Setting Tom Friedman Straight: Exposing an agenda of vilification (against Pakistan)

[TechLahore]

Setting Tom Friedman Straight: Exposing an agenda of vilification
May.30, 2010 in Law and Policy, Living in Pakistan, Politics and Society Leave a Comment

Setting Tom Friedman Straight: Exposing an agenda of vilification | TechLahore

Tom Friedman misses no opportunity to vilify muslims, Pakistanis and the middle east. He's at it again... (Image credit: Amazon.com)
I get it. There are neocons and then there are neocons. The first reference would be to the easy to identify variety; those of the Perle and Cheney ilk. Folks that don’t bother to pretend or cover their tracks. They shoot first and ask questions later. But then there’s the more insidious, surreptitious genus of war-mongers who operate in the garb of enlightened intellectuals. These camouflaged operators are much the same on the inside but appear overtly thrilled at the prospect of the “flattening” of the world, of the developing nations coming into their own and also appear concerned with the Green revolution. Tom Friedman epitomizes this second category.

What does that have to do with us, you ask? And with entrepreneurs and technologists in Pakistan? Everything. People like Tom Friedman are pursuing an agenda of deliberate vilification and misinformation about the the muslim world in general, and Pakistan in particular. These cloak and dagger operators who masquerade as journalists and intellectuals must be answered by our pens. They must be exposed and the damage they have caused must be mitigated and reversed; damage, not only to us in this part of the world, but also to their own people, who they continue to mislead and fool, calling in the proverbial airstrike upon a mirage in the desert. They are making up an enemy that doesn’t exist, and in doing so, are filling the minds of Americans exposed to their writings in dying outlets such as the NYT, with hatred and mistrust of one fourth of humanity.

[Continued at TechLahore - click here]

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Brilliant piece Tech.

'two thumbs wayyyy up'

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

And IMO Friedman isn't the only 'rightwing nutcase in disguise' the NYT employs, especially as it relates to US foreign policy.

I don't think it is a coincidence that despite having a reputation as a very liberal entity (domestically) the NYT is still courted by both Republican and Democratic administrations on 'leaks' and 'briefings' related to pushing the US FP agenda.

I hadn't paid much attention to Friedman's writings since he never really struck me as a 'brilliant' or interesting analyst based on his op-eds in the NYT, but apparently he has enough populist appeal with this rabble rousing nonsense he peddles, re-affirming the prevailing narrative of 'us and our allies good, them Mooslums bad'.

He isn't the only one at the NYT either, David Sanger is yet another whose writings on Pakistan's nuclear program in particular, and Pakistan in general, would fall in the same category as Friedman.

 

[pak-yes]

Oh come on yar nothing new these guys earn their bread by propagating lies about Pakistan.

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

AM
These jurnos are hired for specific ajenda, happens everywhere.. PML-N pays off Rs 200,000 to Hamid Mir for every thing he writes infavour of them simillarly Nazir Naji is being paid plenty by PPP ..
What i ment to say is these publicaly famous jurnos are hired and must have been on US DOD or Intell agencies payroll so that they could promote there FP ajenda into public and have consensus over Pakistan.
Its BAD that US is keeping an option of ditching Pakistan, alive. Based upon all this one can surely conclude that US has short term relation with Pakistan and all the cries of a strategik partnership is nothing but Bull Crap..!

 

[TechLahore]

AM, you are absolutely right. It is quite clear that when the American media starts to report in a particular direction, all the outlets head the same way, whether it be Fox or CNN. The NYT in particular is considered a "liberal" outlet, so on foreign policy matters when it takes a stance, the message to the american public is, "even the liberals think these are the bad guys". Which is an even more effective ploy to vilify.

By the way, I do agree with you, Friedman is not brilliant or particularly insightful. I think he dumbs things down by way of anecdote to a level where much of the readership can follow his often false arguments. But, they get to feel good about themselves since they can grasp the writings of well known writer for a well known, "intellectual" paper, such as the NYT.

A lot of psychology at play here, really

 

[Patriot]

Add ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI to the list..NYTIMES, WP and WSJ are three major outlets that US Administration use for Propoganada.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Add ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI to the list..NYTIMES, WP and WSJ are three major outlets that US Administration use for Propoganada.

I think you have to distinguish between journalists that just swallow the US establishment line for what it is, out of patriotism, and journalists that actually concoct poison to inculcate hatred and resentment for the 'other'.

See this Friedman line that TL talked about for example,

'he claims that Pakistani children grow up resenting the richest residents of their neighbourhood, and harbour dreams of growing up and killing these neighbours to take over their wealth. This, in contrast to India, where children – altruistic as Indian young ‘uns are being counters to Tom Friedman’s caricatured young Pakistani devils – look upon the rich merely to forge aspirations and draw motivation for hard work.'

I at least have never seen Shmitt and Mazetti stoop that level of hate mongering yet. Yes, I don't see them as being very objective when they report on US vs Pakistan issues, but Friedman has gone far beyond that.

This is almost David Duke territory .

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Money Talks
Pakistan should hire some of these renowned journalists(on its own payroll) to promote its agenda.There has to be a way to contour them .

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Money Talks
Pakistan should hire some of these renowned journalists(on its own payroll) to promote its agenda.There has to be a way to contour them .

The US establishment is smarter than just 'paying' these people - you use a combination of ideological compatibility (hawkish on foreign policy and the role of the US in the world, patriotism etc.) and indirect financial benefits, such as a build up of respect as a journalist and subsequent contracts with major organizations, popularity and of course those potential book deals, by virtue of having 'sources' in the establishment that you can frequently 'access' and quote.

Paying someone to write something is not quite as good as someone who really believes being gently nudged and provided the 'relevant information' to push an issue in a convincing and heartfelt manner.

And of course the quality of the individual is important as well - Zaid Hamid would probably be a good fit ideologically for the GoP to use in such a role, but he is a little too right wing with his views on 'Jews, Mossad and conquering Delhi' to be taken seriously.

People like Zafar Hillay and other former Defence and Foreign secretaries and Ambassadors are far better choices, since most of them are ideologically compatible and also intellectually brilliant and articulate and less susceptible to conspiracy theories, and therefore harder to dismiss by the opposition.

 

[Jackdaws]

Add ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI to the list..NYTIMES, WP and WSJ are three major outlets that US Administration use for Propoganada.

@ TL - Good attempt. Too bad it falls flat on its face. How many Pakistani students attend the handful of private schools you mentioned which are world class? And why do those too make a beeline for moving abroad once their schooling is complete? But yea - he does make sweeping generalizations. If all Indians kids were the way he described - we wouldn't have a Maoist problem now - would we?

@ Patriot - Come off it - the press is free in the USA - these are the guys who exposed Watergate and brought down a President.

 

[TechLahore]

^^ Not only are you wrong in your "handful of private schools" line of thinking, you have also missed the broader point. That Friedman's characterization of Pakistani children being conniving, killers-in-training is not just bull$hit, it is Nazi-esque in its inhumanity. There are no words to condemn this sort of hate mongering.

Now, coming to the other point you are wrong about: You may not know that Pakistan is home to the largest private school network in the world. We are not talking about a "handful" of private schools here. Just in one of the school systems I referenced - Beaconhouse - 165,000 students are presently enrolled. The City School, which I also referenced, has another 40,000 students enrolled. The Lahore Grammar School, with branches all over the country (Quetta, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore, Multan etc.) is not far behind. These numbers are not made up of children of the elite, but that of the middle class. In fact, each of these schools has an inexpensive network of branches integrated within the overall system for the children from the lower middle class.

Beaconhouse School System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How many of these children do you think go abroad? An infinitesimal number. This is a reality which rubbishes your rhetorical 'beeline for moving abroad' nonsense.

Even in institutions of higher learning today, the vast, vast majority of students being produced at places such as FAST ICS, NUST, GIK Institute and LUMS etc. are staying back in Pakistan. An overwhelming number of the girls leaving LGS (Lahore Grammar School) are pursuing higher education in Pakistan. These are the same girls that, far from dreaming of killing their neighbours ala Friedman's sick fantasy, repeatedly qualify for and win the NASA world science championships in Houston. After winning last year and being in the final few the year before, they have qualified again this year!

And higher ratios of Aitchisonians - a product of Aitchison College, an unabashedly elite institution for 125 years - are staying on in Pakistan. These are children of parents who could easily obtain the "for-sale" version of the green card overnight, which you get when you invest $1M in the US... and yet they choose to now stay away from the US, much less make your imagined beeline! The numbers of Pakistani students from all social backgrounds going to the US have diminished drastically. These are facts that I see on the ground. No amount of Google searching for bull$hit statistics takes away from an on-the-ground reality.

 

[Patriot]

I think you have to distinguish between journalists that just swallow the US establishment line for what it is, out of patriotism, and journalists that actually concoct poison to inculcate hatred and resentment for the 'other'.

See this Friedman line that TL talked about for example,

'he claims that Pakistani children grow up resenting the richest residents of their neighbourhood, and harbour dreams of growing up and killing these neighbours to take over their wealth. This, in contrast to India, where children – altruistic as Indian young ‘uns are being counters to Tom Friedman’s caricatured young Pakistani devils – look upon the rich merely to forge aspirations and draw motivation for hard work.'

I at least have never seen Shmitt and Mazetti stoop that level of hate mongering yet. Yes, I don't see them as being very objective when they report on US vs Pakistan issues, but Friedman has gone far beyond that.

This is almost David Duke territory .

Wow what an asshole.The childrens in Pakistan upto 16 years old don't even think about money.They are more interested in talking about girls and stuff.After 18 children are more interested in getting high education and get some job.I have not seen any kid in my school or college ever who had this kind of thoughts.This guy sounds almost like an indian.I agree Mark and Eric are way better then him.At least they only pubish what the US establishment thinks and not put their own opinion.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

@ Patriot - Come off it - the press is free in the USA - these are the guys who exposed Watergate and brought down a President.

I completely agree that the US press does an excellent job in domestic issues and is very free and independent. However, the criticizm here is of coverage related to foreign policy issues, especially issues where the US has strong strategic interests. On those issues the US press, NYT especially, tends to take a line that conforms to that of the US establishment.

The only time you start to see dissenting voices is when US FP starts blowing up in everyone's face i.e Iraq and Afghanistan, otherwise the overall narrative tends to tow the establishment line.

 

[Patriot]

I completely agree that the US press does an excellent job in domestic issues and is very free and independent. However, the criticizm here is of coverage related to foreign policy issues, especially issues where the US has strong strategic interests. On those issues the US press, NYT especially, tends to take a line that conforms to that of the US establishment.

The only time you start to see dissenting voices is when US FP starts blowing up in everyone's face i.e Iraq and Afghanistan, otherwise the overall narrative tends to tow the establishment line.

Nytimes is full of Anti Pakistan Articles.Other liberal media outlets *The Atlanic for example is far better then the so called liberal Nytimes.Most of the US news paper tend to support the US Administration Hawkish views of the world and the thing which i hate is anonymous leaks.Why the hell are these officials talking to press if they are not authorized to speak to press?