--- It's Rochambeau Time in the Blogosphere!
Michele of A Small Victory and Dean and Rosemary of Dean's World
have decided to have stage a blogospere smackdown all in the name of
charity. They're forming alliances and I am squarely in Michele's camp
on this one. I will not support Dean because a. I don't read his site
and b. The one time I did read his site and left a comment there, it
mysteriously disappeared and no explanation was given. Hmmmph. Anyhoo,
the charity they're trying to help is The Spirit of America . They are going to purchase equipment to set up seven local television stations inside
the Al-Anbar province. The Marines will help to set the TV stations up.
Why are they doing this? I'll let them explain:
US Marines seek to equip seven (7) television stations serving
local communities within Al Anbar Province, Iraq. The Province includes
the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. These stations will offer
information that is more accurate and balanced than existing
alternatives. The goal is to improve understanding between Americans
and Iraqis, build trust and reduce tensions. Current TV news in Iraq
often carries negative, highly-biased accounts of the U.S. presence.
Unanswered, its effect is to stoke resentment and encourage conflict.
The Marines seek to ensure the Iraqi people have access to better, more
balanced information. By equipping local television stations and
providing the ability to generate news and programming, the Marines
will create a viable news alternative - one owned and operated by local
Iraqi citizens. The donated equipment will be the property of the Iraqi
stations. The stations can create their own news and choose their own
programming with the agreement that they will prohibit airing of
anti-coalition messages that incite the local population. The stations
also agree to sell airtime at a fair market price so that the Marines
can communicate their information efficiently and quickly when needed.
For example, images were recently broadcast of a mosque in Fallujah
damaged during fighting. With these stations the Marines could have
provided the full picture by airing video of combatants firing on them
from the mosque grounds. These stations would have enabled Iraqis to
understand the complete picture. News of reconstruction projects and
humanitarian assistance that balances the news of conflict will also be
provided on these stations. The stations will be free to criticize the
Coalition.
This is our chance to help out with the Al-Jazeera problem. Spirit of
America is generously setting up a tallying system for Paypal, but it
won't be available until Monday. I'll let you know when it gets set up
so, if you feel so inclined, you can give some moolah.