"Was Timothy McVeigh the Only Criminal?" by Ali Al-Hail

I read your article "Was Timothy McVeigh the Only Criminal?" by Ali Al-Hail (Al-Jazeerah, April 20, 2005) and I like it. I agree with all the issue the author raised, and the possible correlation between Timothy McVeigh's crime in the U.S.A. and what he witnessed --and perhaps was ordered to do-- in Iraq. The US, like all nations, needs to look at its actions and society first.

Anyway, Americans have yet to understand that no matter what system they develop to take control of the world, they remain humans, and that no superpower will last forever. The American media is an interesting case, of course. One cannot accuse it of being propaganda, but it is at times biased and other times selective in presenting any issue, local or global.

Many thanks,

Ihab Daouk,

Author of "The Koran from a Vernacular Perspective; Vocabulary Strings and Composition Strata"

WWW.Koran-Linguistics-Islam.com 

Response to the New Yorker's letter re: our article about Hollywood mind-control

Dear editor,

David Bernstein accuses Wendy Campbell and me of taking advantage of "universally condemned myths of Jewish media control" by dismissing our assessment of the extraordinary Jewish presence in Hollywood and American mass media. Allow us to explain.

America's most honored newspaper is the NY Times. This family-owned institution is headed by Arthur O. Sulzberger, whose dynasty also controls some 35 other newspapers nationwide. In second position is the Washington Post. It remains in the hands of the Meyers', who also own Newsweek magazine. The highly respected Wall Street Journal's publisher is Peter Kann.

Among broadcasters, Mel Karmazin is the President of CBS, and Leslie Moonves is the President of CBS News. Mort Zuckerman owns US News and World Report as well as the Boston Globe (and some 20 other publications). Zuckerman is also Chairman of the Conference of President of Major Jewish Organizations. Si Newhouse commands the Conde Naste empire, which includes Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, and some 26 newspapers. Former Paramount President, Barry Diller, now heads Vivendi-Universal. Billionaire, New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, also owns a media conglomerate bearing his name. The President of NBC is Andrew Lack. NBC Entertainment's president is Jeff Zucker.

Besides the legendary Hollywood titans of yesteryear (such as Lew Wasserman, Sam Goldwyn and Adolph Zucor) are a new generation of modern moguls. Stephen Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen are at the helm at Dreamworks. At Disney its (outgoing) Chairman Michael Eisner and (incoming) Robert Eiger. Disney's president is Joe Roth. At Viacom (which owns CBS, Paramount, MTV, Simon and Schuster, Showtime and Blockbuster) sits billionaire, Sumner Redstone. Another powerhouse is Edgar Bronfman, Jr., who owns MCA/Universal. The Chairman of Warner Brothers is Barry Meyer. As we mentioned in our article, Bob and Harvey Weinstein own Miramax films.

All the abovenamed media moguls are respected for their work and their affiliations with powerful and successful news-gathering or entertainment institutions. They are also all Jewish. Since these powerful institutions are often highly politicized, shouldn't we be aware of their ethnic and/or political orientations so we can better assess bias or conflicts-of-interest? After all, if the ethnic make-up of a jury or police dept. matters, why not a newspaper's editorial board?

Bernstein also complains that Hollywood ("sadly") doesn't make movies about Jewish characters at all, yet according to the Christian Science Monitor, there were some 175 movies made about the Holocaust alone between 1989 and 2002.

Did we exaggerate our claim that Jews "tend to occupy the top of the Hollywood food chain"? Did we exaggerate that Hollywood casually smears the religious icons of other religions, especially Christianity, but avoids doing so with regards to Jewish icons and symbols? Or does Mr. Bernstein hope to smear us with familiar insinuations designed to change the subject? Bernstein provides an answer to that question with his final accusation: "I think you guys are a bunch of bigots".

Case closed.

Mark Green and Wendy Campbell, California.

US illegals and armed militia

To help stop the illegals from entering the US at such an alarming rate, perhaps the US Army recruiters could guarantee and specify that any new recruits be given an enlistment in the National Guard for our borders only, not to serve in any combat zone anywhere except in the United States.

This could do away with the citizens who have taken it upon themselves to become an armed militia. America is short of border patrols, and jobs would be created. I fought in WW2 to preserve this country from all enemies foriegn and domestic and the situation is out of hand.

John Bakalik

A Political Tsunami in Pakistan!

Dear Editor

Being partial is humane but with limitations to be called a bona fide and independent journalist or analyst. However, A Political Tsunami in Pakistan! An article that Al Jazeerah has published written by Hashim bin Qasim has crossed all limits in painting Pakistan’s largest political and democratic party, the Pakistan Peoples Party in black.

It looks that Zardari Political Tsunami in Pakistan has caused ripples among the friends of Mr. Hashim bin Qasim as his whole article surrounds on the fictitious allegations against Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto, the first woman Prime Minister in the Muslim World, and her PPP.

I would suggest Mr Hashim to join the Pakistan’s undemocratic regime as he could be welcomed by the regime to join its propaganda team. The title of “Analyst” does not suit him to be very frank. I would only request Al Jazeerah to be selective in publishing the opinions, which are not in fact opinions but a part of propaganda against the PPP and its leadership.

The PPP is not being allowed to carry out political activities by the regime for its being liberal party. Over 50,000 of its workers were arrested in a nationwide crackdown last week to foil a big reception to Senator Asif Ali Zardari at Lahore Airport, who was kept in jail for over a decade for struggling for the rights of people and faced a cruel mudslinging by the opponents to tarnish his image. But he braved all the injustices only to come out clean.

Tariq Khan Lyari, Karachi PAKISTAN

A Political Tsunami in Pakistan

Mr Hashim bin Qasim certainly heaped praise on Mr. Musharraf in his piece. If I am correct, Mr. Musharraf took power through a military coup, and is not the elected leader of the nation and people of Pakistan.

I guess that's what we should expect from a "Pakistani Political and Global Affairs Consultant". Rarely is Mr. Musharraf pictured as a shrewd, lovable nice guy - he is, after all, a military dictator, isn't he?

Of the Musharraf maneuver's praised by Quasim, I especially enjoyed the misinformation surrounding the F-16 "score". I was reminded of that Michael Douglas movie, "Jewel of the Nile". If you saw that movie you'll recall the tribal dictator with an F16 parked on the lawn.

We could also compare Mr. Musharraf with Barny Fife, the Mayberry deputy that carried an empty gun and kept a single live bullet in his pocket.

The F16 deal Musharraf made allows the US to build an air base in Pakistan to stage intelligence operations and possibly, military operations, should the US make the unforgivable mistake of attacking Iran.

From the press I've seen, Musharraf has all but handed over Pakistan, and a large group prospective conscripts, for a war with Iran, to the US war-extortion machine. At least if young Pakistani males are on the line (dying) fighting Iran, they won't be storming the Bastille in Islamabad!

Terry Thurber