Replies

Propaganda is not necessarily lies. It can be quite factual, as I believe the story about the nun is. What makes it propaganda is how it's fed to the media to affect a certain public reaction.

If we weren't gearing up to hit Saddam, this story would probably never be heard.

There are probably more such cases going on today in Indonesia - But we don't hear about it because we're not about to invade Indonesia.

Did you ever hear if the castration story was a fabrication? It sure sounds like one.

You may remember, the American opinion polls swung around in favor of attacking Iraq when a Kuwaiti princess masqueraded as a neonatal nurse in testimony to the US congress.

No, you are correct: propaganda usually must have some element of truth to be effective.

I HEARD, but cannot verify, that the castration story was fabricated. And if it was not, I am quite sure that any atrocities of a vanquished foe would be paraded for all to see.

I DID quit subscribing to American Spectator about a year later, for other reasons. I am back now. Other than that interlude, I had subscribed continuously since the mid-70s when it was "The Alternative", a pulp magazine about 24" by 18". That story, and the hatchet job on Buchanan in '92 or '96 (cannot remember) makes me question their credibility on a lot of other things, including the Clinton stories (I stand second to no one in despising Clinton). Buchanan is subject to much legitimate criticism, but that job was beyond the pale of reasonable people. Sorry to ramble.

Barnacle writes: "Propaganda is not necessarily lies. It can be quite factual, as I believe the story about the nun is." True. Although I have a few difficulties about the story of Sister's death, because too many different versions have appeared - even in this forum. It was an individual, it was a group, it was a mob, she had her throat cut, no she was beheaded - in the street, or in the convent, or in the chapel, or in a house she visited etc.

The Chaldean church reported that the Iraqi police had already arrested her killer. Does anyone want to contemplate the possibility that he was some thug or robber who may have broken into the church buildings? Such deaths are all too common, especially if the killer is a drug user.

Or he may have been someone in her own community - a violent feud. In the Maronite community in Lebanon, families such as the Franjeihs and the Gemayels settled their differences with slaughters in churches. Suleiman Franjeih had the tactic of hiding behind the curtain of the sanctuary, then popping out with a machine gun when everyone stood up for the Readings. A Muslim wouldn't have the inside knowledge for that tactic!

About Sinkspur's comment that Iraq is surely not a secular state, on the basis of this murder. I do think you need to argue that. Iraq is quite secular. Thousands of clergy have been slaughtered in Iraq - but they are Muslim clergy. This is part of Sadaam Hussein's war against the Shia in the south of that country. One of the Ayatollahs in Najaf was so certain of his impending death that he went to the mosque to give his last sermon dressed in a shroud. According to the US State Dept's human rights reports, the persecutions have been so extensive that there is a lack of Shia clergy to take over the jobs of the old ones - huge numbers are dead or have fled. Women, also, in the Shia clerical community have been killed - officially executed by the Baathist regime.

And I agree with Aliska's point, rushing in to slaughter a whole lot of people will solve nothing, and is not justified.