"Man U bomb plot probe ends in Farce"
Hi everyone, here's a fresh drop of Subversive(tm)(R) thought for you! ;)
Certainly many of you remember the news about the (terror) arrests in Manchester, England. They were reported on April 20th. They were object of spectacular headlines in the news: "Manchester United bomb plot; Exclusive" titled the "Sun" (11).
You certainly remember also the described gruesome violence of the allegedly planned attacks, they were reported by the "Sun" like this:
(8)
"The paper quoted an unnamed police source as saying the suspects had bought tickets for seats around the club's 67,000-capacity stadium for their premier league match against Liverpool on Saturday.
"The plot involved several individual bombers in separate parts of the stadium," the source told the paper. "If successful, any such attack would have caused absolute carnage.""
Note the words "absolute carnage", these are designed to make an impression, to cause a distinct emotional response in the readers, which will boost "hate" for the "evildoers" or "our enemies".
The Police responded in the following manner:
"Assistant Chief Constable Dave Whatton, of Greater Manchester Police, said he was aware of "extensive speculation about possible targets".
"As with any counter-terrorist operation, we will not confirm or deny any targets," he said in a statement. "
Note that they specifically say: "we will not confirm or deny any targets". This of course is another way of saying: "we want you to believe that this is true, so we will not deny this speculation that is based on false leaks!"
"How can you say that?" you must be asking. Well, later on the police had to admit that the arrests were a mistake, by releasing all arrested(1). Turns out that the people arrested, happened to be Iraqi-Kurds(6 out of the 10, the others were of North-African origin). Which, if my memory serves me right should be pretty happy with Saddam's fall from grace! After all he did use Chemical Weapons against Kurds in 1998(2)...
Of course, the Police had to free the 10 "prisoners" without any charges or bail (since they had made a mistake, or was it really a mistake?). However this was not material for headlines... It does not serve the purpose of frightening the populace into accepting more and more restrictions to their liberties like the Patriot Act, Suspension of Habeas Corpus in the US and the Anti-Terrorism Act in the UK (3,4,5)
This crucial reversal to the "truth as portrayed in the headlines" does not deserve the same attention as the _false_ headlines, even when if it is the targeted entity (Manchester United) itself that denies the speculation based on "unnamed sources". Man U published a news-piece in their own web site: "Club Denies Stadium Terror Claims" (6).
Also not mentioned in the news is the fact that the people arrested are demanding an apology from the UK Police over the arrests and even considering suing them!!! (7,10)
I think "The Observer" sums it up quite nicely: "Man U bomb plot probe ends in farce "(10)
This arrest was described as a strategy "designed to unsettle terror cells working within immigrant communities in Britain by carrying out sweeps of arrests which are _not_ necessarily designed to lead to charges"(10,11).
The Police is watching you, but who is watching the Police?
The media are full of false news about alarming events, we already know. Those news sell newspapers. However, they are there for a reason! Don't let them fool you, read the Weekly Subversive or the quoted news sources below to find out what they don't want you to find out!!! ;)
Book recommendations of the week
A new section is born :) to help you find out other ways to interpret reality:
One theme for today, Propaganda, to help you deconstruct the messages you receive from news and advertisement:
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq - this one I'm reading now, and it is indeed a very interesting read! ;)
Weapons of Mass Persuasion: Marketing the War Against Iraq
Trust Us We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future
References:
(1) "All 10 people arrested last month have been released without charge."
(2) http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/updates/kurds/
(3) "If new Anti-terrorism legislation is passed extending that passed after September 11 we risk wiping out within a matter of years rights of Habeas Corpus which took centuries of struggle and progress to secure"
(4) http://peaceworks.missouri.org/monitor/2002/augsep/habeas.html
(5) "The redefined Terrorism Act targets environmental activists as well as armed extremists and reverses the burden of proof, says Richard Norton-Taylor"
(6) Official denial from ManU itself!!!
(7) "Apology call over 'terror' arrest"
(8)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3561595&thesection=news&th
esubsection=world&thesecondsubsection=&reportid=62066
(9) "News reports at the time suggested those detained were Islamic fanatics. It turns out most were simply fanatical about Manchester United."
(10) http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1208043,00.html
(11) http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=220190
(12) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3695825.stm
