Deliberate Confusion over Taliban Support? Aljazeera Schizophrenia at Alarabiya………
The following are main headlines/excerpts from media outlets about the recent WikiLeak ‘leaks’ about the Afghan war. The versions stressed in Western media and Aljazeera are quite different from version of Alarabiya (in Arabic):
“A trove of military documents made public on Sunday by an organization called WikiLeaks reflects deep suspicions among American officials that Pakistan’s military spy service has for years guided the Afghan insurgency with a hidden hand, even as Pakistan receives more than $1 billion a year from Washington for its help combating the militants…..” N Y Times
“A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency………..” Guradian (UK)
“”As word spread Monday about the publication of more than 90,000 secret U.S. military documents by the Web site wikileaks.org, Afghans and others in Kabul who have lived through the war expressed little surprise at their revelations. Among Afghans, there is widespread suspicion that Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, supports the Taliban leadership, and residents here are also painfully aware of the harm wrought on civilians from insurgents and NATO forces……” Washington Post
“US officials believe that the intelligence agency of ally Pakistan, which receives billions of dollars in aid from Washington, has been secretly supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan, leaked records say…....” Aljazeera
“Secret documents of the war in Afghanistan: Iran supplies money and weapons to the Taliban. WikiLeaks documents show that Iran is secretly supplying money, weapons, and training to the Taliban……..” Alarabiya (Saudi), on its Arabic site which is devoted solely to the Iranian role with no mention of Pakistan or ISI. The English version of Alarabiya is quite different: it stresses the Pakistani ISI role, in line with Western media reports. Interesting dichotomy: one version aimed for Arab readers, the other for Western readers who can check the veracity or lack of from other sources. Unlike Aljazeera which tends to report all sides, Alarabiya sought to spin the news for its own purposes, sort of like I do on this blog (but not this time).
Cheers
mhg
Mon Email
Comments