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Baghdad Steps Up Propaganda Fightback With Jihadist TV Satire

Baghdad Steps Up Propaganda Fightback With Jihadist TV Satire

Baghdad (AFP) — As Iraqi forces struggle to pin back the Islamic State group on the ground, Baghdad is taking its war against the jihadists to the airwaves with a television comedy series.

The usually elusive Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi features prominently in the show, whose promoters argue that ridiculing the jihadist supremo can help dent his aura of almost supernatural villainy.

The fear factor — fed by online videos of mass executions, beheadings and abductions — has been a key aspect of IS strategy, often handing it victory before the battle had even started.

The goal of the show is “to remove this phobia that has taken root in a lot of people’s minds”, chief supervisor Thaer Jiyad told AFP on the set between two scenes.

But if the show is Baghdad’s new weapon in the war against IS, then its very first shots were a friendly fire blunder that sparked controversy even as the series premiered on Saturday.

The trailer that Iraqiya state TV had been showing several times a day for weeks plays on a belief widely held in Iraq that IS was created by the CIA, Israel and Gulf monarchies to sow chaos.

With the United States now leading an aerial bombing campaign which also involves several Gulf countries against IS in Iraq and Syria, the Iraqi Media Network production company had to order a last-minute reshoot.

The first version of the trailer, which is still widely available on the Internet, opens with a cartoon-like devil character brandishing a fork leading a column of jihadist fighters through the desert.

He is met with open arms by an ostensibly American character in full cowboy attire who leads him into a tent for an arranged marriage.

– ‘State of Superstition’ –

The bride is a Jewish princess — a large star of David hangs around her neck to make that clear — who is escorted to her nuptial nest by a woman whose sunglasses and bright green pantsuit are an unmistakable reference to Qatar’s first lady Sheikha Mozah.

She and the cowboy were dropped from the new version of the opening clip for the series, whose title loosely translates as “State of Superstition” and is a play on the Arabic word for caliphate.

The Joker of Batman fame, Dracula and a dwarf are among the random mix of characters in the background, all dancing to the series’ catchy theme song, a parody of a known IS anthem.

The next scene shows the result of the union between the Jewish bride and the devil.

“The egg hatched, a little IS-ling emerged,” the song goes.

The Baghdadi figure that grows out of the shell then leads a choir of officers from Saddam Hussein’s ex-ruling Baath party into reciting his program of blood-letting for Iraq with the refrain: “O beheader, where are you?”

In a Pulp Fiction-style slow-motion finale, the “caliph” ends up shooting all the Baathists one by one, a not-so-subtle Faustian warning that he who bargains with the devil chooses his own demise.

“Ultimately, with fundamentalist organizations, the only solution is to confront them, and that starts with the leaders,” said Jiyad.

The show’s first episode is lighter on satire and relates the day jihadists march into a model Iraqi town, with its candy-colored buildings and honest denizens.

Despite the show’s declared goal of encouraging Iraqis to overcome their fear, the thought of possible retribution for mocking the jihadists caused a collective bout of stage fright among the cast.

“We encountered many difficulties, notably when some of the artists were too afraid to take part in the shooting out of security concerns,” director Ali al-Qassem said.

But those who stuck with the project feel they are participating in the war effort, he said.

“We all have a duty to defend this country. We are not good at using weapons but we can also help defeat IS through our work.”

AFP Photo

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Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead In New York City

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead In New York City

ew York (AFP) – Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment of an apparent drug overdose on Sunday. He was 46.

The enigmatic star, who was hailed as the finest character actor of his generation, won an Oscar in 2006 as best actor for “Capote” and was nominated for three further Academy Awards.

A substance thought to be heroin was found at the scene when police arrived at the actor’s home in Manhattan’s West Village after receiving a call from one of his friends.

“It appears to be an alleged overdose,” a police official told AFP. The actor was found on the bathroom floor with a syringe in his arm, wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

“Two glassine envelopes contained alleged heroin,” another officer said. There were no pills and no sign that the actor had been drinking.

An autopsy was due to be conducted on Hoffman’s body Monday, media outlets reported.

Hoffman, whose two-decade career made him one of the most liked and respected actors in Hollywood, leaves behind his partner, costume designer Mimi O’Donnell, and three children.

In a brief statement, his family asked for privacy as relatives grieved their “tragic and sudden loss.”

New York detectives and police officers secured the street outside the actor’s home, and entered and exited the red brick, six-floor apartment building.

A crowd of journalists and neighbors gathered, and a red rose and a bouquet of white roses were laid at the entrance.

One neighbor, who gave her name as Janine, said she was accustomed to seeing the actor and his family out and about.

“They were always in the ‘hood,” she said. “My husband saw him last week… They were a part of the community here.”

Tributes quickly poured in from fellow celebrities and actors, with many taking to Twitter to express their sorrow.

“I feel so fortunate to have known and worked with the extraordinary Philip Seymour Hoffman, and am deeply saddened by his passing,” said Julianne Moore, who co-starred with Hoffman in “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia” and “The Big Lebowski.”

George Clooney, who appeared alongside Hoffman in “The Ides of March,” said: “There are no words… It’s just terrible.”

“This is a horrible day for those who worked ‎with Philip. He was a giant talent,” Tom Hanks said. Hanks starred with Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War.”

The three co-stars spoke through their agents to the media.

British actor-director Gary Oldman told Sky News there was an “audible gasp” when the news of Hoffman’s death was announced at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.

Born Philip Hoffman in July 1967 in New York state, he was the third of four children of a Xerox executive and a feminist housewife who divorced when he was nine.

He earned a drama degree from New York University in 1989, though he fell into alcohol and drug abuse for a while.

In 1997, he made waves as a closeted gay crew member in Paul Thomas Anderson’s porn industry tale “Boogie Nights,” followed by a quirky turn in the Coen brothers’ “The Big Lebowski” (1998).

In Anthony Minghella’s crime thriller “The Talented Mr Ripley,” he stole the show from co-stars Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow with his supporting role as slippery and duplicitous preppie Freddie Miles.

The late Minghella once said that Hoffman was an extraordinary actor “cursed, sometimes, by his own gnawing intelligence, his own discomfort with acting.”

“There are few actors more demanding in front of camera, less demanding away from it,” Minghella added.

In one of his most recent roles, Hoffman played game master Plutarch Heavensbee in the second installment of the blockbuster “Hunger Games” franchise.

He had been cast in the final two installments of the series, and industry publication Variety said the films would be released in November 2014 and 2015 as planned.

For all his success, Hoffman was a reluctant occupant of the limelight.

After his Oscar-winning turn in “Capote,” Hoffman had three more Oscar nominations as a supporting actor in “Charlie Wilson’s War” in 2008, “Doubt” in 2009 and “The Master” in 2013.

AFP Photo/Robyn Beck