10:14 utc | 19
welcome back, billmon. got an idea for a reality show right here in the usa, aimed at lighting a fire under the knee-jerk patriot demographic – Who put the Con’s in the Constitution?
Posted by: b real | Jan 16 2006 3:53 utc | 20
jonku,
There may have been some wine involved with my last posting, but, what I think he was saying is that there are alot of ways of thinking about the world that are wrong, many, many ways more ways of thinking than are right(ways of thinking). And its just that people are’nt aware of all those wrong ways of thinking until someone brings another one up or tries one out –i.e. the Bush administrations modus-operandi.
Posted by: anna missed | Jan 16 2006 4:21 utc | 21