Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Afghan Press Says Gag is Unconstitutional: They Could be Right

There isn't, I think, a fine line between censorship and national security. It's a broad zone wide with fuzzy borders.

Except for chauvinists,1 for whom it's:
  • 'We are concerned with
    • National security
    • Equal opportunity
    • The Environment
    • [This year's Great Cause]
  • You want to
    • Censor a free press
    • Stifle debate
    • Hide the truth
  • They want to
    • Enslave us all
    • Destroy the rainforests
    • Whatever
Afghanistan's government doesn't want the Taliban to get help from the press, before and during the upcoming election. At least, that's a best-case scenario.

The Afghan press doesn't like it.
"Afghan journalists on Wednesday rejected a Foreign Ministry demand that they suspend the broadcasting of news about attacks or violence on election day, accusing the government of unconstitutional censorship...."
(AP)
As I wrote in this post's title: They could be right.

Related post: In the news:
1 Remember: Chauvinist means "a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind" or "an extreme bellicose nationalist". (Princeton's WordNet)

The dominant culture in America tends to think of chauvinism and conservatism as synonymous, but I think it can be argued that a person with non-conservative views can exhibit a sort of "prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind" - although in that case "his or her own kind" is somewhat more likely to be defined by political views or philosophical stances.

Posts related, sort of, to this footnote:

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.