March 22, 2003: The media are shifting towards war propaganda
1. With the brutal intensification of the conduct of
war of the USA involving extensive bombardments the psychological warfare
has shifted towards a massive war propaganda. The intention is to abuse
the desire for peace of the people to establish the slogan of imperialist
pacifism "Everybody who is for peace is for a fast victory of the
US troops". A fast victory of the US troops runs counter to the
interests of the peoples of the world, because it can only lead to a
"peace" that would reinforce the domination of imperialism in
the region. It would encourage the superpower USA to wage the struggle for
the redivision of the world even more ruthlessly. Everybody who
supports a fast victory encourages the US troops to intensify its war of
aggression even more brutally. The implication of this becomes evident
in the extensive air warfare, in which alone on the first day more than
1,000 bombs were dropped on the big cities of Iraq. Everybody who favors a
fast victory of the troops of aggression encourages other powers as well,
like e.g. Turkey, to undertake military adventures, a fact that further
increases the general danger of war. Not the encouragement of the
warmongers, but the struggle of the masses of people to inflict a defeat
on the imperialists, is just and in accordance with the interests of a
democratic peace.
2. In the bourgeois mass media the war reporting is meanwhile dominating all channels. Right around the clock live pictures of the enormous bomb explosions in Baghdad are being presented, in order to demoralize the wish for resistance and the peace movement. Censored pictures showing advancing tanks that were taken by 500 journalists who are employed as war reporters are being presented to establish the credibility of a fast victory. Every channel has its general or military expert, who are praising highly the effectiveness of modern military equipment and spread the lie without being contradicted that the super bombs are hitting exactly and exclusively military targets. While no opportunity is missed - even the rising stock market prices - to prepare the masses for a vast victory of the invasion troops, the worldwide protest is being completely played down, and it is commented in connection with "rioting" and the danger of terrorist attacks or denigrated as an expression of Islamic-fundamentalist fanaticism.
3. While the mass media are reporting that on the day of the beginning of the war 100,000 people had demonstrated in Germany, the reports alone that have been received up to now indicate a number far above 500,000 and worldwide of many millions. In this process elements of an active resistance are clearly developing. In the Arabian countries bitter struggles involving hundreds of thousands of people are being waged with hatred against state oppression, which more and more take on an anti-imperialist character. Reports about striking workers in the factories are systematically being suppressed. Yet on Day X a 4-hour general strike took place in Greece, and there are reports about strikes in Italy, Spain and Australia. While in the USA the impression is given that the nation is standing united behind Bush, the mass demonstrations and blockades by many thousands of people are continuing in the centers like San Francisco for several days. They are not only totally ignored by the media, but also brutally suppressed: "Many people have been arrested. 6 helicopters, 19 police vehicles and hundreds of policemen tried to subjugate the demonstrators and chase the people."
4. The active resistance needs an appropriate forum to break the media manipulation and censorship. Since the beginning of the war the home page of the MLPD has created such a forum, which even now provides a detailed and manifold overview of the protests and their extent. Use this forum for getting information and take part in it with own contributions to effectively break through the media censorship. The next focus will be the weekly Monday actions.
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