 | | |   | | | | | Andrew Gilligan's diary | | | |
 Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Gilligan reflects on the Iraqi media's coverage of the war.
Like much else the Allies had hoped to destroy, the Iraqi papers are still in business. They were off the streets for a day or two, but they've now reappeared, to pump out their inimitable mixture of propaganda, vitriol an Ba'ath-ist revolutionary cliche.
For the first few days there was an unfortunate shortage of news, or a least a shortage of news the papers could print. Last weekend the allies seemed to be doing distressingly well, so the front-page lead in the Iraq daily was 'President Hussein chairs expanded meeting'. The second front-page headline was 'President Saddam chairs military meeting'. And the third front-page headline? 'President Hussein chairs another meeting.'
The Iraq daily could never be called a substantial read. But in war time it's down to eight pages. Well ... it looks like it at first, but on closer inspection you find that pages five to eight are the same as pages one to four. It's not just the language that's recycled.
Lately however things have been looking up for the papers. Allied set-backs have been fearlessly chronicled. 'Friendly fire and unfriendly fire' is the headline on Al-Iraq's leader page. The papers says there's no difference between the two. 'Friendly fire is just as good for getting rid of the enemy', it decides.
'Pentagon rocked by the Iraq defiance' claims Al-Thawra, the Ba'ath party mouthpiece. And the banner headline proclaims: 'Guerrilla war for Baghdad'. Thousands of Saddam's Fedayeen volunteers and civilians, are - we're told - pouring into the city for a street by street fight.
Normal papers may have adverts, Al-Thawra has a big box promising a reward for anyone who brings in an enemy vehicle. Al-Thawra's overseas correspondents have been scouring the world for bad news about America. They've dug up an editorial in an obscure French regional newspaper which says 'Bush has lost already'.
Saddam, of course, is a major feature of all the Iraqi papers - his picture on every front-page. In peace time he's usually shown on his own, but now he's with as many members of the regime as he can muster. The not-so-subtle message? 'They're all behind me'.
Earlier in the week there were intriguing signs of turbulance at the top. The Iraqi daily was allowed to publish a story in which a Turkish politician described Saddam as a tyrant. But the papers have put those days behind them. 'Saddam, you are better than medicine ... better than life itself', says Babil, the paper run by the president's son. 'The criminal invaders will soon be defeated'.
The world, as seen by the Iraqi papers.
Read Andrew Gilligans daily diary from Baghdad, chronicling the lead-up to war.
| |
| |
|
|
