You are mistaken about me caring for (let alone being fascinated
by) America. I can see why you are so easily misled. You might
not have any interest in any other country but the rest of the
world does have general knowledge of other countries. I'm only
displaying general knowledge of America. I'm sure that for an
American to show such awareness of any other country than the
US, it would be considered that he/she studied the country and
attained some kind of PhD (by american standards) before knowing
where the country is.
Anyway, back to the topic of your ignorance:
Your words........
"and unlike some other countries, our reporters are allowed to
report whatever the hell they feel like reporting. Mostly that
is what they see and hear around them that they feel would give
them good ratings in America and worldwide. Americans being
killed would be top news headlines around here. I don't believe
that any government could squelch that information."
Big concepts from gullible Americans. But here's some articles
supporting evidence that you guys are more in the dark than the
rest of the world...
This first article shows how the "land of the free" is
suppressing information. Big question is why? Read the article
before crying that it's for military tactics or something fancy.
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,575594,00.htm
l
>
>Duncan Campbell
>Wednesday October 17, 2001
>The Guardian
>
>The Pentagon has spent millions of dollars to prevent western
media from
>seeing highly accurate civilian satellite pictures of the
effects of
>bombing in Afghanistan, it was revealed yesterday.
>
>The images, which are taken from Ikonos, an advanced civilian
satellite
>launched in 1999, are better than the spy satellite pictures
available to
>the military during most of the cold war.
>
>The extraordinary detail of the images already taken by the
satellite
>includes a line of terrorist trainees marching between training
camps at
>Jalalabad. At the same resolution, it would be possible to see
bodies lying
>on the ground after last week's bombing attacks.
>
>Under American law, the US defence department has legal power
to exercise
>"shutter control" over civilian satellites launched from the US
in order to
>prevent enemies using the images while America is at war. But
no order for
>shutter control was given, even after the bombing raids began
10 days ago.
>
>The decision to shut down access to satellite images was taken
last
>Thursday, after reports of heavy civilian casualties from the
overnight
>bombing of training camps near Darunta, north-west of
Jalalabad. Instead of
>invoking its legal powers, the Pentagon bought exclusive rights
to all
>Ikonos satellite pictures of Afghanistan off Space Imaging, the
company
>which runs the satellite. The agreement was made
retrospectively to the
>start of the bombing raids.
>
>The US military does not need the pictures for its own purposes
because it
>already has six imaging satellites in orbit, augmented by a
seventh
>launched last weekend. Four of the satellites, called Keyholes,
take
>photographic images estimated to be six to 10 times better than
the 1 metre
>resolution available from Ikonos.
>
>The decision to use commercial rather than legal powers to bar
access to
>satellite images was heavily criticised by US intelligence
specialists last
>night. Since images of the bombed Afghan bases would not have
shown the
>position of US forces or compromised US military security, the
ban could
>have been challenged by news media as being a breach of the
First
>Amendment, which guarantees press freedom.
>
>"If they had imposed shutter control, it is entirely possible
that news
>organisations would have filed a lawsuit against the government
arguing
>prior restraint censorship," said Dr John Pike, of
Globalsecurity, a US
>website which publishes satellite images of military and
alleged terrorist
>facilities around the world.
>
>The only alternative source of accurate satellite images would
be the
>Russian Cosmos system. But Russia has not yet decided to step
into the
>information void created by the Pentagon deal with Space
Imaging.
>
> Duncan Campbell is a writer on intelligence matters, and is
not the
>Guardian's Los Angeles correspondent of the same name.
>
>
>
>
>http://www.sptimes.com/News/101601/Worldandnation/US_military_bu
ys_righ.shtml
>
>U.S. military buys rights to satellite images
> The deal keeps other eyes off the war zone and allows a
different look.
> Associated Press,
>published October 16, 2001
>
>
This second article shows how your media is controlled....
American Journalist Tells Students U.S. Mideast Coverage "Biased"
EVANSTON, Nov 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - An American
journalist who
has reported from the Middle East said on Sunday that U.S. news
coverage of
the region is biased towards Israel, often ignoring the country's
discrimination and violence toward Palestinians, Northwestern
University's
Daily newspaper reported.
Alison Weir, a freelance reporter who lived in Afghanistan for
more than a
year and spent a month reporting in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, told
roughly 100 Northwestern University students and Evanston
residents in
Harris Hall that the biased reporting was "consciously contrived
manipulation of news."
She called it a "cover-up" of a region of the world that seems
distant,
confusing and irrelevant to most Americans' daily lives.
"This is the most censored story I've ever encountered," Weir
said.
Weir's experiences in the Palestinian-populated area were much
different
from what she expected, said the paper. She said the region
usually is
portrayed as anti-American and hostile toward women, but she was
surprised
at how welcoming and friendly the people were.
While she was in the West Bank and Gaza, Weir submitted four
articles to
past employers, but none were published.
She said her articles focused more on the impact of the fighting
on
Palestinians, while newspapers reported Israeli deaths in the
headlines and
Palestinian deaths in the body text.
She tied the U.S. media's bias to the large amount of money that
Israel
annually receives from the U.S. to buy arms. She said cutting
off support to
Israel might make them more willing to compromise with the
Palestinians.
"Palestinians are dying by the ammunition bought with American
taxpayers'
money," Weir said. "Our blank check to Israel is preventing the
peace
process that needs to take place."
She listed ways Israelis discriminate against Palestinians,
saying Israelis
are building highways, or "bypass roads," in the occupied
territories that
Palestinian cars marked with different colored license plates
are not
allowed to use.
Checkpoints, heavily guarded by soldiers - Weir called
them "death points" -
often denied Palestinians access to extensive areas within
Israel, she said.
Palestinians called "terrorists" are actually "terrorized
victims who [have]
tragically, but explicably, turned to violence [themselves],"
Weir said.
Earlier in October, Northwestern University (NU) and University
of Chicago
professors presented a public forum about Islamic views of the
United States
before a large crowd.
Sponsored by NU's Center for International and Comparative
Studies, the
panel focused on the challenges facing followers of Islam in the
wake of the
September 11 attacks.
Panelists highlighted historical events that have shaped the way
Muslims in
the Middle East and the former Soviet republic view the United
States.
This third article is self explanatory..
>10. Protesters clash over CNN coverage
>
>(NEWS DAY): About 200 people rallied against CNN's coverage of
the war in
>Afghanistan, leading to three arrests. "CNN, half the story,
all the time,"
>they chanted Saturday at CNN Center. The protesters said
millions of
>refugees and residents in Afghanistan face starvation but CNN
isn't telling
>the story.
>
>http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-brf-cnn-
arrests1111nov11.story
>
EVEN MORE!....
>(RENSE): Stephen Gowans: "As the devastation in Afghanistan
becomes
>clearer, as stories of broken bodies and blood and flattened
Red Cross
>depots and orphaned children and weeping mothers trickle out of
the
>war-torn and drought-stricken country, the White House and the
State
>Department and the Pentagon fire back: Don't believe it. It's
propaganda...
>Why is there so much Washington doesn't want you to know?"
>
>http://www.rense.com/general16/ourmasters.htm
More...!
Jack Kelley of USA Today wrote a cover story called
"Vigilantes take up arms, vow to expel 'Muslim filth'".
In it, he describes Israeli extremists and terrorists
and their hatred of Muslims. It was one of the best and
objective major cover stories exposing the Israeli
terrorism against Palestinians.
Mr. Kelley received over 300 emails from Zionists all
around the world condemning his story.
He received 5 positive emails.
Mr. Kelley is very upset because he is under tremendous
and overwhelming pressure from the criticism pouring
down on him from Zionists worldwide due to his truthful
article.
The article can be found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010904/3599125s.htm