The Control Room on Newsworld

The documentary about Al Jazeera covering the invasion and occupation of Iraq will be shown on CBC newsworld on Sept. 26th, I think at 11pm Atlantic time.

Link:, Roger Ebert review.

I have not seen Al Jazeera and am in no position to comment on its accuracy. I have seen this film, however, which contains enlightening moments. Remember the TV scene when joyous Iraqis toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein after the capture of Baghdad? TV pictures on the monitors at CentCom clearly see something American audiences were not shown: The square was not filled with cheering citizens, but was completely empty, except for the small band of young men who toppled the statue.

Al Jazeera producers watch the footage with their U.S. counterparts and observe that those who are interviewed "do not have Baghdad accents." They wonder why one "happened to have the old Iraqi flag in his pocket." The implication: This was a staged event, initiated by the U.S. occupation and bought into by the U.S. media.

The movie listens in on many philosophical bull sessions between a U.S. Marine press spokesman, Lt. Josh Rushing, and an Al Jazeera producer named Hassan Ibrahim, who once worked for the BBC. Rushing defends the American line but is willing to listen to Ibrahim, who deconstructs some of the American claims (his version: "Democratize or we'll shoot you"). Some of Rushing's statements ring a little hollow today, as when he says, "The American POWs expect to be treated humanely, just like we are treating our prisoners humanely."

Mostly posting this here to remind myself, but I'd say it's definitely worth checking out from what I've read.