CNN on Chechnya: Christiane Amanpour Showed Total Incapacity for Honest Reporting
Pakistanis Humiliated, Tortured, Deported in Shackles: Given $1.40 each to Start Anew
Pakistani Jewelers Being Investigated Across USA: Accusation of Funding al-Qaidah
[Imam W. D. Muhammad's Support for U.S. Government Raises Questions]


On June 22, 2002 CNN carried an hour-long program on Chechnya. It was narrated by Christiane Amanpour. In many ways it was a travesty of honest journalism. Here are a few salient features.
1. Ms. Amanpour claimed that Chechnya was a "forgotten war." The claim doesn't make sense because the whole world, in particular the Muslim world, knows that Russia has been waging war in Chechnya. Perhaps what Ms. Amanpour meant was that CNN had forgotten the war in Chechnya for almost a year.
2. Muslim sources have said for a long time that RUSSIA CANNOT WIN THE WAR IN CHECHNYA. Amanpour admitted that fact but did not admit that Islamic sources have been saying this much before she stumbled on this fact.
3. She admitted that Russia is losing an average of 125 SOLDIERS EVERY WEEK in Chechnya EVEN NOW. Again this is a well known fact to Muslims and all one has to do is to visit an Islamic site to find this out. Again honest journalism required that Amanpour should have admitted that Muslim sources turned out to be correct BEFORE CNN.
4. She did refer a number of times to the terrible suffering of the Muslims of Chechnya and the resistance of the Chechens but did not use the appropriate language which would have been used if the victims had been Jews: There is a holocaust of the Muslims going on in Chechnya. Even the weaker word "genocide" could have been used but the CNN lady didn't.
5. The FOCUS of the report was on RUSSIAN SOLDIERS and their psychological suffering owing to the fact that they have to go to Chechnya and kill people. Thus the victimers were humanized by Amanpour. These killers and butchers of the people of Chechnya are traumatized because they have to kill people. This was low down cheap journalism but CNN is good at it having practiced it repeatedly in stories about Palestine. The Jews kill Palestinians every day but they suffer because they are such good human beings!
5a. Amanpour is good at propaganda. The average viewer sees that Chechen suffering is mentioned but the suffering Chechens are shadows ("the other", "strange, different beings") while the Russians are seen as complete European humans ("like us") and their "suffering" is analyzed in detail (they get killed by a poorly armed people who are fighting back).
6. The one-hour report lacked context in another way too. Amanpour conveniently failed to mention that BUSH and PUTIN are great friends and there is close military and economic cooperation between the U.S. and Russia. The U.S. has not penalized Russia IN ANY WAY for the genocide in Chechnya.
6a. Instead the U.S. has, every now and then, claimed that "terrorists" (code for Islamic jihad fighters) are operating in Chechnya.
7. The U.S. has squashed every move to bring up the issue of RUSSIAN REPARATIONS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF AFGHANISTAN (now compounded by American bombing) as well as destruction of Chechnya. Iraq is under sanctions owing to the invasion of Kuwait which ended 11 years back. THE U.S. DOES NOT PERMIT THE IDEA OF SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA for genocide in Chechnya from being brought up in the U.S.
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LOCAL NEWS: YOUNG PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW: Is the organization led by Imam W. D. Muhammad an Islamic organization or a Muslim nationalist organization? Is it not true that Imam W. D. Muhammad supports just about all the moves of the U.S. power elite against the Muslim world. He supported the U.S. assault on Iraq and now he supports the U.S. "war on terrorism." Question: Does this imam's group take the Qur'an and the Sunnah as decisive in its operation as a group? If this imam violates the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, do his followers have recourse within the rules of this group to challenge him?
We doubt it. But perhaps the imam himself will inform us. Our columns are open for his answer.
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PAKISTANIS BUSH'S TARGETS:

Afrikom reports that the U.S. has started a series of deportations of Pakistanis from the U.S. back to Pakistan. In the first wave, 130 Pakistanis have been deported. It appears that the Pakistanis were put on a plane, chartered for the purpose, and were dumped without warning at a Pakistani airport.
THEY WERE KEPT SHACKLED DURING THE 20 HOUR JOURNEY. In other words, they were being treated as "terrorist suspects."

Returnees have accused the U.S. of torture and extremes of humiliation and mistreatment. When they landed in Pakistan they were given the equivalent of $1.40 to find their way back home. [Their relatives were not informed of their arrival.]
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PAKISTANI JEWELERS in 15 U.S. cities are being investigated on suspicion of transmission of funds to al-Qaidah!
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PAKISTANI OBSERVERS SAY that all this Bush-Ashcroft activity is part of the U.S.-Israeli war on Islam. No Muslim is safe from oppression. Those who have not been "investigated" today will be "investigated" tomorrow. The Jews have really taken over this great country leaving its people totally disenfranchised.
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2002-07-03 Wed 00:07ct