Don't Cut to the Tape

Secretary of State Powell condemns Al Jazeera for broadcasting the latest purported Al Qaeda tape. For a reminder of why this see-no-evildoers approach to information is not only misguided but possibly dangerous, see Chuck's article from way back in the days of yore.

Comments

[Jon H]

Gotta love that.

When the message can be presented as supporting Powell's case of an Iraq/Al Qaeda linkup, Powell's the first one to trot it out.

Now, it's a no-no.

[Zev Sero]

The Freund article to which Tim points has no bearing on this. That article was about proposals to ban *USAn* media from rebroadcasting tapes that al Jazeera had already broadcast. Freund's entire point is that the intended audience of the tapes is going to see them anyway, because we can't stop foreign news sources from airing them, so why hide them from USAns.

Powell's point this time is that al Jazeera is wrong to broadcast the tape in the first place - not that we can do anything about it, but maybe the Qatari govt can, and in any case a moral point is worth making even if it can't be enforced. Al Jazeera *shouldn't* be airing these tapes, and each time they do we *should* be reminded that they are terrorist-supporting scum, who are only too happy to serve as Osama's propaganda arm. If al Jazeera and other foreign media don't broadcast the tapes, the vast majority of their intended audience will not hear them, and some young man somewhere will not be inspired to kill himself a few infidels. This particular cat was not yet out of the bag, and could have been kept there.

[Croesus]

Tell me again why they shouldn't be aired?

[Croesus]

Zev Sero,

BTW, just so you know, these tapes are heard in mosques, etc. throughout the middle east, so its a bit of a canard to say that no one would hear them w/o Al Jazeera airing them.

[tim]

Zev also neglects to mention one of the central points of Chuck's article: That wide dissemination of this kind of stuff to a diverse audience raises the likelihood that somebody will spot valuable clues about the enemy's status, location, strengths or weaknesses, and so on. I needn't mention that Al Jazeera is already watched by hundreds of thousands of American citizens right here in the good old USA.

[Lefty]

When is Comcast gonna ad these guys to my cable package?

[Kevin Carson]

Zev:

But it's OK to hear what Osama says when it can be worked into the official propaganda of the state?

How about this? We need to know what O. said just so we can be sure that the official characterization of it is accurate (assuming it hasn't been altered by the government, as the Italian jackboots did in Genoa). A government which is afraid of independent access to information is our enemy.

[david f]

hey lefty,

comcast will as soon as ameritech gives good service...

and: don't cross the streams..

happy friday (is that friggin "chirpy" enough, LOL :D),
drf