Monday, March 22, 2004
The Little Terrorism Threat That Wasn't
An article appeared here in France about a week ago containing a translation of a letter supposedly from Al-Qaeda forces delivered to an Arabic newspaper in London. Here is a link to the article, but for those that don't speak French, here is a very brief rundown of the letter's contents.
1) Al-Qaeda target list: Japan, Italy, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Pakistan. Because they supported the American war in Iraq. "Who will protect you from cars, trains, and planes of death?" the letter reads.
2) Given the choice between war and peace, the Spanish people--who elected a government that vowed to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq--chose peace. They are no longer on the target list.
3) The United States (or "tyrant of the century" as they call it) is also no longer on the target list. Why?
Because they don't want Mr. Bush to lose the election in Novemeber. Why? Because "we need your stupidity and your religious chauvinism so that our [Arabo-Islamic] nation can rise."
After reading this article I went to look for its equivalent in the Anglophone press. Other than one AP article on yahoo news (claiming that the letters content had not been released) and another one on the Akron Beacon Journal site (barely touching on the attacks against Bush and failing to mention that the US is no longer on Al-Qaeda's hit list) In any case, the usual suspects, the NY Times, the Washington Post, BBC, CNN, and MSNBC, as far as I can tell, posted nothing about this. I understand that the authenticity of the letter, signed by Abu Hafs al-Masri (supposedly an adjoint to Al-Qaeda), was questionable. HOWEVER, I do believe it is newsworthy. Scoops are printed all the time with authentification pending. If it is a hoax, than print a follow-up article that it was a hoax. But to not print it at all? That is a little fishy. Especially when "Bush Congratulates Troops on 1 Year Anniversary of War" is considered newsworthy, with a slideshow and everything.
But anyway, here are a few questions that this mystery has provoked for me:
1) Why would Al-Qaeda be threatening Saudi Arabia? Isn't "Bin Laden" (he gets quotes until they can produce an actual human being and not a video tape) a Saudi? Weren't nearly all of the 9/11 hijackers Saudi?
2) Why would no major media force pick up this story?
3) Are the same graphic and gruesome images of the war in Iraq that I see frequently here finding their way to televisions in the US?
4) Do American journalists realize that they are tools of terror?
and finally,
5) Who else misses the crackerjack reporting of Jayson Blair?
1) Al-Qaeda target list: Japan, Italy, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Pakistan. Because they supported the American war in Iraq. "Who will protect you from cars, trains, and planes of death?" the letter reads.
2) Given the choice between war and peace, the Spanish people--who elected a government that vowed to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq--chose peace. They are no longer on the target list.
3) The United States (or "tyrant of the century" as they call it) is also no longer on the target list. Why?
Because they don't want Mr. Bush to lose the election in Novemeber. Why? Because "we need your stupidity and your religious chauvinism so that our [Arabo-Islamic] nation can rise."
After reading this article I went to look for its equivalent in the Anglophone press. Other than one AP article on yahoo news (claiming that the letters content had not been released) and another one on the Akron Beacon Journal site (barely touching on the attacks against Bush and failing to mention that the US is no longer on Al-Qaeda's hit list) In any case, the usual suspects, the NY Times, the Washington Post, BBC, CNN, and MSNBC, as far as I can tell, posted nothing about this. I understand that the authenticity of the letter, signed by Abu Hafs al-Masri (supposedly an adjoint to Al-Qaeda), was questionable. HOWEVER, I do believe it is newsworthy. Scoops are printed all the time with authentification pending. If it is a hoax, than print a follow-up article that it was a hoax. But to not print it at all? That is a little fishy. Especially when "Bush Congratulates Troops on 1 Year Anniversary of War" is considered newsworthy, with a slideshow and everything.
But anyway, here are a few questions that this mystery has provoked for me:
1) Why would Al-Qaeda be threatening Saudi Arabia? Isn't "Bin Laden" (he gets quotes until they can produce an actual human being and not a video tape) a Saudi? Weren't nearly all of the 9/11 hijackers Saudi?
2) Why would no major media force pick up this story?
3) Are the same graphic and gruesome images of the war in Iraq that I see frequently here finding their way to televisions in the US?
4) Do American journalists realize that they are tools of terror?
and finally,
5) Who else misses the crackerjack reporting of Jayson Blair?
