Posted on Sun, Feb. 25, 2007

A JIHADI VERSION OF MTV

Insurgency is now a TV station in Iraq
American death scenes replayed despite effort by U.S. to shut it down
LIZ SLY
Chicago Tribune

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Humvee moving through a grove of palm trees erupts in a ball of fire. An American soldier on guard in the turret of his tank suddenly crumples, felled by a sniper's bullet. Marines on a foot patrol are obliterated by a huge explosion that fills the screen with dense black smoke.

These are the kind of scenes played over and over on Al-Zawraa TV, the latest in a slew of new Iraqi satellite channels to hit the airwaves since the 2003 invasion -- and by far the most controversial.

Broadcasting from a secret location inside Iraq, the station has established itself as the face of the Iraqi insurgency within the region and beyond, delivering a mix of anti-American invective interspersed with graphic video footage of Americans getting blown up by roadside bombs, shot dead by snipers and bombarded by mortars on their bases.

Al-Zawraa has also taken on the Iraqi government, Iraq's Shiite militias and, in a recent twist, al-Qaida in Iraq. Though U.S. and Iraqi officials say they would like to shut it down, the authorities have so far proved powerless to do so, illustrating the challenges posed by the cheap new technologies of a satellite era in which almost anyone can launch a TV station and reach an audience of millions.

This is no ordinary TV station, however. The anchor wears the olive uniform of Saddam Hussein's fedayeen fighters, with a red-checkered scarf wrapped around his head. The station's slogan, "We Win or We Die," flashes periodically over the face of the station's improbable icon, Anthony Quinn, in his role as a Bedouin leader in the movie "Lion of the Desert."

It's less a news channel than a jihadi version of MTV, featuring nonstop video shorts accompanied by soundtracks of patriotic music.

"Hey, people of Diyala, Mosul, Anbar. Destroy the invaders!" says one catchy number, sung as an oil tanker driving through the desert is vaporized by a large bomb.

The logo of whichever insurgent group carried out the attack appears in the corner of the screen.

The quality varies. Those produced by the Islamic Army are slick and fast-paced. The Mujahadeen Army's videos are blurry. The ones by the Rashideen Army are filmed from so far away it's impossible to make out what's happening.

Since Al-Zawraa began broadcasting around the clock three months ago, it has acquired something of a cult following among Iraqis, who tune in once or twice a day to check out the latest videos, according to Sunni parliamentarian Salim Abdullah.

"There are too many repeats to watch it all the time, but people like to check it every day," he said. "Whether you love it or hate it, everyone is eager to see what's new ... and it's a change from the regular news, which only shows civilians getting blown up."

Al-Zawraa is owned by Sunni politician Mishan al-Jibouri, an elected parliamentarian who was an enthusiastic, if belligerent, participant in the political process until he was charged with corruption and fled to Syria last year.

Now he runs the station on a shoestring from his Damascus apartment, using video clips downloaded free from insurgent Internet Web sites.

Al-Zawraa has never broadcast videos featuring al-Qaida attacks. The omission erupted last week into a highly public spat with the al-Qaida in Iraq movement.

Making a rare appearance on his own TV station, al-Jibouri read a long statement denouncing al-Qaida as a threat to Iraqi stability and blaming it for inciting the sectarian violence plaguing the country.

Since then, Al-Zawraa has expanded its fare to include anti-al-Qaida propaganda.

"Al-Qaida is the most dangerous enemy," Al-Jibouri said. "We believe the occupiers will leave Iraq sooner or later, but al-Qaida will stay, as a threat to Iraqi unity and the main cause of sectarian violence."


Ellie