Propaganda
Let the dirty tricks begin!
Vets for Freedom comes under scrutiny.
It only took an hour to cover their tracks. In 2006, a group of US ‘veterans, enlisted personnel, and officers’, who are apparently horrified by defeatist news coverage and peace activism surrounding the interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, decided to take action. According to their website: ‘The result was the creation of Vets for Freedom, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the unbiased, non-partisan truth of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to educate the public and mobilize public support for the Global War on Terror.’
But its non-partisan status has come under fire following blogs by John Stauber. Writing for the Center for Media and Democracy’s online journal Sourcewatch on 7 June 2006, Stauber initially observed: ‘While the organization claims to be non-partisan, the privacy notice on its website suggests otherwise, reading: “We may from time to time share the information our visitors provide with other Republican candidates and other like-minded organizations,’ By that afternoon, Stauber provided an update: ‘Whoever the PR professionals are behind Vets for Freedom, they work fast in monitoring and managing scrutiny. Less than an hour after [my] article hit the internet they changed their website privacy notice and took out the Republican candidates reference.’ Stauber now asks whether Vets for Freedom is just a Republican front that attacks politicians calling for an end to the US occupation during the 2006 Congressional election.
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
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