Breaking the Stranglehold on Middle East News Coverage? An interview with Press TV correspondent Afshin Rattansi
Joshua Frank, Dissident Voice, Dec 9 2008
Afshin Rattansi has for more than a decade worked in broadcast and print media around the world. In the UK, he has worked at the Guardian, the New Statesman, for every regional and national outlet of the BBC. In 1999, he helped to launch the developing world’s first global financial news and current affairs channel. He is currently a news anchor for Press TV. Rattansi has written six novels including The Dream of the Decade - The London Novels. He recently spoke with Joshua Frank about Press TV.
[excerpt]
Rattansi: Blair’s people unleashed an onslaught that led to the resignations of all the most senior staff at the BBC. I left for the Jazeera Arabic programme, Top Secret, which identified the 911 attackers when Osama bin Laden himself contacted the programme to name the perpetrators. They would be caught even as we ran the trailers.
[end excerpt]
Rowan Berkeley said on December 10th, 2008 at 10:40am
Joshua, would you explain this, please?
I left for the Jazeera Arabic programme, Top Secret, which identified the 911 attackers when Osama bin Laden himself contacted the programme to name the perpetrators. They would be caught even as we ran the trailers.
Rowan Berkeley said on December 12th, 2008 at 9:10am
I mean, surely, a basic part of interviewing someone is ensuring that what they say is comprehensible, is it not?
Rowan Berkeley said on December 12th, 2008 at 10:51pm
Ok, then, I shall take it that you neither know nor care WTF he was talking about. Way to go, Josh.
Joshua Frank said on December 12th, 2008 at 11:11pm
Rowan, I think Afshin explains it rather well. As the al Qaeda 9/11 suspects were being caught, their identities were being broadcast on his show Top Secret. Bin Laden had contacted the program and they had broken the story well before any other news outlets.
Rowan Berkeley said on December 13th, 2008 at 6:41am
Show me some corroboration for that bullshit tale.
Rowan Berkeley said on December 13th, 2008 at 6:56am
This is the obvious place to start, but I can tell you now : there is no report anywhere except in the mind of this interviewee of yours to the effect that “Osama bin Laden himself contacted the programme to name the perpetrators.” The statement by your interviewee following makes no sense, as I keep trying to tell you : “They would be caught even as we ran the trailers.” Who is that supposed to be referring to? The supposed perpetrators, having engaged in a rather definitive form of suicide bombing, were obviously DEAD.
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a102001instigated#a102001instigated
Submitted by RowanBerkeley on Sat, 2008-12-13 17:38
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Yes, we all know that some Arab flunkies, that couldn't even safely fly a single-engine Cessna, were the ones that piloted one of the world's most demanding jets, a 757, into the Pentagon and the WTC.
And didn't the US media do a bang-up job that same day, showing photos of those Muzzie "terrorists" within hours of the 9/11 attacks?
Gosh, was that some ace reporting or what?
Even the CIA head, George Tenet, knew within 10 minutes of the first plane hitting the WTC that "Bin Laden was behind this."
Amazing.
A real "slam-dunk" for Georgie!!!
go on over there and post some hassle.
but Richard Clark, in his book "Against All Enemies", said that 18/19 of the hijackers were known by 9:59 am on 9/11.
NORAD, (from 911 Commission Report?) says that they became aware of the fl. 93 hijacking at 10:08, almost 10 minutes after the hijackers identities were discovered.
And several days later, officials at NORAD discovered that snow is the same thing as rain, only colder.
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"Stop judging by appearances, but judge justly."