Tag: CNN

  • Zbigniew Brzezinski: Netanyahu ‘making a very serious mistake’

    Zbigniew Brzezinski: Netanyahu ‘making a very serious mistake’

    Fareed Zakaria & Zbigniew Brezinski
    Fareed Zakaria & Zbigniew Brezinski

    CNN’s Fareed spoke with former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski about Israel’s military operation in Gaza.

    Here is the conversation:

    Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on CNN told Wolf Blitzer that the invasion of Gaza was a strategy to demilitarize Gaza, explaining the use of force. But it has been quite a robust use of force…Do you think that it is going to succeed, the Israeli strategy?

    No, I think he is making a very serious mistake. When Hamas in effect accepted the notion of participation in the Palestinian leadership, it in effect acknowledged the determination of that leadership to seek a peaceful solution with Israel. That was a real option. They should have persisted in that.

    Instead Netanyahu launched the campaign of defamation against Hamas, seized on the killing of three innocent Israeli kids to immediately charge Hamas with having done it without any evidence, and has used that to stir up public opinion in Israel in order to justify this attack on Gaza, which is so lethal.

    I think he is isolating Israel. He’s endangering its longer-range future. And I think we ought to make it very clear that this is a course of action which we thoroughly disapprove and which we do not support and which may compel us and the rest of the international community to take some steps of legitimizing Palestinian aspirations perhaps in the U.N.

    Here is the video:

  • Ankara mayor’s BBC spy claims spark hashtag war

    Ankara mayor’s BBC spy claims spark hashtag war

    melihgokcekISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) — Twitter has been the scene of a bizarre Turkish hashtag war between the mayor of Ankara and, well, a lot of other social networkers.

    The drama began Sunday when Ibrahim Melih Gokcek, the man who has been mayor of Turkey’s capital for more than a decade, accused a reporter from the BBC’s Turkish service of being a foreign agent.

    “Who is @selingirit? BBC’s reporter in Turkey,” Gokcek wrote in a series of English-language tweets.

    “Led by England, they are trying to collapse our economy via agents hired, both nationally and internationally. They are dreaming for Turkey to be the ‘Sick man of Europe’ once again. Here is a concrete proof.”

    The BBC issued a statement Monday expressing concern about what it described as threats issued by Turkish officials against a BBC correspondent.

    Photos: Demonstrations in Turkey

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    Protest in Turkey continue
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    Turkey’s football fans join protest
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    A wedding amid the tear gas in Turkey

    Gokcek is an elected official from the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, which is led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Since an unprecedented explosion of street protests against Erdogan erupted more than three weeks ago, the prime minister and his deputies have accused demonstrators of being terrorists and vandals organized by an alleged shadowy foreign conspiracy Erdogan has labeled “the interest lobby.”

    Gokcek appeared determined to prove this Sunday via Twitter.

    Shortly after accusing Girit of being a spy, he announced the creation of the Turkish hashtag #INGILTEREADINAAJANLIKYAPMASELINGIRIT, which translates roughly to “Don’t be a spy in the name of England Selin Girit.”

    Then, the mayor of Ankara launched a campaign to make the hashtag one of Twitter’s worldwide trends.

    For the next several hours, he cheered on his followers as the accusation gained online traction with messages like “Keep going Turkiye. Our Hash Tag is ranked 2th. Must place to number 1. This will be our answer to BBC.”

    Within hours, the mayor’s Twitter campaign appeared to have backfired.

    Online opponents began mobilizing their own hashtag in response to the mayor of Ankara.

    They began retweeting the hashtag #provokatormelihgokçek (Melih Gokcek is a provocateur).

    By Sunday night in Turkey, #provokatormelihgokcek had replaced the mayor’s hashtag attacking Girit on Twitter’s list of world-wide trends.

    Gokcek responded by threatening anyone in the world who retweeted the provocateur hashtag with legal action.

    “My lawyer is going to sue everyone one by one who tweets #ProvokatorMelihGokcek No one can get away with anything because Turkey is a country of law,” the mayor of Ankara announced on Twitter Sunday night.

    As of 10am in Istanbul Monday, the #provokatormelihgokcek hashtag was ranked as the second most popular worldwide trend on Twitter.

    The BBC issued a statement expressing concern about what it called “the continued campaign of the Turkish authorities to discredit the BBC and intimidate its journalists.”

    “A large number of threatening messages have been sent to one of our reporters, who was named and attacked on social media by the Mayor of Ankara,” wrote Peter Horrocks, Global News Director of the BBC.

    Horrocks maintained that BBC reporters were committed to providing “impartial and independent journalism.” He called on the Turkish government to use “proper channels” to make comments and complaints to the organization.

    For the last several years, press freedoms organizations have published a number of reports expressing alarm about the Turkish government’s record of jailing journalists.

    “The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has waged one of the world’s biggest crackdowns on press freedom in recent history,” wrote the Committee to Protect Journalists in a 2012 report. Reporters Without Borders has labeled Turkey among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, since scores of media workers are currently in prison, many of them awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges.

  • CNN Silences War-Skeptical Soldier

    CNN Silences War-Skeptical Soldier

    wolf.blitzer
    CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer

    Exclusive: By obsessing over Iran gaining a nuclear weapon “capability” – even with no actual bomb – while ignoring Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal, the U.S. news media proves the point of its own bias. There’s also the usual hostility toward dissenting voices, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern notes.

    By Ray McGovern

    When CNN interviews a U.S. Army corporal preparing for his third deployment to Afghanistan, should TV viewers be permitted to hear him out on a front-burner issue like Iran’s alleged threat to Israel? For those who might think so, watch what happens when 28-year-old Cpl. Jesse Thorsen touches a neuralgic nerve by suggesting that Israel can take care of itself.

    It’s impossible to say exactly what happened to the remote feed that suddenly got lost in transmission back to CNN Central, but the minute-long video is truly worth a thousand words:

    The interview, which dates back to Jan. 3 when the Iowa caucuses were the evening’s big news, is at least symbolic of how our Fawning Corporate Media treats dissident voices that clash with the prevailing pro-war-on-Iran bias. I missed the segment when it aired, but I think it still merits comment today as war clouds thicken, again.

    In the aborted one-minute segment, Cpl. Thorsen is interviewed by CNN’s Dana Bash, who presumably picked him out for the live interview because he had a large tattoo on his neck about never forgetting 9/11. The tattoo – plus two tours in Afghanistan behind him (and yet another in front of him) – may have suggested to Bash and her CNN producers that Thorsen was unlikely to say anything to muddle or muffle the new drumbeat for war.

    Based on Thorsen’s military appearance alone, the typical CNN viewer could almost settle back in an easy chair and anticipate some stirring patriotic bathos about America standing tall – and the interview ending with the obligatory “thank you for your service,” which any right-thinking journalist utters to show that he or she is part of Team America.

    But Bash got more than she bargained for when Thorsen turned out to be a well-informed and articulate young man who began endorsing Ron Paul’s non-interventionist views on U.S. foreign policy, i.e. that the United States should go to war only when absolutely necessary to defend its vital national interests and shouldn’t be picking a fight with Iran on behalf of Israel.

    Such comments, of course, are almost literally heretical at places like CNN, which accepts unquestioningly the idea of “American exceptionalism” and abides by the neoconservative dogma that U.S. and Israeli security interests are one and the same.

    That’s why CNN and the rest of the FCM typically dismiss Ron Paul’s views on foreign policy as dangerously “isolationist,” if not laughably loony. “Can you believe it? He doesn’t want to station American troops all around the world! He doesn’t believe in preemptive wars to disarm our enemies of weapons that they may not have now but might someday in the future have the capability of building! Ha! Ha! What a nut!”

    The FCM’s dismissal of Paul’s foreign-policy views was a key reason why comedian Jon Stewart once compared Paul to “the 13th floor” of a hotel, the level that often doesn’t exist because customers consider the number unlucky. So, when the FCM would lavish attention on other Republican candidates, who finished both above and below Paul in some poll or in early balloting, the pundits would pass over Paul as if he didn’t exist.

    Going ‘Off-Script’

    So, what happened when Cpl. Thorsen veered “off script” – so to speak – and began reprising Ron Paulish views on the appropriate use of soldiers like himself? Well, CNN suddenly lost the feed. As Thorsen disappeared from the screen, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer explained, “Sorry, we just lost our tech connection, unfortunately.”

    It’s true that connections can be lost for any number of reasons – and I can’t say for sure that some alert CNN producer hit the “kill” switch as one might if Cpl. Thorsen had begun cursing uncontrollably – but Blitzer and other CNN honchos didn’t seem very eager to resume the interview, just as they generally don’t book anti-war activists who disagree with the imperial orthodoxy.

    You might remember, for instance, how CNN, like the other networks, stocked its pre-Iraq War “debates” with hawkish retired generals and admirals who would face only the mildest and most respectful questioning from Blitzer or some other anchor. In the rare moment when some war skeptic got on the air, he or she was treated with disdain, if not outright hostility, all the better for the network to demonstrate its “patriotism.”

    Some cable networks devoted more time to American restaurants that were renaming French fries into “Freedom fries” than to the millions of people who took to the streets to protest the looming invasion of Iraq. After all, what could those “activists” know about Iraq hiding all those stockpiles of WMDs?

    But why mention the case of Cpl. Thorsen now? Because this one-minute video-that-is-better-than-a-thousand-words could come in handy as at least a symbolic reminder of the bias at CNN and other parts of the FCM when it comes to allowing a full and fair discussion about going to war against some “designated enemy.”

    This reality is bound to assume increased importance next week when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touches down in Washington to press his case for a preemptive war against Iran’s nuclear program – which has yet to produce a single nuclear bomb (and Iranian leaders say they don’t intend to build one) – while Israel has an undeclared nuclear arsenal of an estimated 200 to 300 bombs.

    Just for fun, keep track of how many times Netanyahu and other war advocates get to weigh in on the unacceptable danger of an Iranian nuclear weapon “capability” compared to how many times they are asked why Israel has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and why it won’t let inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency into Israeli secret bases to examine Israel’s actual nuclear weapons.

    The FCM’s latest drumming for war is likely to reach a crescendo during the first days of March, with Netanyahu crashing the cymbals loudly and the propaganda orchestra swelling in a martial symphony designed to stir the American people into another standing ovation for another preemptive war.

    Ray McGovern works for Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Savior in inner-city Washington. He spent a total of 30 years as an Army Infantry/Intelligence officer and CIA analyst, and is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

    consortiumnews.com, February 27, 2012

     

  • Blind pop star campaigns on disability

    Blind pop star campaigns on disability

    CNN’s global series i-List takes you to a different country each month. In December, we visit Turkey and look at changes shaping the country’s economy, culture and social fabric.

    (CNN) — Metin Senturk is a Turkish pop star and chat show host, with his own weekly television program on music and celebrity gossip, and nine albums to his name.

    He is also blind, and a prominent campaigner on disability issues.

    t1larg.turkey.metin .senturk.ms

    Senturk, 44, who founded the Istanbul-based World Handicapped Foundation, wants to stand for the Turkish National Assembly to promote disabled rights and says he mentions disability on his television show every opportunity he gets.

    Earlier this year, Senturk set a Guinness World Record for the fastest blind driver, reaching 181 mph in a Ferrari to raise awareness of disability. His car was followed by another driver giving him instructions in an earpiece.

    Senturk considers himself a “pioneer” for the 8.5 million people with disabilities in Turkey.

    “I believe in my heart that if an impaired person believes and trusts herself or himself,” he said, there’s nothing they can’t succeed at. “All we need is being given the chances.”

    He lost his sight in an accident at the age of three. He was the only blind pupil in his mainstream high school and went on to study classical music at university.

    “I didn’t let my impairment be a barrier for me. Things happen to people and we all have stories.”

    The tireless advocate wants people with disabilities to “really grab life from its collar and never feel hopeless.”

    He acknowledges he’s been more fortunate than others. “Being a star in Turkey, I am very lucky to have personal assistants, but for an average person there are certain problems,” he said.

    Many people with disabilities face barriers in getting to work — and even school, says Idil Isil Gul, a disability expert and lecturer in public international law and human rights at Istanbul Bilgi University.

    Only 20% of Turkey’s disabled population is employed, according to the country’s Disability Study 2002, the most recent official data available.

    The world shouldn’t be designed for one type of person, but for every type of people.

    Gul said: “Most disabled people stay at home and do nothing, because they can’t get to work or to school.”

    Employers with more than 50 workers are required by law to employ a 3% quota of disabled staff, and receive financial help to do so.

    Gul claims, though, that many companies simply pay workers to stay at home, or employ them only in the lowest-skilled jobs.

    She was a researcher on a 2007 International Disability Rights Monitor report, which rated Turkey among the least inclusive societies in Europe.

    In recent years, though, there have been efforts in Turkey to remove some of those barriers.

    Turkey’s first Law on Persons with Disabilities, introduced in 2005, is supposed to make all public buildings wheelchair accessible by 2012.

    A website specifically to help disabled people find jobs, Engelsizkariyer — or Barrier-Free Careers — was launched in 2008.

    “Employers are generally reluctant to hire disabled employees since they see them as a burden, even if they are well educated,” said Hasibe Kiziltas of Engelsizkariyer.

    In addition to employment opportunities, Engelsizkariyer provides career guidance and runs a helpline for disabled workers who face bullying at work, which is a major problem, according to Kiziltas.

    Technological innovations are also widening access to some everyday activities, such as banking.

    Earlier this month, Turkey’s Yapi Kredi bank launched an ATM which talks visually-impaired customers through their transactions. It also rolled out point of sale machines that act in a similar manner.

    Developed as part of the bank’s broader efforts to improve services to people with disabilities, Yapi Kredi says the point of sale machine is the first of its kind in the world.

    Yakup Dogan, executive vice president of Yapi Kredi, said disabled people “face countless difficulties at every turn in their everyday lives due to inadequate support.”

    The ATM and point of sale machines are designed to help the visually impaired “participate more in daily life, at least in the banking sector,” he said.

    The Talking ATM has a plug for headphones which triggers text-to-speech technology to provide an audible transaction.

    The first machine was opened at a branch in Istanbul to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3. The bank plans to roll them out across Turkey in coming months.

    According to Gul, the researcher, “things are beginning to change, but not as quickly as they should be.”

    Senturk believes there developments taking place in Turkey are encouraging, but he thinks even more can be done, which is one of the reasons why he wants to stand for Turkish National Assembly.

    “I think the municipalities should work harder for the impaired people and they should handle all those architectural problems for the impaired people to start with,” he said.

    “In short, the world shouldn’t be designed for one type of person, but for every type of people.”

    via Blind pop star campaigns on disability – CNN.com.

  • Seven shot dead at US army base

    Seven shot dead at US army base

    Seven people have been killed and at least 20 injured in a pair of shootings at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, the US Army has confirmed.

    One person has been arrested and at least one more is on the run, reports say. The base has been locked down.

    NBC News network said the two suspects were in military uniform and that the shooter-at-large was believed to have a high-powered sniper rifle.

    Fort Hood, near the town of Killeen, is the largest US base in the world.

    Home to about 40,000 US troops, the base lies between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles (97 km) from each city.

    It is not yet clear whether those reported killed and injured are civilians or military personnel.

    White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the incident.

    Army spokesman Lt Col Nathan Banks at the Pentagon told the Associated Press news agency the shootings had begun at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical processing centre at Fort Hood.

    He said two shooters had been involved.

    The second incident took place at a theatre on the base, he said.

    NBC reports that the suspect in custody is in his 20s.

    At this point all those involved are believed to be military personnel, ABC reports. It says there are conflicting reports about whether there is a third shooter.

    A soldier stationed at Fort Hood told the BBC: “We’re on lockdown. I heard the emergency announcement over the speakers outside and saw people rushing to get indoors.

    “In our office we’re okay but we’re hearing about the deaths. It’s horrible and very shocking.”

    Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, talking on CNN, said she had spoken to one of the generals at Fort Hood minutes ago, and he had suggested 30 people were wounded.

    Local congressman John Carter, speaking to NBC News, said gunfire had erupted during a graduation ceremony.

    The BBC’s Adam Brookes in Washington says there are military police and Swat teams on the scene, and the FBI is on the way from Austin and Waco. Schools in the area have also been locked down.

    The units at the base will be deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some will have returned from there, our correspondent says.

    The base is essentially like a small town, he adds. There is a centre there that deals with combat stress.

    BBC