Ready, Fire, Aim! - Mihail's Public Blog: Lebanon bans US campaign ads promoting positive images

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Friday, December 20, 2002

Lebanon bans US campaign ads promoting positive images

Can we be that surprised that Lebanon and other Muslim countries feel this is blatant and inaccurate propaganda by the US when Arab and other Muslims (including Pakistanis and Saudis most recently) are being asked to register but when they're showing up hundreds are being arrested. Maybe the money being spent on this advertising campaign can be better spent providing economic aid to countries that need it, making it obvious where that aid come from so that the beneficiaries become ambassadors for the US unlike any slick Madison Ave copy. According to this Dow Jones newswire story in the Wall Street Journal:

Lebanon has banned the broadcasting of U.S. government TV spots aimed at improving America's image in Arab and Muslim countries, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Thursday.

"The TV spots were banned because they contained words contrary to truth. The spots say that America is treating the Arabs and Muslims well. This is not true," Aridi told The Associated Press.

...The minister said the advertisements were themselves proof of the discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. "They (Americans) talk about Muslims as if they are guests in America. They are citizens holding the U.S. citizenship," he said.

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