Al Jazeera with the Taliban

[AF_VET74]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fa3_1173105514

[Lt.Havoc]

Hmm...... Al Jazeera is always suspicious. More like Terrorist propaganda.....

[GoodToGo]

Man, about 40 seconds into the video when the Taliban were driving across the desert in their technicals I was just begging for a Hellfire strike. Now that would have been an impressive video angle!

[PaulClift]

Certainly not the kind of footage you see often, interesting only for that, alot seemed like flag waving for the Taliban though.

[Lt.Havoc]

Man, about 40 seconds into the video when the Taliban were driving across the desert in their technicals I was just begging for a Hellfire strike. Now that would have been an impressive video angle!

Well, we will see that in the next few days, wehn the NATO starts his offensive. At least, there is one in planning, read about it in various news post here in the forum.

[John_J]

Well al jazeera is in the arab world like our cnn, and I believe they wanted to show bothsides of the war...which western TV crew would survive 5 mins with the Taliban....and by the way...Talib..means Koran Student....

[CPLHUNTER]

Didn't know that Taliban meant that...

It just seems that AJ is biased. I can't get their broadcast, but I bet they don't show footage from Western sources of combat scenes.

CNN is unbiased and just shows all propanda

[Lt.Havoc]

I stick to germany TV like N-TV or N24 as well as the good old Tagesschau, they show the facts and openly say wehn something is not certain yet. Geramny news people often managed to film the Taliban and Muslim extremists/dundamentalists.

The thing is, that even if Taliban means Koran-Student and Jhihad only means "to struggel (with himself)" these extremists guys turn everything into the bad. Also, from what I saw so far in the past and present, I also belive AJ is baised and seems to make indirect propaganda for the Islamic figthers.

[alfigel]

Didn't know that Taliban meant that...

It just seems that AJ is biased. I can't get their broadcast, but I bet they don't show footage from Western sources of combat scenes.

CNN is unbiased and just shows all propanda

rofl CNN unbiased? You must be kidding.

Anyway, to make this clear: this is not propaganda. Why is it not propaganda? Because it puts what is reported into an overall context. That is one of the key differences between propaganda and reporting: putting things in context. As long as you show the context and the overall environment of what you bring, there is absolutely no problem in displaying the "enemy" side.

Also, when specifically looking at the pictures, I see absolutely nothing propaganda-like in this video. If this was really propaganda, they would have either put the Taliban in a very positive light, or they would have celebrated the hanging of the "US spy" (it is said in the report that he had a ID card from USAID, that's why they hanged him) and the carrying of the weapons a lot more. I think people claiming that this is propaganda should switch back to Fox News and not post here anymore.

[bryanleu2002]

Dog and pony show for the taliban, they were most likely paid off with american cash to get together and make a show for the media guy as long as he stood near them.. after that they all fled into rat holes, ditching there weapons for another day to make money or die.

Money has no enemy.

[GoodToGo]

rofl CNN unbiased? You must be kidding.

Anyway, to make this clear: this is not propaganda. Why is it not propaganda? Because it puts what is reported into an overall context. That is one of the key differences between propaganda and reporting: putting things in context. As long as you show the context and the overall environment of what you bring, there is absolutely no problem in displaying the "enemy" side.

Also, when specifically looking at the pictures, I see absolutely nothing propaganda-like in this video. If this was really propaganda, they would have either put the Taliban in a very positive light, or they would have celebrated the hanging of the "US spy" (it is said in the report that he had a ID card from USAID, that's why they hanged him) and the carrying of the weapons a lot more. I think people claiming that this is propaganda should switch back to Fox News and not post here anymore.

Nicely said. I agree that this video is not overtly propagandic in nature, and i for one welcome every chance i can get to see al-Jazeera in English, having spent the last few years reading Arabic language transcripts from the Doha feed. This was actually a well done report.

With that being said, ALL media is biased and propagandic to some degree - subconsciously pursuing a pre-formed bias more aggressively than other sides of the argument is simple human nature. People who watch nothing but one news channel or read only one newspaper in order to get their fill of geo-political understanding are only fooling themselves. Getting educated and informed about both sides of the issue from as many sources as possible is the only way we have to beat that bias with a bat!

[el borracho]

Being fluent in Arabic, I watch and read Al-Jazeera a great deal. I don't believe they're biased as in "pro-Taliban/Iraqi Insurgents" etc. but being Arab, they vehemently defend the legitimacy of Islam, and respond accordingly when they perceive threats from the west that blame Islam for terrorism, insurgencies, and the general root of all problems in that region.

[Createdeemcee]

Thats scary, Great to hear and see the truth.

[shortyirish12]

we will never know how true this film is, for all we know they drove in circles outside some hideout of theres, at least when I was in sangin for a few days there weren't any guns or people out showing off, I don't buy anything on tv, I will watch with my own two eyes, and sometimes I only believe half of what Isee:)

[artinist]

CNN is unbiased and just shows all propanda

CNN IS porpaganda. for terrorists that is. they won't show any of the positive results of iraq like what happening in the south and north.


the ONLY thing worth watching in the entire CNN network is lou dobbs.

[saBBBat]

El Borracho, doesn't Al Jazeera referer American troops as crusaders or invaders in their Arabic broadcasts? For some reason, I think I read that somewhere but I am not entirely sure.

[khukuri]

It just seems that AJ is biased. I can't get their broadcast, but I bet they don't show footage from Western sources of combat scenes.

CNN is unbiased and just shows all propanda


why dies it seem to be propaganda, you dont even watch the channel or understand arabic. Is it because its an arab new channel? I find al jazeera showing more of both sides than any western channel, and that specially counts for other conflicts, like in burma or whatever. Its doesnt make it non biased thou. You are just guessing without knowing what you are talking about.
I dont like that channel by the way.


Being fluent in Arabic, I watch and read Al-Jazeera a great deal. I don't believe they're biased as in "pro-Taliban/Iraqi Insurgents" etc. but being Arab, they vehemently defend the legitimacy of Islam, and respond accordingly when they perceive threats from the west that blame Islam for terrorism, insurgencies, and the general root of all problems in that region.


agree 100%

[Rictor]

I like how even reporting on a given subject is taken to be an endorsement of it. Oh noes, they filmed with the Taliban! Damned terrorist supporters, does their evil propaganda know no bounds!

What I saw was a middle-aged British dude (who must have been scared half to death) reporting on a legitimate topic in as unbiased a fashion as can be expected. And quite an interesting video it was - it reminded me of PBS' recent documentary on the Taliban; very informative.

[el borracho]

El Borracho, doesn't Al Jazeera referer American troops as crusaders or invaders in their Arabic broadcasts? For some reason, I think I read that somewhere but I am not entirely sure.

Some of those who have been interviewed have said that, but the term "occupiers" is used a great deal. I wouldn't worry since that is the same term used for Israelis. Just a propaganda term used to strike a chord with their viewers.

[khukuri]

Some of those who have been interviewed have said that, but the term "occupiers" is used a great deal. I wouldn't worry since that is the same term used for Israelis. Just a propaganda term used to strike a chord with their viewers.

newsflash...
Occupiers is what the majority of people around the world see the us presence in Iraq as. Its nothing limited to Al-Jazeera. Actually, most of the time when there are troops from one country staying in another country by force its called occupation. Al thou I might not agree 100% to call the us presence as an occupation I wouldn't regards it as controversial or very unfitting.

[MG 3]

Didn't know that Taliban meant that...

It just seems that AJ is biased. I can't get their broadcast, but I bet they don't show footage from Western sources of combat scenes.

CNN is unbiased and just shows all propanda

Cnnis unbiasedrofl. This should be moved to the humor section.

[MG 3]

Well al jazeera is in the arab world like our cnn, and I believe they wanted to show bothsides of the war...which western TV crew would survive 5 mins with the Taliban....and by the way...Talib..means Koran Student....

Wrong talib means just student. Talib-e-Quran means the student of Quran.

[MG 3]

Al-Jazeera is not bisaed but perhaps because of the other biased networks we think they are out of line. I started watching it when they started the english version. I was sitting ready for the propoganda to rain down but nothing. What bothers ppl is that they show both sides of the story but they are still anti taliban.

[Con-man]

I really can't trust that video at all, there are just too many inconsistencies, such as there not being any visible weapons in the streets, just in closed off backyards. They also said that when they were driving through the town they were in a car full of armed men, which as you picked up is probably bull**** because they don't show any of the car at all.