Manipulating Video Images: Sloppy Journalism or War Propaganda?

The BBC's Fake Images from Tripoli

There is much debate regarding fake images and video footage used by major news networks including the BBC and CNN.

This article was written in September 2011 in the wake of NATO’s extensive bombings of Libya.  

And this is where fake reports and fake images come in. The international community, we are told,  is waging a « humanitarian war ». And the people of Libya are rejoicing.

The official story is that they have been liberated following an extensive and illegal bombing campaign under NATO auspices.

Fake images are now being used by the MSM in Syria to provide a human face to the US-NATO led coalition, which is supporting the « moderate terrorists ».  

Flash back to September 2011

Michel Chossudovsky, January 14, 2016

*      *     *

Green Square Tripoli. Libyans are seen celebrating the victory of Rebel forces over Ghadaffi in this BBC News Report (see below)

Examine the footage:

It’s not Green Square and it’s not the King Idris Flag (red, black green) of the Rebels.  

Its the Indian flag (orange, white and green) and the people at the rally are Indians.

Perhaps you did not even notice it.

And if you did notice, « it was probably a mistake ».

Sloppy journalism at the BBC or outright Lies and Fabrications? Recognize the flags?

Indian Flag  (see right)

Libya’s Rebel Flag (King Idris)

This is not the first time images have been manipulated or switched.

In fact it seems to be a routine practice of the mainstream media.

Terrorists « celebrating » in Green Square

There is no celebration. It is a NATO sponsored massacre which has resulted in several thousand deaths.

But the truth cannot be shown on network television. The impacts of NATO bombings have been obfuscated.

The rebels are heralded as « liberators ».

NATO bombing is intended to save civilian lives under The Alliance’s R2P mandate.  But the realities are otherwise: the civilian population is being terrorized by the NATO sponsored Rebels.

The images must be switched to conform to the « NATO consensus ».

Death and destruction is replaced by fabricated images of celebration and liberation.

War Propaganda and War Crimes

Media disinformation in relation to war is categorized as war propaganda, which constitutes a criminal offense under international law

This form of reporting constitutes a war crime, because the intent is to obfuscate NATO atrocities. Without media disinformation, nobody would support the war.

NATO bombings of Tripoli in the last two weeks have resulted in several thousand deaths. The Rebels are not Liberators as portrayed by the media; amply documented they are Al Qaeda terrorists working hand in glove with NATO:

 « War propaganda has entered a new phase, involving the coordinated action of satellite TV stations. CNN, France24, the BBC and Al Jazeera have become instruments of disinformation used to demonize governments and justify armed aggressions. These practices are illegal under international law and the impunity of the perpetrators must be stopped. » Thierry Meyssan, Global Research, August 22, 2011)

See Global Research reports on NATO war crimes and media disinformation:

VIDEO: Tripoli BEFORE and AFTER NATO/Rebel « Liberation »
View the footage on GRTV
– 2011-09-01

VIDEO: Make No Mistake. NATO is Committing War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in Libya
– by Julian Teil, Mathieu Ozanon, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya – 2011-08-28

Expose the Lies. This Global Research video was produced and directed in Tripoli by a team of committed journalists, researchers and cameramen.

Tibet 2008: CNN Caught Red Handed in Manipulating Images and Switching Video Footage

In 2008, in  a different context, CNN was also caught red handed in manipulating images pertaining to the Tibet Riots.

The report presented by CNN’s Beijing Correspondent John Vause focussed on the Tibet protests in Gansu province and in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

What was shown, however, was a videotape of the Tibet protest movement in India.

Viewers were led to believe that the protests were in China and that the Indian police shown in the videotape were Chinese cops.

At the outset of the report, a few still pictures were presented followed by a videotape showing police repressing and arresting demonstrators in what appeared to be a peaceful protest:

On the day of the Lhasa Riots (March 14, 2008), the videotape presented by CNN in its News Report on the 14th of March (1.00pm EST) was manipulated.

VIDEO: Tibet monks protest against Chinese rulers (CNN, March 14, 2008)

The video footage, which accompanied CNN’s John Vause’s report, had nothing to do with China. The police were not Chinese, but Indian cops in khaki uniforms from the North-eastern State of Himachal Pradesh, India.

Viewers were led to believe that demonstrations inside China were peaceful and that people were being arrested by Chinese cops.

Chinese Cops in Khaki Uniforms

1′.27-1′.44″ video footage of « Chinese cops » and demonstrators including Buddhist monks. Chinese cops are shown next to Tibetan monks

Are these Chinese Cops from Gansu Province or Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, as suggested by CNN’s John Vause’s Report?

REPORT ON CHINA, MARCH 14


Alleged Chinese cops repressing Tibet demonstrators in China , CNN, March 14, 2008  1′.36 »

Alleged Chinese cops in khaki uniforms repressing Tibet demonstrators in China, CNN, March 14, 2008  1’40 »

Their khaki uniforms with berets seem to bear the imprint of the British colonial period.

Khaki colored uniforms were first introduced in the British cavalry in India in 1846.

Khaki means « dust » in Hindi and Persian.

Moreover, the cops with khaki uniforms and mustache do not look Chinese.

Look carefully.

They are Indian cops.

The videotape shown on March 14 by CNN is not from China (Gansu Province or Lhasa, Tibet’s Capital). The video was taken in the State of Himachal Pradesh, India. The videotape of the Tibet protest movement in India was used in the CNN report on the Tibet protest movement within China.

In a March 13 Report by CNN, demonstrators are being arrested by Indian police in khaki uniforms during a protest march at Dehra, about 50 km from Dharamsala in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

VIDEO; Tibet Protest movement in India, CNN, March 13, 2008

 

« Indian police arrested around 100 Tibetans on Thursday, dragging them into waiting police vans, as they tried to march to the Chinese border to press claims for independence and protest the Beijing Olympics. » (REUTERS/Abhishek Madhukar (INDIA))

Below are images from the CNN’s report on March 13, on the protest movement in Himachal Pradesh, India:

Compare these images to those in the March 14 CNN report. Same cops, same uniforms, same Indian style moustache

CNN MARCH 13 REPORT ON INDIA


Indian cops repressing Tibetan demonstrators in Himachal Pradesh, India CNN, March 13, 2008  0′.53″


Indian cops repressing Tibet demonstrators in Himachal Pradesh, India CNN, March 13, 2008  1′.02″


Indian cops repressing Tibet demonstrators in Himachal Pradesh, India CNN, March 13, 2008, 1′.18″


Indian cops repressing Tibetan demonstrators in Himachal Pradesh, India CNN, March 13, 2008  2.04″

The CNN’s March 14 report on the Tibet Protest movement in China shows Chinese cops in khaki uniforms, yellow lapels and berets.

While the videotape is not identical to that of March 13 in India , CNN’s coverage of the events in China on March 14 used a videotape taken from the coverage of the Tibet Protest movement in India on March 13, with Indian cops in khaki uniforms.

The protest movement in India on March 13 was « peaceful ». It was organised by the Dalai Lama’s « government in exile ». It took place within 50 km of the headquarters of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.

The Western media was invited in to film the event, and take pictures of Buddhist monks involved in a peaceful, nonviolent march. These are the pictures which circled the World.

So what has occurred is that CNN  has copied and pasted its own videotape of the Tibet Protest movement in India and has fabricated a Gansu Province/ Lhasa, China « peaceful » protest movement with Chinese cops in khaki British colonial style uniforms.

The Chinese never adopted the British style khaki uniform and beret.

These uniforms do not correspond to those used by the police in China. (See photograph below)


No khaki uniforms in China. These are the uniforms of China’s « Armed Police ».

For the complete 2008 report see Michel Chossudovsky


Western Media Fabrications regarding the Tibet Riots
Fake Videotape used by CNN
– by Michel Chossudovsky – 2008-04-16

CNN’s report focussed on the Tibet protests in Gansu province and in the Tibetan capital Lhasa. What was shown, however, was a videotape of the Tibet protest movement in India.

 



Articles Par : Prof Michel Chossudovsky

A propos :

Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research.  He has taught as visiting professor in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. He has served as economic adviser to governments of developing countries and has acted as a consultant for several international organizations. He is the author of eleven books including The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003), America’s “War on Terrorism” (2005), The Global Economic Crisis, The Great Depression of the Twenty-first Century (2009) (Editor), Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War (2011), The Globalization of War, America's Long War against Humanity (2015). He is a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.  His writings have been published in more than twenty languages. In 2014, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit of the Republic of Serbia for his writings on NATO's war of aggression against Yugoslavia. He can be reached at [email protected] Michel Chossudovsky est un auteur primé, professeur d’économie (émérite) à l’Université d’Ottawa, fondateur et directeur du Centre de recherche sur la mondialisation (CRM) de Montréal, rédacteur en chef de Global Research.

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