Saturday, July 03, 2004

Useful idiots

Lee Smith demonstrates that the mainstream Western media is passing along the obviously false claims (as in easily falsifiable with net connection) that the Qur'an doesn't mention beheadings. I wonder how else they're being duped. As Smith warns,
Since Islamists have typically understood Western writers and researchers to be in league with the enemy, it is logical to assume that Islamists will generally not cooperate with them unless it is to their own advantage. In fact, Islamists and others will often use Western journalists and academics to carry their message.
I think at least a partial antidote to this sort of thing is resources like MEMRI, which provide translations of what folks in the Middle East here from their own media in their own language. It needn't tell us the truth, but it allows us to spot spokespeople that say one thing in Arabic and another in English.