U.S. adminstration bans Iraqi Shi'ite newspaper

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KHA854570.htm

BAGHDAD, March 28 (Reuters) - Iraq's U.S.-led administration on Sunday shut down a newspaper that is a mouthpiece for radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr, accusing it of publishing articles that incite violence against American troops.

Ali Yasseri, editor of the weekly al-Hawza newspaper, said dozens of U.S. troops padlocked the newspaper's offices after ordering staff to leave.

"They told us they would arrest us if we did not leave. They said our articles incite people against America," Yasseri told Reuters outside the newspaper offices.

U.S. soldiers handed him a letter from U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer, citing a breach of an order issued last year that bans incitement to violence.

more

[acmavm]

1. Democracy in action, eh Paul? What a dumbass. He's picking a fight

with the wrong guys. Bremer is on their turf, not his.

And like this is going to stop them anyway. Right.

[Eye and Monkey]

33. You're right, it will not stop the publication. Special edition tomorrow.

Tomorrow or the next day, the paper will have a special edition on the streets. And they'll be able to add additional claims against oppression.

[jpgray]

2. Yes, this will help matters.

:crazy:

[soleft]

3. I would think it's actions like these that also incite the violence

If someone published something Saddam didn't like, let's say because it incited violence against Saddam. they'd probably lose an ear, or face some other horrible fate. But what if the publishers of this paper protested and continued to publish, depending on their form of protest they could also be killed - someone might mistake a camera for a gun, or something.

[Benhurst]

4. At least they know they are free.

Well, sort of ... kind of ... not really.

[colonel odis]

5. they're free as long as the u.s. govt agrees with what they say. n/t

[ScrewyRabbit]

6. Everybody's tasting the freedom of martial law

[Fargin Ice Hole]

7. Prime example that even after US forces leave, if ever

We will still have the upper hand. Running things from behind the curtain, pulling strings on those we allow to act like they control or govern..... Iraq is our bitch....plain and simple.

[starroute]

8. On the other hand, Moqtada really is an inciter

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/26/iraq.main/

Moqtada al-Sadr delivered a charged sermon Friday at a mosque near the holy city of Najaf, blasting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas.

<snip>

He accused the United States of complicity in Yassin's killing and said Iraqis should react "in the way that satisfies God."

Al-Sadr led the worshippers in chants: "No, no Israel! No, no to the Jews! No, no America! No, no to terrorism!"

Al-Sadr railed against the United States' occupation of Iraq.

"I seek the spread of freedom and democracy in the way that satisfies God," he said. "They have planned and paved the ways for a long time, but it is God who is the real planner -- and the proof of this is the fall of the American twin towers."

He then referred to the September 11 attacks as "a miracle from God."

"As we say, 'The rain starts with a drop,' " he said.

[NeoConsSuck]

10. Really? And how would you define the Wall Street Journal?

[IndianaGreen]

14. Who is occupying whom?

America is the evil doer in this equation, not the Iraqi people.

Moqtada al-Sadr is also right about what he said about the evil criminal Sharon.

Freedom of the press and speech is only good for as long as we hear those things that we approve of.

Everyone must march in lockstep!

This disease seems to have infected us as well as our puppet regime in Iraq.

[Fargin Ice Hole]

18. So the guys is hurt that his buddy died? who wouldn't?

[Occulus]

24. Uh-oh.

The locals are calling the occupying force 'terrorists.'

This is not a good development.

[nolabels]

31. Some are also the embedded huddled around lesser chicken hawks

http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=3821
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=5211§ionID=15
Independent Reporting in Iraq
by Dahr Jamail and Justin Podur; March 24, 2004

For several months last year, Dahr Jamail reported directly from Iraq for, among other independent media sites, The NewStandard. He will return to Iraq in April to continue his reporting and is currently touring and raising funds to do so. For more information visit The NewStandard's site.
(snip)
While not surprising, the fact that the corporate-owned media will not report on this is an outrage.

JP: Have you had much opportunity to interact with > these 'embeds' or > corporate journalists?

DJ: I haven't, other than to attend a CPIC press conference to listen to the softballs they pitch at General Kimmit and Mr. Dan Senor, Bremer's spokesman (puppet). I rarely, if ever, run into any of them in the field because they typically only leave their hotels to go where the military tells them it is ok to go. I have also been told that some of the mainstream media are not allowed to leave their hotels past 5pm due to insurance requirements.

JP: Are these journalists really as clueless as they seem? That is, are they trying to get things out that aren't getting out at the editorial level, or are they censoring themselves?

DJ: Those that I have had interaction with-the response is mixed. There is certainly censorship from above-even Christiann Ammanpour with CNN stated this publicly a ways back. Most seem too afraid to go out and cover the stories directly from Iraqis. They wear flack jackets and helmets and, overall, have adopted the we vs they take with the Iraqi people, just as the US soldiers have. Many of them simply avoid leaving their hotel, when possible.

JP: What are some stories that you got that they missed?

DJ: Mostly what I described above-tortures, home raids, people suffering from the gas shortages, heavy handed tactics of the American military, what most Iraqis feel about the occupation, etc. But I personally broke a story, which no corporate media outlet would run, about secondary school students in Amiriyah, Baghdad were detained by US forces because they were having a pro-Saddam demo just after his capture. I co-wrote it with David Enders, we wrote it up AP style, sent it to countless mainstream outlets-NY times, WA post, AP, etc...and no one would run it. We got it out over the net though,-electroniciraq.net, truthout.org, etc. Most of what I cover never makes it to the mainstream.
(snip)

[Ravy]

9. Sound's like a perfect first amendent to their constitution!!!!

Wonder if they put the thing about keeping and bearing arms as their second amendment. That'll go over well.

[jpak]

11. We hates their freedom

Is this PNAC's model for a ME "democracy"?

ChimpCo's vision for future "democracy" in I-raq bears little resemblance to "democracy" as we know it.

[Jacobin]

12. My, my, my

What can I say?

[tlcandie]

13. No dissention in the ranks!!! Freedom of speech stops at dissention!

We ARE learning that no? :cry:

[Columbia]

17. No it doesn't stop at dissent

It stops at inciting violence.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Really? What Law Is That Again?

Which law makes it illegal for a publication to encourage violence? Any legal citations and precedents that overcame legal challenge?

The gov't is prohibited from shutting down a paper in this country by the 1st Admnt. It's not even necessary to tell the truth and do so knowingly. You might be sued by the subject if a known falsehood were published with malice. But, the gov't can't stop the newspapers.

Read Matt Hale's loathesome newsletter some time. See if a newspaper can't incite violence then.

The Professor

[Columbia]

29. This one

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/18/parts/i/chapters/102/sections/section_2101.html

Section 2101. Riots

(a) Whoever travels in interstate or foreign commerce or uses any
facility of interstate or foreign commerce, including, but not
limited to, the mail, telegraph, telephone, radio, or television,
with intent -
(1) to incite a riot; or
(2) to organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry
on a riot; or
(3) to commit any act of violence in furtherance of a riot; or
(4) to aid or abet any person in inciting or participating in
or carrying on a riot or committing any act of violence in
furtherance of a riot;
and who either during the course of any such travel or use or
thereafter performs or attempts to perform any other overt act for
any purpose specified in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of this
paragraph - (FOOTNOTE 1)...

[PassingFair]

32. Hey baby,

we invaded their country, killed THOUSANDS of their civilians, stole their natural resources and occupy their land. Now your citing case law for their not inciting violence against us. Don't make me laugh.

[Columbia]

36. Who's laughing?

Prof up there asked a question about similar laws in other countries and I cited an example of one.

[Barkley]

35. Write on Professor!

[UpInArms]

15. the buffoons that have the reins

are definite candidates for the rooms with padded walls.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2004/n02232004_200402238.html

He said Iraq has "a real thirst for democracy," but is finding out that democracy doesn't mean smooth sailing. Bremer said he reminded the Baghdad City Council Feb. 22 that "democracy is messy."

"What's tidy is dictatorship," he said. "We did that here, and it's gone, and they're glad it's gone." He said he's encouraged and proud that the Iraqi people are moving toward a bill of rights that he called "revolutionary in this part of the world."

So, remember - democracy is messy and "we did that (dictatorship) here" thing - and remember that Saddam only allowed states sponsored newspapers in Iraq.

So, I guess my question is:

Are "we" doing that dictatorship thing again?

[Columbia]

16. It's not a ban, but a 60 day moratorium

Although I don't agree with the moratorium, I encourage anyone to find one country that does not have laws against inciting violence. Try to start a newspaper in your country that does the same thing as al-Hawza and see how long it lasts.

[daleo]

19. I read plenty of U.S. papers that encouraged the invasion of Iraq

Is advocating the invasion of a foreign country not to be considered 'inciting violence'. Plenty of U.S. and U.K. papers could have had 60 day bans slapped on them as well.

[Columbia]

22. That's one way of looking at it

[NNN0LHI]

20. I would assume that the definition of what inciting violence is could be..

...just about anything that the occupiers didn't like. For instance would an Iraqi reporter who claimed that the US was occupying his country to steal Iraq's oil be considered inciting violence? What do you think?

Don

[Columbia]

21. I don't know what the offending article advocated.

But I'd imagine it would be rather colorful considering a moratorium like this is not common. I doubt the hypothetical you speak of would be considered inciting violence as I'm fairly certain that that kind of argument has been put forth before in Iraqi news.

[daleo]

23. A little more on this story

I read today that the paper in question did not directly incite violent actions against the occupation, but was accused of repeating wild rumors. For example, after a mosque bombing it reported that people claimed it was an American missile rather than a car bomb. In fact, the report said that Bremer's banning order did not cite any specific examples of incitement. If reporting unsubstantiated rumors is to be the standard for closing down news media, there would be very little media left open in the western world, given the slippage in standards over the past decade or two.

[Barrett808]

26. Protest photo

DAVID SWANSON / KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Several thousand Iraqis protest in Baghdad yesterday after about 50 U.S. soldiers shut down a weekly newspaper published by followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

[truthspeaker]

27. ah, sweet liberty

Silly Iraqis. Freedom of the press is for white people!

[daa]

28. By 1935, through the Reich Office of Literature

Goebbels held control over all authors, publishers, libraries, and bookstores in the Third Reich. Over 12,400 books were blacklisted and confiscated by the Gestapo. The only acceptable books in the Third Reich were those that glorified home and family, racial purity, blood and soil, and the power of the German people

[pinniped]

30. Ali Yasseri should have told ahole bremer where to stick that letter...

"U.S. soldiers handed him a letter from U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer, citing a breach of an order issued last year that bans incitement to violence."

This bremer POS should have delivered it himself but he was probably too chickenshit. Or maybe he would do it with an entire division behind him.

[Barkley]

34. I wonder if Moqtada Sadr is banned from publishing al-Hawza on the web?