The Voice of America is really disgraceful. The propaganda is so thinly concealed in their unsigned ‘editorials’ which are probably written by entire committees of psyops personnel. For example, in an ‘editorial’, 12/19/02 – STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN – Editorial #0-10321:
The protests reflect the growing impatience of the people of Iran. They want genuine democracy, not a regime manipulated by reactionary clerics. Hard-line Islamists are a minority in Iran’s parliament. But they control the police, the judiciary, and the Guardian Council. And no act of parliament can become law without the council’s approval.
Or, maybe the growing impatience of the US government? And, the choice of words: reactionary, genuine democracy (Iran is at least now a Republic in name. This is doubly ironic since the US supported the prior authoritarian government under the Shah)
Results of recent elections demonstrated that the people of Iran want political reform and an end to repression. A poll found that nearly seventy-five percent of Iranians favored dialogue with the United States.
What poll? Who funded it?
The demand for political reform is not only being made in the streets, but in the parliament as well. Rajabali Mazrouei [rah-jah-bah-lee mahz-roo-ee], leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, told fellow members of parliament: “If you believe people support you, then let’s hold a referendum and allow people to determine [their] fate.”
Sure, everyone knows elections are never manipulated or gamed. It happened here, it can certainly happen in Iran. I’m sure the Iranian government is pretty undemocratic. That’s one of the problems with mixing church and state. Religious authority is used for political purposes. That’s just another reason why we should not be funding so-called faith-based initiatives.
The U.S. stands with the people of Iran in their quest for freedom, civil liberties, prosperity, judicial due process, and the rule of law. Iranian officials are fully aware that these calls are genuine and come directly from the hearts of their own citizens. The U.S. looks to the Iranian government to be accountable to its people and respect their aspirations for freedom.
A tad hypocritical in a time where our own government has abrogated many such ‘civil liberties’, freedoms explicitly mentioned in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution.
VOA is a real piece of shit. Have you ever looked at the bio page on NPR’s website. The CEO and VP of NPR are both former CIA agents who were running VOA in Europe. Its no wonder you don’t hear anything very critical of our government on that station.
But, but..it’s the voice of America