Propaganda Bombards Iraqis on Both Sides

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqis, still stunned Saturday by sectarian violence that killed more than 200 people in four days, find themselves under a propaganda bombardment from all sides as the Americans and the Iraqi government duel insurgents for the hearts and minds of a battered people.

The most recent broadside showed up in al-Mutammar, a secular daily newspaper, as an anonymous paid advertisement denouncing al-Qaida in Iraq as "followers of the devil."

In language aimed at Arab sensitivities to family and tribe, the ad denounces al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his mentor, Osama bin Laden, as men who strayed from Islam and their Arab roots.

"There are two things in this world that warrant the direst of punishments: arrogance and cruelty against members of the same family," read the ad in Saturday's edition of al-Mutammar.

"Arrogance leads them (al-Zarqawi and bin Laden) to believe they are above the law, that they can decide what Islam is ... as if they were princes and judges.

"But where is the humility ... which the prophet, peace be upon him, embodied.""
MyWay