Earlier today, Arif Rafiq posted a link to the above picture on his Twitter feed and asked, “Uh, is there something wrong with this photo?” There is something seriously amiss with the photo, which was published by The Nation. The photograph shows the US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates posing in front of both the US and Israel flags. Both look closely and you will notice a couple of odd things about the photo. For one, the Israel flag is fluttering while the US flag is stationery, indicating that the former flag was photographed outdoors and the latter indoors. Then, the dimensions and sizes of the two flags are completely out of proportion. This photograph has been Photoshopped, and very crudely at that.

The original photograph of Robert Gates

Newsline’s Creative Consultant Danish Khan confirmed that the photograph had been Photoshopped. He was also able to find the two original photographs that had been used to create this new one. Do a Google Images search for “Robert Gates” and the first result is the photographed used by The Nation. The flag that has been shoehorned into the Robert Gates picture can be viewed here.

The Nation’s motivations for this trickery are obvious. According to the editorial agenda the newspaper has been pursuing since Shireen Mazari replaced Arif Nizami as the editor, there is a US-Israel-India plot against Pakistan. These three countries, The Nation believes, are also responsible for the spate of terrorist attacks in the country. Showing Robert Gates posing in front of both flags is meant to represent his dual loyalties. The Nation has gone so far as to claim, without any evidence whatsoever, that The Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Rosenberg was a spy, forcing him to flee the country. The Nation was condemned by 21 international newspapers for that story. The paper has also been publishing story after story over the past few months on the alleged presence of Blackwater operatives in Pakistan.

The photograph of an Israel flag that was Photoshopped into the Robert Gates photograph

I have been trying to contact The Nation’seditor Shireen Mazari for a comment on the Photoshopped photograph and will post an update here if I hear back from her.