Remember that really "inspirational" photo of the Iraqi people pulling down the statue of Saddam?

[white_wolf]

Yeah, apparently it was all staged. Maybe this is old news to you all, but I just heard it today. In one of my classes we watched a documentary on Al Jazeera called "Control Room" and a shot of that that scene came up and one of the reporters for Al Jazeera pointed out that none of the people who pulled the statue down were Iraqis. He said he was born in Iraq and can recognize an Iraqi accent. Another reported also pointed out the facts that the people came in with the American troops, that they were all men of the roughly the same age with no women or children following behind them and that no one else came out to join them to celebrate their "liberation." She also pointed out how odd it was that the guy pulled the pre-1991 flag of Iraq out of his pocket like he had been holding onto it for over a decade.

Just another example of how you really can't trust the media.

[madfloridian]

1. Yes, we talked about here when it happened.

There were many pictures, but they never made prime time.

[Oldfolkie]

2. How about the celebration when Saddam was killed?

I had the uneasy feeling that the people dancing in the same square as the statue toppling were the same people! There was something forced about it.

[Marr]

3. There were several birds-eye view photos taken of the scene at the time, from buildings.

It couldn't have been more obvious that it was a staged event. It was a tiny crowd in an otherwise empty square, with US troops guarding the entrances. You'd have to place your cameras very strategically to make it look like any sort of large, popular action. Our corporate media happily did just that, of course-- and pretended all the wider shots didn't exist.

[derby378]

4. CONTROL ROOM is a profoundly understated yet important movie

Glad you got a chance to watch it. And yes, we knew the Americans actually toppled Saddam's statue.

[white_wolf]

5. Well gee now I feel late to the party.

I don't remember ever seeing any of the photos from the air or anything that made it seem like it wasn't a popular uprising. I guess the media hid it well.

[Egalitarian Thug]

6. And just think, stuff this simple and transparent is sufficient to make fools of

tens of millions of our countrymen.

[white_wolf]

7. In all fairness, I bought it at the time, but then again I was 13.

Beyond that I don't even really know if I can blame the average person on the street for buying into the lie. After all, isn't the role of the media to inform the public and tell the truth? I blame the media who knowingly lied to the people who trusted them. The average person can't know everything, but that's why journalist have jobs to inform them and when they willing take part in lies like this it makes their entire profession useless.

[Egalitarian Thug]

8. Well, at 13 gullibility of this level is to be expected, but we have come to simply accept anything,

no matter how unlikely, sensationalist, or just plain stupid that comes out of the TV. There were reports the very next day that this was all staged, but virtually everybody that gets all of their information out of the idiot box, and that is almost everybody in this country, just accepted it without any question.

Since you are of a following generation, please let me ask you this. Did you really believe what you wrote about the role of media? DO you think that this is prevalent even today after so many facts as reported ave been shown to be outright lies?

[RebelOne]

9. Old news to me. Saw the videos a long time ago of how it was staged. n/t

[Starry Messenger]

10. Here's a blast from the DU archives.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2560843

I was still a lurker here, but there was a bunch of good info posted here about all that.

I had a lot of unpeeling from media propaganda to do after teh Reagan years. I was 10 when he started his presidency and 18 when it ended.

[DanTex]

11. Control Room was great.

I saw it a long time ago, but seeing this thread is probably going to make me go back to youtube and watch it again.

The marine that was featured in the movie, Josh Rushing, went on to become a reporter for Al Jazeera English. He wrote a book about the experience called Mission Al Jazeera.
http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Al-Jazeera-Build-Bridge-Change/dp/B001QCX440

[GiaGiovanni]

12. Look up Rendon: The Man Who Sold the Iraq War

http://www.democracynow.org/2005/11/21/the_man_who_sold_the_iraq

[ljm2002]

13. Yes I do remember...

...ain't it great how the big media outlets never ONCE showed a wide shot of that event. Not then and not now.

We here at DU knew early on.

Our so-called "free press" is an ongoing and outright disgrace. They misinform, disinform, and hide information in order to manufacture consent for whatever schemes our idiot elites come up with to put more $$$ in their own pockets.

A pox on all their houses.