Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Iraqi Media

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2003 20:31:08 -0500

Iraqi Media

With attention focusing once again on Iraq, it’s an
opportune moment to take a fresh look at the flow of
information into and out of the country.

Radio Iraq International still operates very spasmodically,
never having recovered from the battering it took during the
Gulf War. But now the Iraqi Government has embraced the
Internet, with the Iraqi News Agency having an extensive
English-language site to match many of its Western
competitors.

When it’s on the air, Radio Iraq International currently uses
11785 kHz for its foreign language programmes. In recent
days, the frequency has varied up to 11787kHz, and some
listeners report a noticeable increase in signal strength.

Satellite Broadcasts:
For those living within the footprint of Arabsat 3A at 26
degrees east, the Iraq Satellite Channel (TV) broadcasts on
11.938Hz vertical in PAL, with audio on 6.60 MHz. The radio
services Al Iraq, Izaat Sawt Alshabah and Radio Iraq
International are on audio subcarriers 7.20, 7.56 and 7.92
MHz respectively.

Embracing New Technology
The intervening years have seen the Internet develop into a
major information and propaganda medium, so it’s not
surprising that, after some initial resistance, the Iraqi
authorities are now fully embracing it. One only has to to
look at the Web site of the Iraqi News Agency to appreciate
that they’re taking the Internet seriously. Other Iraqi
government sites range from the Iraqi Center for Heart
Disease to the Iraq Tourism Board , which bizarrely promises
pages in Dutch!
The media inside Iraq may be controlled by the regime, but
there are plenty of broadcasting stations outside its borders
battling for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. How
successful they are is open to question, but plenty of
resources are being pumped into the effort.

American-Backed Stations
The US government considers Iraq important enough - or
Saddam Hussein dangerous enough - to have created Radio
Free Iraq, on the lines of Radio Free Europe under whose
umbrella it has operated since its launch in October 1998.
Broadcasts are on the air on shortwave 8 hours a day.

According to ClandestineRadio.com the Central Intelligence
Agency of the US is also covertly supporting an operation
run by the Jordan-based Iraqi National Accord (INA) in
Amman. There is no mystery about the aims of the INA: its
own Web site states that they “advocate the removal of
Saddam’s regime”. The station, called Al Mustaqbal (The
Future) made its first broadcast on 21 April 1996. It’s
opening words were, “This is The Future, the radio of the
Iraqi National Accord, a voice for all the Iraqis confronting
oppression and dictatorship, a voice that looks forward to a
safe future for a new Iraq.” The frequency of the 50kW
transmitter, located in Kuwait, varies between 1557 and
1584kHz in an effort to escape Iraqi jamming.

A third US-backed station, Radio Hurriyeh is the subject of a
special article published last October in partnership with
Clandestine Radio Watch.

Other stations
Clandestine Radio.com has a comprehensive dossier on the
various other stations, some of which have been around for
many years. But the ‘new kid on the block’ is Radio
Bopeshawa (Radio Forward), operated by the Iraqi
Worker-Communist Party , which launched as recently as 1
Feb 2001.

The Kurdish Question
But that’s not the end of the story. There are no less than
11 radio and TV stations representing, or claiming to
represent, various sections of the Kurdish community
engaged in long-running disputes with Iraq and Turkey
respectively. Some appear to be operating from northern
Iraq, but others are based in neighbouring Iran. These
stations are more concerned with advocating an
independent Kurdistan than with the overthrow of the Iraqi
regime per se. Nevertheless, their existence complicates the
media landscape.

How Effective?
Opinions in the West are divided about the effectiveness of
propaganda beamed into Iraq from the outside. Certainly
the regime of Saddam Hussein appears to have retained its
grip on power, and hostile propaganda from the country’s
perceived enemies would appear to be counter-productive.
But those involved in broadcast operations to Iraq would
argue that propaganda is just one element of a more
complex strategy. Only time will tell which of these views
prevails.

by Andy Sennitt,
originally published by Radio Netherlands

More info:
http://www.clandestineradio.com
http://www.middleeastwire.com/iraq
Satellite to beam anti-Saddam TV to Iraq - an article by Brian
Whitaker, The Guardian:

Related articles on the WACC site:
Media Embargo on Iraq

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