Harry's Place

Just when you think the Trots could not get much worse – they do.

Shame you rather rounded a fine little piece with a bum last line.

If there is no US repression in Afghanistan, why are all those guys being held at Bagram without due process?

If there is no US repression in Afghanistan, why are all those guys being held at Bagram without due process?

I’m not saying there’s no US repression in Afghanistan. But the scene created in the cartoon is imaginary. If one didn’t know better, one might think the guy being stepped on is Afghan rather than Iranian.

Congratulations, Gene, on unearthing the fraud and exposing it. I’m afraid it’s probably too late, though, to do the young Iranian victim any good.

I can see this photo could become generally useful, like the angry man who’s beem made by progandists to contort his face in fury in anti-West protests in demos all over the world or the wailing woman who again has been borrowed by propagandists to grieve her loss in demos of all kinds. Surely though, they shouldn’t be as stupidly blatant as in this case. I wonder if the chap under the boot would approve the use of his image for this ‘good’ cause?

It’s a work of genius, in spite of it being ethically questionable. What would Barthes say, I wonder?

Credit where it’s due – this is a good spot, and exposes the idiocy of some on the left. Even were the photo genuine, it doesn’t contribute anything positive to the problem in Afghanistan. Not that we read anything vaguely serious on the subject here anyway.

If you want a picture of the future of the SWP, imagine an image photoshopped to make a bogus point – forever.

Great spot Gene. Well done!

Idiot.

Haha, KB.

lol. yeah nicely done KB.

As if the SWP are literate enough to get the reference. They wouldn’t know government oppression if it shot/beat/gassed/raped/tortured people in the street…

(‘…s of Tehran.’)

This coming from people nostalgic for the rule of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. Un. Fucking. Believable.

Well isn’t it just one of those “fake but accurate” things? You know, something one can take or leave? After all, when the truth is abolished, anything you want to promote can become “the truth”.

Another of Naxy’s Isotopes of Communism I guess.

you have to admire the irony though….

What a Kuhnt

I found the illustration hard to understand, so I printed it out and added a tag saying “Brutal US Government Repression” on the boot and “Traditional Afghan Restraint in the Face of Provocation” on the chain around the victim’s neck. I think it’s much clearer and more satirical now.

something doesn’t add up:

Kuhn used a photo of real government repression in Iran to create an image of imagined US repression in Afghanistan.

I’m not saying there’s no US repression in Afghanistan.

the choice of image to doctor was unfortunate, but surely you can understand that this wasn’t meant to be a realistic picture?

Your use of the word’ imagined’ is really problematic here – it looks like you’re saying there is no US repression of self-determination in Afghanistan.

pathetic frog, just pathetic.

This seems more like a photomontage in the John Heartfield
tradition. I´m not sure he (Kuhn) thought, he could fool any-
body into believing, this was actually documentary material.
Anyway it´s rubbish compared to Heartfields work.

We are forgeting one thing. The SWP believe that the people of Afghanistan have a false consciousness. The Taliban are the Vanguard of the Afghan people and will lead them to genuine self determination. There may be a few problems with their views on class and sex equality; but the Taliban are fighting imperialism and that makes them supportable. Honestly.

Typical SWP wanking material. Anything can be made to serve the Cause.

I guess they use it like the Mohammed Al Dura, missile in an ambulance and kids killed at Qana fakes.

It’s superficially in the tradition of Heartfield and Peter Kennard but with only a fraction of their talent, especially remembering that Heartfield did not have the benefit of Photoshop.

More importantly, it is impossible to imagine either of them cynically using an image like this to represent the very opposite of its truth. What extraordinary disregard for the suffering and fate of the bloke who is actually being arrested by the Iranians to use his image in the service of a lie.

(Great spot, too, Gene)

I think The Irie´s post above is a wellcome surprise.
Most people on the left will call the photoshopping “Agit-Prop”
and think it´s cool.

simonh is, of course, right about Kuhns disregard for the person,
who is actually being arrested.

I’ve just emailed Socialist Worker pointing out the identity of the protester and wondering what he might think if he found out if his image was being used to make a political point entirely different to the one he was making as he was brutally arrested and sent to his fate.

Let’s see if Socialist Worker prints my observation. I mean they do ask for comments from readers and they haven’t received a single one so far….

it looks like you’re saying there is no US repression of self-determination in Afghanistan.

To the extent that the US is preventing a Taliban takeover in Afghanistan– opposed by the vast majority of Afghans– I am saying that.

This is excellent work Gene. This is the best of what blogging can offer.

This coming from people nostalgic for the rule of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. Un. Fucking. Believable.
Wickedly crap punctuation,thank you Adam.Have you met my sister in law,she lives in Manilla.She is a Fila.Fucking.Pino.
As usual with HP,whenever one of the contributors makes a halfway valid point,in this case Gene spotting what I can only describe as a visual lie,the commentators go to shitwit town all over it.I cease to be angry at the arsehole who made this ugly image because of the pious,crowing,shitwit noises distracting me.

“I’ve just emailed Socialist Worker pointing out the identity of the protester and wondering what he might think if he found out if his image was being used to make a political point entirely different to the one he was making as he was brutally arrested and sent to his fate.”

Do you know the identity of the arrested, or what kind of political
point (if any) he was making?
For all we know, he could have been arrested for some kind of
criminal offence.
Not that it would justify this use of the photo. But we shouldn´t
jump to far reaching conclutions.

http://www.saman.akkasee.com/11419

This site says he is a drug dealer.
Which could be a lie of course. But do we know?

http://www.saman.akkasee.com/11419

This site says he is a drug dealer.
Which could be a lie of course. But do we know?

Obviously on this we only have the word of Iranian security forces. The guy in the photo and the others arrested are unlikely to be able to tell their side of the story to the world. This website offers a different take.

“Dissidents charge that Tehran’s clerical rulers are fiercely cracking down on youths disenchanted with the government’s repressive policies rather than on “trouble-makers”.

The government says they’re cracking down on anti-social elements, the opposition says those arrested are anti-government. Who knows? Perhaps the poor guy’s both at the same time. What he most definitely isn’t is an Afghani opressed by the UN-sanctioned NATO forces.

“I knew that image looked familiar” – really?

“I knew that image looked familiar” – really?

Yep. Really.

Thanks for the link, Gene. It does look ugly.

Actually, when I first saw the image, I assumed the boot belonged to a Taliban.

I know, I know…

Typical SWP scum, self hating rich kids that haven’t got a clue what working class is.

It also exposes a very real problem: there has been virtually nothing from the so-called “Left” about the very real crimes against humanity being perpetuated on a regular basis in Iran and elsewhere. Those crimes don’t concern too many “leftists”. What concerns them are the imagined crimes against humanity that might be perpetuated by what I call the civilized countries because although these countries are not at all perfect–far from it–you can go on the street and protest and not expect to be shot or go to jail and be gang raped or have your skin peeled off of you….

Regards,

Inna

Gene.

All kudos to you.

Reading this expose is one of the reasons that I generally make an attempt to come to HP at least once a day.

How the SWP must hate HP.

Take care.

The cunt also needs to spell ‘McChrystal’ correctly.