MetaFilter posts tagged with Propaganda and terrorism

Advertising in the public interest

Rhaomi — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:54:54 -0800

"What if America wasn't America?" That was the question posed by a series of ads broadcast in the wake of the September 11th attacks, ads which depicted a dystopian America bereft of liberty: Library - Diner - Church. Together with more positive ads like Remember Freedom and I Am an American, they encouraged frightened viewers to cherish their freedoms and defend against division and prejudice in the face of terrorism (seven years previously). The campaign was the work of the Ad Council, a non-profit agency that employs the creative muscle of volunteer advertisers to raise awareness for social issues of national importance. Founded during WWII as the War Advertising Council, the organization has been behind some of the most memorable public service campaigns in American history, including Rosie the Riveter, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and the Crash Test Dummies. And the Council is still at it today, producing striking, funny, and above all effective PSAs on everything from student invention to global warming to arts education to community service.

Additional resources: A-to-Z index of Ad Council campaigns - Campaigns organized by category - Award-winning campaigns - PSA Central: A free download directory of TV, radio, and print PSAs (registration req'd) - An exhaustive history of the Ad Council [46-page PDF] - YouTube channel - Vimeo channel - Twitter feed

Darth Cheney Strikes Back

homunculus — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:26:36 -0800

Hussein's Prewar Ties To Al-Qaeda Discounted. A newly declassified report (PDF) by the Pentagon's inspector general claims that Iraq was not working with al-Qaeda before the U.S. invasion and that the intelligence was manipulated by then-Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. On the same day as the report came out, Dick Cheney claimed that they did have a relationship via Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi may be dead, but he's still useful. [Via TalkLeft.]

Suicide Bombing: Just Say No.

CunningLinguist — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 21:09:42 -0800

Suicide Bombing: Just Say No. Hollywood-style anti-suicide bombing PSA now in heavy rotation on Iraqi TV. Previously discussed here before the spot was finished.

Don't they use bombs anyway?

furiousxgeorge — Thu, 04 May 2006 11:43:06 -0800

Al-Zarqawi can't shoot. Lynch said the images he showed indicate that al-Zarqawi "tends to have a problem" with mastering his own weapons system and with finding capable and competent aides. "Why he's their leader, I don't know."

Hi kids! Do you like violence?

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 09:47:27 -0800

Animated video broadcast on Iran's IRIB state television, apparently aimed at children, seemingly promotes the virtues of becoming a suicide bomber. Coralized wmv link, transcript.

Al Qaeda Training Manual

crunchland — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 05:42:51 -0800

Al Qaeda Training Manual [note: PDF files]

Bush blows cover of al-Qaeda insider

lagado — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 08:30:16 -0800

"After his capture he admitted being an al Qaeda member and agreed to send e-mails to his contacts," a Pakistani intelligence source told Reuters. "He sent encoded e-mails and received encoded replies. He's a great hacker and even the U.S. agents said he was a computer whiz." In its haste to get a scary headline the weekend after the Democratic Convention, did the Bush Administration deliberately blow the cover of one of its best informants within al-Qaeda?

September 11th And The Bush Administration

acrobat — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 07:30:55 -0800

«Clearly, one of the most critical questions of the twenty-first century concerns why the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were not prevented. As I outline below, there are numerous aspects regarding the official stories about September 11th which do not fit with known facts, which contradict each other, which defy common sense, and which indicate a pattern of misinformation and coverup. The reports coming out of Washington do very little to alleviate these concerns.» 22 questions to chose from and decide which ones are nightmares of a conspiracy theorist and which ones must be answered.

Poetry or propaganda?

orange swan — Tue, 01 Oct 2002 09:17:09 -0800

Poetry or propaganda? Gov. James E. McGreevey [of New Jersey] has called for the resignation of the state's poet laureate, citing a poem critical of Israel that Amiri Baraka read at a festival earlier this month. "Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed," read a line from the poem, which was cited by the Jewish Standard weekly newspaper. "Who told 4,000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers to stay home that day? Why did Sharon stay away?" Read the poem in question here.

Official confirms that Syria allowing Qaida to operate in Lebanon

Postroad — Mon, 02 Sep 2002 11:14:15 -0800

Official confirms that Syria allowing Qaida to operate in Lebanon Ok Israeli intelligence so I assume some will dismiss this as propaganda, though clearly US knows of this and works along with Israeli intelligence. And Syria occupies Lebanon with thousands of troops and thus runs the country. Meanwhile, we will (or will not) busy ourselves with Iraq.

Unsubstantiated fear of terrorism headlines

jpburns — Thu, 04 Jul 2002 08:51:34 -0800

Unsubstantiated fear of terrorism headlines like this are an incitement to panic for no good reason. I awoke this morning to this one in the Indianapolis Star. Are all medium-sized American cities this reactionary, or is that honor reserved for The Crossroads of America?

Dark Messiah — Thu, 13 Sep 2001 16:33:45 -0800

Recently I was made aware of a response to the terrorist attacks of Tuesday, by Serj Tankian, vocalist for the politically-themed band, System of a Down. The response was well written, highly articulated and, yet, it is now MISSING from the band's official website.

I have been unable to find a cached copy of the post, and I am wondering if this article was removed due to it's less-than 100% agreement with the current mindset of the media propaganda machine, or whether it is related to something else.

If anyone can dig up a cached copy, or shed some light on this matter, it would be much appreciated.