British recording artist, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame, told RT that US media is entertainment used to sell soap powder and doesn’t give Americans the news of the world. He also claimed that the UN is a corrupt body, with the US controlling most voting decisions.
Waters was promoting his newly released documentary, titled “Roger Waters The Wall,” when the subject of the UN came up. He noted that he spoke to the UN Human Rights Committee in 2012 when there was a vote to recognize the idea of a Palestinian state and “raise the status of the Palestinian people to an observer nation state from non-observer status.”
“That was a tiny step in the right direction,” he told RT. “There were only nine votes against and 130 votes in favor of passing the resolution. The votes against were, of course the United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands. It is ever thus.”
Waters said the UN is an interesting example of the “pretense of decision making,” but it should nevertheless exist and that is an important institution. However, he said that having five Security Council members with veto power is “a redundant notion.”
“There can be things that are fundamentally important politically – particularly in the Middle East where everyone is fighting everyone else as hard as they can all of the time – which can never actually get the support that they deserve, or a lot of the things can’t … unless the United States decides that they can."
He also stated that a lot of horse trading goes on behind closed doors, including the pressuring of nations to vote one way or risk having their aid withdrawn.
“It is an entirely corrupt body with wonderful intentions and often with very good men at the head of the general assembly – and rather inferior men pulling the strings behind the Security Council.”
Waters was critical of American mainstream media, which he said provides “24-hour entertainment in order to sell soap powder.” He also accused The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal of being “a mouthpiece for the government.”
“The people, you Americans, would have to wake up to the fact that these newspapers and the rest of the media are not giving you the news,” said Waters.
The artist’s new documentary, “Roger Waters The Wall,” was released Tuesday and weaves concert footage from Pink Floyd’s 2012-2013 The Wall tour, interwoven with scenes from a road trip he took to visit war memorials for his grandfather and father, who were killed during World War I and World War II, respectively, according to The New York Times.
“[The movie] illuminates what we are now pointing The Wall at. Back in the days when I was in Pink Floyd and we did it in 1979, it was a personal story about me and my concerns. All kinds of problems that I had,” said Waters. “I’ve realized recently that it could be a much broader metaphor for all kinds of things that are going on politically and socially in the world now.”
For music fans, The Wall has served as a metaphor of alienation among the structures of power and authority. Waters is politically active and outspoken on a range of issues, from the poor care for veterans and supporting the right to fox hunt to the right of Palestinians to have their own state.
Waters co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd in 1965 with drummer Nick Mason, keyboardist Richard Wright and guitarist, singer, and songwriter Syd Barrett. When Barrett left in 1968, Waters, who served as the group’s bassist, became their lyricist, conceptual leader and co-lead vocalist.
The band achieved international success with concept albums “The Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Animals,” “The Wall” and “The Final Cut.” By early 1982, the band became one of the most critically acclaimed and best-selling acts in the history of popular music. As of 2013, it had sold more than 250 million albums worldwide, including 75 million units sold in the US.