Examining how propaganda infiltrates the American cultural perspective Part 3

My goal in breaking down this interview is to show how seriously flawed the media is in this country, to expose the deceptive techniques of propaganda used by our elite which misinform our nation and to reveal that the current forms of mass media are no longer suitable for a functioning democracy. Much of what is reported today is backed with an agenda, and we can no longer count on the Elite owned media outlets to practice proper, unbiased research. This is the only explanation I have for Scott Pelley's dreadfully misinformed interview, as his words and questions indicate he has an agenda to push throughout the interview. Consider where I left off last time:

Pelley: "What trait do you admire in President Bush?"

Ahmadinejad: "Again, I have a very frank tone. I think that President Bush needs to correct his ways."

Pelley: "What do you admire about him?

Ahmadinejad: "He should respect the American people."

Pelley: "Is there anything? Any trait?"

Ahmadinejad: "As an American citizen, tell me what trait do you admire?"

Pelley: "Well, Mr. Bush is, without question, a very religious man, for example, as you are. I wonder if there's anything that you've seen in President Bush that you admire."

Ahmadinejad: "Well, is Mr. Bush a religious man?"

Pelley: "Very much so. As you are."

Ahmadinejad: "What religion, please tell me, tells you as a follower of that religion to occupy another country and kill its people? Please tell me. Does Christianity tell its followers to do that? Judaism, for that matter? Islam, for that matter? What prophet tells you to send 160,000 troops to another country, kill men, women, and children? You just can't wear your religion on your sleeve or just go to church. You should be truthfully religious. Religion tells us all that you should respect the property, the life of different people. Respect human rights. Love your fellow man. And once you hear that a person has been killed, you should be saddened. You shouldn't sit in a room, a dark room, and hatch plots. And because of your plots, many thousands of people are killed. Having said that, we respect the American people. And because of our respect for the American people, we respectfully talk with President Bush. We have a respectful tone. But having said that, I don't think that that is a good definition of religion. Religion is love for your fellow man, brotherhood, telling the truth."

Pelley: "I take it you can't think of anything you like about President Bush."

Ahmadinejad: "Well, I'm not familiar with the gentleman's private life. Maybe in his private life he is very kind or a determined man. I'm not aware of that. I base my judgment on what I see in his public life. Having said that, I think that President Bush can behave much better. There were golden opportunities for President Bush. He should have used them better."

Consider what Pelley is driving at here, the notion that president Bush is admirable because he is a religious man. Pelley's question is loaded, but even more so is his response. What kind of inference is this, that non-religious people are not admirable? Ahmadinejad's response once again though cuts right through the heart of the question, refuting Pelley's assertion. It's always baffled me that Bush has been able to play the religion card while killing millions of people on the other side of the world. No he is not a religious man, save for election time. A truly religious man would not be as reckless with human life as Bush has been. This is one Pelley probable wished he had back. He's at his worst though during the next few questions.

Pelley: "I asked President Bush what he would say to you if he were sitting in this chair. And he told me, quote, speaking to you, that you've made terrible choices for your people. You've isolated your nation. You've taken a nation of proud and honorable people and made your country the pariah of the world. These are President Bush's words to you. What's your reply to the president?"

Ahmadinejad: "Well, President Bush is free to think as he pleases and to say what he pleases. I don't oppose the freedom of speech. I believe in freedom of speech. President Bush is free to say what he pleases. But these would not change the truth. So that President Bush knows the Iranian people are dearly loved today. We can very well put this to the test to find out who has become isolated. Again, maybe one of my friends could go to another country and a friend of President Bush could go to the same country, find out which one of us is isolated. You're free to choose any country you like. I don't think that President Bush has said these things. Rather, I prefer to think that this is your impression of what the president has said."

Pelley: "I'm quoting the president directly for the record."

Ahmadinejad: "This is a direct quote? So, well, this tells me that there's a great divide between us."

Pelley is offensive here, resorting to verbal warfare with the president on another nation, insulting Ahmadinejad on television in his home country of Iran. There is only one purpose to this question and it is to incite Ahmadinejad into firing back at Bush. This is irresponsible journalism and downright politicizing. It was an excuse for Pelley to take a shot at Ahmadinejad, and he wasted nothing taking that shot. It should be apparent by now that Pelley has an agenda to fill. After baiting Ahmadinejad with questions pertaining to the Iran hostage crisis and leveling Ahmadinejad with more threats of war, Pelley continues his verbal assault, and is again put in his place by Ahmadinejad.

Pelley: "If sanctions do occur, if another round of sanctions occur, you will continue to enrich uranium behind closed doors, I take it."

Ahmadinejad: "This is not going to happen. I have talked extensively about this. Nobody is able to impose an unlawful course of action on the Iranian people. The Iranian people will not abide by that, accept that. And it will not serve their interests to do that. Both the American government and other countries, it helps them if they are friends with Iran. As a friend, I need to tell you to take this route. Again, you're free to take any route you want. And you would have to, you will have to go with the repercussions. So these past few years, what has it gotten you? And the conditions will not change to benefit them; I assure you of that."

Pelley: "Would an attack on your nuclear sites, in your opinion, give you leave to attack U.S. forces in the region or the U.S. mainland?"

Ahmadinejad: "Who is going to attack this country?"

Pelley: "President Bush has pledged that you will not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon and will use military force if necessary."

Ahmadinejad: "I think Mr. Bush, if he wants his party to win the next election, there are cheaper ways and ways to go about this. I can very well give him a few ideas so that the people vote for him. He should respect the American people. They should not bug the telephone conversations of their citizens. They should not kill the sons and daughters of the American nation. They should not squander the taxpayers' money and give them to weapons companies. And also help the people, the victims of Katrina. People will vote for them if they do these things. But if they insist on what they are saying right now, this will not help them. Again, nobody can hurt the Iranian people. And history tells us that the people who have been less than kind to the Iranian people, they have lost out. What I'm saying, I am being very sincere here. I'm a Muslim. I cannot tell a lie. I am supposed to tell the truth. What I'm saying is that President Bush's conduct in Iraq is wrong. And his wrong conduct is behind his party losing the previous elections. This is very clear. The American people are very much dismayed with the behavior and the conduct of the present administration. They are not dismayed with Iran. In fact, the two nations are very close to one another. An example of that would be the letter sent to me by an American scholar a few days ago."

Pelley: "You mentioned telling the truth as a Muslim, and as you know so much better than I do, Verse 42 of the second sura: "The truth shall not be obscured by falsehood, and those who know the truth must tell it." But when I ask you a question as direct as "Will you pledge not to test a nuclear weapon?" you you dance all around the question. You never say "yes." You never say "no."

Ahmadinejad: "Well, thank you for that. You are like a CIA investigator. And you are . .. "

Pelley: "I am just a reporter. I am a simple, average American reporter."

Ahmadinejad: "This is not a Baghdad prison. Please, this is not a secret prison in Europe. This is not Abu Ghraib. This is Iran. I'm the president of this country. Well, I think that I've gone beyond what you've asked me, above and beyond. And I think that if you speak to your job as a reporter, what I have said so far, again, goes above and beyond what you ask me."

Pelley: "One last thing. So important for the American people to understand. When your airplane approaches Manhattan this week, you will look out the window and you will see that the World Trade Center is gone. Many Americans, Mr. President, to be frank, believe that you look out that window and you say to yourself, "Good. Somebody got 'em." They believe our countries are enemies."

Ahmadinejad: "Well, you shouldn't speak on behalf of the American people. I can speak on behalf of the Iranian people, but you cannot speak on behalf of the American people. Why do you insist on doing that? Why do you not allow the American people to speak for themselves? Why? Let them speak for themselves. The people gathered around the White House a couple of days ago. They spoke whatever was in their hearts and minds. Are they not American citizens? Hundreds of thousands of people have rallied against the war. Are they not citizens? Our government at the time expressed its condemnation. We issued an official communiqué condemning that incident. How can you, in your mind, accuse and condemn others? Well, if an Iranian person for that matter had done the same thing, it would have been shameful, and it would not have been fair. So, again, this is not fair. Maybe this is your point of view or also perhaps your editor's point of view. And you are saying that the American people are saying these things. The American people still don't know who was behind the bombing of the Twin Towers. Many books in the U.S. have been written about the incident., and there are questions circling in your society. Once you go back, go to the streets, ask the local people who was behind this, what were the reason for that? And, again, I fail to see why you continually say “the American people.“ I have the latest surveys. Eighty percent of the American citizens say that the American government knew about the attack beforehand. They had information."

Pelley: "You don't believe that, sir."

Ahmadinejad: "I'm not making a judgment here, mind you. I'm not being judgmental. That's not important for me. What is important for me is to find out why this happened. We can take a course of action which ensures this never happens. Why should we manage the world like this? It's very possible for us all to be friends, for the world to be in peace, and for the family of man to love one another and to not hate one another. So who propagates these ideas, I ask you. We should all be friends. We should deal fairly with one another, respect one another. Nations do not have any problems when it comes to interacting with one another. Unethical politicians make war. Nations don't make war. We're saying that you should allow our nations to be friends with one another. We condemned that incident right there and then. Why should many innocent people be killed? For what reason? Well, behind this building there is another building, a building which in 1360 Iranian calendar, some 25 years ago, the Iranian president and the prime minister in the office, they were blown up by terrorists, a bomb planted by terrorists. And the president and the prime minister burned in that bomb, by that bomb. And, again, this is very regrettable that those terrorists, which were behind that bombing and other assassinations in this country, can freely have access to American officials are being protected by the American Army in Iraq. So this country is a victim of terrorism throughout its history. So you cannot produce even one document, a single document, about terrorist action on the part of the Iranian government or Iranian officials. We are very clear in our position. We say that we spiritually support the right of the Palestinian people and also independence for Iraq. We have nothing to hide. We are very much opposed to the Iraqi occupation. Again, we have nothing to hide. It's very regrettable that many thousands of people were killed in the Twin Tower incident. We have announced time and again. And what we are asking is can we do something that ensures this never happens? And the answer is "yes." We can do that, providing a number of parties do not establish terrorist organizations and set them off on nations. We know who is behind terrorist organizations. You know full well who is behind a number of terrorist organizations around my part of the world, that is. Who provided them with logistical support, political support? It's a very well-known fact they have made and created these terrorist organizations themselves."

Pelley: "Who, sir?"

Ahmadinejad: "It's very clear. Very clear."

Pelley: "Make it clearer. Name the names."

Ahmadinejad: "I don't want to name names. I don't want to name names. But the terrorist organizations in Afghanistan, who is behind them? And what intelligence organization belonging to what country is behind them? This is very clear."

Pelley: "Shall I say CIA and the United States? Will that . . ."

Ahmadinejad: "Well, maybe you know something that . . . The relations and the developments in this part of the world are somewhat clear. I don't want to say something which would agitate and fan the flames of the situation. What I'm saying that this is shameful. My country is a great victim of terrorism. We very much oppose terrorism. As I said, we oppose terrorism. Why? Why should innocent people be killed? For what reason? We are saying that each and every person should be respected regardless of their color, creed, what country they come from, what language they speak. We're all fellow human beings. We should be respected. Why some parties ask more than their fair share? Why do they insult nations? They shouldn't do that. This is not right."

Pelley: "Would you reestablish . . ."

Ahmadinejad: "If I may. Who created secret prisons in Europe? You don't know that? Did Iran establish those prisons? This one is very clear and the documents have been revealed. Why are they creating secret prisons? If the law provides the possibility to establish these prisons, go ahead. Why this skullduggery? So this is, again, very clear."

Pelley: "Would you reestablish diplomatic relations with the United States? Is that something you want? Something you would do right away?"

Ahmadinejad: "Well, our foreign policy is a policy which says that we should have relations with all countries and nations. Before the revolution, this country was much damaged by American policy. Our late imam said that we will not have relations with two countries: one, the apartheid regime of South Africa; the other, the Zionist regime. We like to have relations with all countries. The American administration cut off relations themselves unilaterally. The Carter administration perhaps they were thinking that this would be to their benefit. But this didn't happen. We would like to have relations with all countries based on mutual respect. This is the very basis of our foreign policy. I think that we are done."

Pelley: "You have been generous with your time, Mr. President. Thank you for your time very much."

Ahmadinejad: "Good luck."

Again, Pelley is called out for attempting to speak for the American people, which is how he has unsubstantialy attempted to represent this entire interview. He again infers that Ahmadinejad has "American blood" on his hands, once again without evidence, and is taken to town by Ahmadinejad for his interviewing techniques. It's all how the quesiton is phrased, and Scott Pelley has managed to administer an entire interview based on assumptions and propaganda, offering not fact but accusation, and has not acknowledeged Ahmadinejad even once in correcting many of the false notions he has presented. There is no reason to go to war with Iran, though all the reasons not to go to war are found in this interview. The media isn't interested in the facts, they are interested in allegations that support war. Since our media is for profit, they follow the money, and there are fortunes being made through our warring. Those in charge of the media outlets are acting on this. This interview should not be seen as anything other than an attack, and the American people need to realize they are under such attack. Democracy only works if the public is informed, and it is obvious we are being intentionally misinformed. Our country is for profit. So are it's morals.