Fear rebels? Tune in to Iraq state TV for a hero

[leftchick]

http://p257.news.mud.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060428/wl_nm/iraq_television_dc_1


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Forget American air strikes and high-tech weaponry, it's people power that will beat Iraq's insurgency -- a sharp pair of eyes, a phone call, maybe a spot of karate or even a well-aimed sandal can bring bombers to book.

That at least is the message Iraqi state television rams home to viewers night after night in dozens of public service commercials which both advertise police hotline numbers and seem designed to boost people's morale amid the daily bloodshed.

In one running at the moment, an ordinary man who spots a masked militant planting a bomb simply takes off his sandal -- a symbolic insult for Arabs -- and hurls it at the bomber's hand, scaring away the villain who is then chased by a crowd.

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But propaganda is still a major theme, including a show that aired "confessions" of bruised men identified as insurgents accused of killing, bombing and raping innocent victims.

That show was criticized by U.N. human rights monitors and some Sunni minority leaders accuse Iraqiya of sectarian bias toward the new, Shi'ite-led government.




It looks like we are paying for Iraqi Fox News.