'Atomic Iran' TV ad rejected: What some TV stations don't want to show you because of "fear of inflaming Muslims" :: War on Terror

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April 26, 2005

'Atomic Iran' TV ad rejected: What some TV stations don't want to show you because of "fear of inflaming Muslims"

- WorldNetDaily.com via Regime Change Iran:
A TV commercial warning Americans that Iran intends to launch a nuclear terror attack in the U.S. has been rejected by several stations due to fears it might inflame Muslims.

Titled "An Atomic 9-11: When Evil is Appeased," the spot, sponsored by the Iran Freedom Foundation, is based on a scenario described in the new WND Books release "Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians," by Jerome R. Corsi, co-author of the best-selling "Unfit for Command."

The ad, which can be viewed on the IFF website, began a month-long run last Tuesday in 17 markets nationwide.

It was rejected, however, by independent stations in Chicago, Dallas and Roanoke, Va., according to the company that produced and distributed it, Fargo, N.D.-based TVAI, or Timeless Video Alternatives International.

Steve Tweed, a TVAI working partner, told WND the ad was deemed "too politically partisan and controversial." READ MORE

"One person called it propaganda," he said. ...

The commercial is running up to six times a day in prime time in Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles/Victorville, Calif.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Memphis, Tenn.; Bangor, Maine; Cedar Brook, N.J.; Eugene, Ore., Greenville/Spartanberg, S.C.; Huntsville/Decatur/Florence, Ala.; Jasper, Ind.; and Spokane, Wash.

Tweed said some television program directors and traffic managers have been "tearing their hair out" over whether to run the ad, because they don't want to be seen as "picking a fight with any part of the community."

"We've never taken on such a valiant cause or had such a volatile or emotional reaction about any ad we've ever carried," Tweed said.

He explained the response was due to a "very latent, and I believe truthful, portrayal of Muslim fanaticism." ...

"People in the media are trying to be politically correct and have an aversion to acknowledging that these are psychotic, fanatic rulers, and they happen to be Muslims," he said.

But Tweed said some of the concern could be simply because "people don't want their stations blown up."

WND's editor and CEO, Joseph Farah, sits on the board of the Iran Freedom Foundation. He noted that "many or most of the Iranians involved in the organization are Muslims."

Corsi said the TV commercial was produced to graphically demonstrate a real threat that even the Department of Homeland Security, in a recent report, says could happen.

"We didn't produce the commercial to scare people," he said. "We produced it to send out an alert so the people of America could be aware of the steps that need to be taken to make sure it never happens. It's irresponsible not to bring it to people, not to show it."

Corsi said that if someone prior to Sept. 11, 2001, had put the pieces together from intelligence on Operation Bojinka -- a 9/11-style plot hatched in the 1990s -- "we should have realized terrorists would use planes as missiles."

Now, he says, "we should be aware an atomic 9-11 is in the works."

"If a rogue state like Iran has the ability to produce nuclear weapons, most of the technical problems are solved for terrorist cells that want to explode a bomb in a major U.S. city," Corsi said.

Hat tip - Regime Change Iran