PENTAGON SUSPENDS CONTROVERSIAL MEDIA BRIEFINGS
HAS THE OLYMPICS OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS?
We have just passed the l00th anniversary of the birth of
Edward R Murrow who younger people may remember
because he was fictionalized in the George Clooney produced
movie Good Night and Good Luck. Murrow was a hero of mine
back in the days when I believed journalism would change the
world. It was Murrow who stood up to Joe McCarthy and
investigated shameful migrant labor practices among so
many other stories.
It was Murrow who defined CBS News in its glory days.
Were he alive today, he would troubled, if not shocked, by what’s
become of CBS News and its signature “investigative” program 60
Minutes. In fact, the buzz is that CBS is about to get out of the news
biz and contract news gathering to CNN. Not sure if that’s true but it
probably couldn’t hurt.
I tune in, more out of habit than anything else for the occasional
good story–can’t take Lara Logan’s pro-war segments— but last
night it looked like The Israeli Lobby got there first by arranging
super-access for Bob Simon to glamorize the Israeli Air Force in
the same week that its fighter pilots killed a young girl in Gaza.
The piece was largely uncritical and seemed to be chearleading
for an military attack on Iran and was filled with strident and
unexamined propaganda,
Here’s the CBS “news” story about the segment:
(CBS) The commander of the Israeli air force takes
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s threats
against Israel extremely seriously. Israelis must be
ready for anything and ultimately trust only themselves,
he believes, and for good reason: his family survived
the Holocaust.
Maj. Gen. Eliezer Shkedy speaks to 60 Minutes
correspondent Bob Simon in a story about the
Israeli air force this Sunday, April 27, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
“I think it is a very serious threat to the state of Israel,
but more than this, to the whole world,” Shkedy says of
the Iranian leader’s public animosity toward Israel.
“They are talking about what they think about the state
of Israel. They are talking about destroying and wiping
us from the earth,” he tells Simon. It reminds him of the
Holocaust. “We should remember. We cannot forget.
We should trust only ourselves.”
The general likens ignoring Ahmadinejad today to the
atmosphere that enabled the Holocaust yesterday. “In
those days, people didn’t believe that Hitler was serious
about what he said. I suggest not to repeat this way of
thinking, and to prepare ourselves for what they are
planning,” says Shkedy. “We should be prepared
for everything.”
Iran publicly professes to be building a nuclear
reactor for energy but many speculate a bomb
cannot be far off once nuclear fuel is produced
there. In 1981, Saddam Hussein built a nuclear
reactor in Iraq and Israel responded militarily
with its air force, wiping out the facility. “
This was the thrust of the go Israeli Air Force go story. As
to its premise: Is it true that Iran wants to wipe Israel off
the face of the map? How many times have we heard that?
I was fascinated to hear as speaker at the Eurasian Media
Forum in Khazakhstan from which I have just returned, say
it never happened, and that this statement it belongs in the
same category of engineered propaganda as the statements
attributed to Saddam Hussein allegedly threatening to use
nuclear weapons.
Did Iran’s President make the threat Not according to an
analysis dissecting this alleged statement on
Information Clearing House.
I don’t claim to be an expert but like so many had assumed that
the this was real if only because of how many times I heard it
repeated by TV pundits and even the President of the
United States:
“But now that I’m on Iran, the threat to Iran, of course —
(applause) — the threat from Iran is, of course, their
stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel.
That’s a threat, a serious threat. It’s a threat to
world peace; it’s a threat, in essence, to a strong
alliance. I made it clear, I’ll make it clear again,
that we will use military might to protect our ally,
Israel, and — (applause.)” George W. Bush,
US-President, 2006-03-20 in Cleveland (Ohio)
in an off-the-cuff speech (source: www.whitehouse.gov)
How many time have we all heard this threat? It’s
offered as the reason that so many supporters of Israel
equate Iran with the Nazis. It is no doubt one of the
reasons that Hillary Clinton recently promised that the
US would annihilate Iran if that country attacks Israel.
Is there another view? Of course. Do you ever hear it?
Of course not!
Anneliese Fikentscher and Andreas Neumann ask:
Does Iran’s President wants Israel wiped off the map?
To raze Israel to the ground, to batter down,
to destroy, to annihilate, to liquidate, to erase
Israel, to wipe it off the map - this is what
Iran’s President demanded - at least this is
what we read about or heard of at the end of
October 2005. Spreading the news was very
effective. This is a declaration of war they
said. Obviously government and media
were at one with their indignation. It
goes around the world.But let’s take a closer look at what Iran’s
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. It
is a merit of the ‘New York Times’ that they
placed the complete speech at our disposal.
Here’s an excerpt from the publication dated
2005-10-30:“They say it is not possible to have a world
without the United States and Zionism. But you
know that this is a possible goal and slogan. Let’s
take a step back. [[[We had a hostile regime in
this country which was undemocratic, armed
to the teeth and, with SAVAK, its security
apparatus of SAVAK [the intelligence bureau
of the Shah of Iran’s government] watched
everyone. An environment of terror existed.]]]
When our dear Imam
[Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of
the Iranian revolution] said that the regime
must be removed, many of those who claimed
to be politically well-informed said it was not
possible. All the corrupt governments were in
support of the regime when Imam Khomeini
started his movement. [[[All the Western and
Eastern countries supported the regime even
after the massacre of September 7 [1978] ]]]
and said the removal of the regime was not
possible. But our people resisted and it is 27
years now that we have survived without a regime
dependent on the United States.The tyranny of the East and the West over the
world should have to end, but weak people who
can see only what lies in front of them cannot
believe this. Who would believe that one day
we could witness the collapse of the Eastern
Empire? But we could watch its fall in our
lifetime. And it collapsed in a way that we have
to refer to libraries because no trace of it is left.
Imam [Khomeini] said Saddam must go and he
said he would grow weaker than anyone could
imagine. Now you see the man who spoke with
such arrogance ten years ago that one would
have thought he was immortal, is being tried
in his own country in handcuffs and shackles
[[[by those who he believed supported him
and with whose backing he committed his
crimes]]]. Our dear Imam said that the
occupying regime must be wiped off the
map and this was a very wise statement. We
cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine.
Is it possible to create a new front in the heart
of an old front. This would be a defeat and
whoever accepts the legitimacy of this regime [
Israel] has in fact, signed the defeat of the
Islamic world. Our dear Imam targeted the
heart of the world oppressor in his struggle,
meaning the occupying regime. I have no doubt
that the new wave that has started in Palestine,
and we witness it in the Islamic world too, will
eliminate this disgraceful stain from the
Islamic world.”
(source: www.nytimes.com)It’s becoming clear. The statements of the
Iranian President have been reflected by the
media in a manipulated way. Iran’s President
betokens the removal of the regimes, that are
in power in Israel and in the USA, to be possible
aim for the future. This is correct. But he never
demands the elimination or annihilation
of Israel.
And what about the Israel Air Force’s track record? Are they the
heroes depicted by 60 Minutes? An editor of the Israeli
newspaper Ha’aretz recently published a book arguing that
the Israeli Air Force is the most right-wing of the military
branches in Israel, dominated by extremist settlers.
60 Minutes did not tell us about the role played by the IAF
during the 2006 war on Lebanon, and its dropping, for
example of Three million cluster bombs after a cease fire
had been declared.
None of this was raised by Bob Simon and his colleagues. There is no
reference either to a US Air Force commissioned study that also
criticized the Israeli Air Force’s track record. It was reported
on by the New York Times.
JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 — A study of the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah
war commissioned by the United States Air Force and to be
published this month concludes that Israel’s use of air power
was of diminishing value as the fight dragged on because it
was used without enough discrimination…
By bombing too many targets of questionable importance
for its aims, and not explaining why it bombed what it did,
Israel lost the war for public opinion, according to the
author of the study, William M. Arkin, an expert in
assessing bomb damage. “Israel bombed too much and
bombed the wrong targets, falling back upon cookie-cutter
conventional targeting in attacking traditional military
objects,” Mr. Arkin wrote. “Individual elements of each
target group might have been justified, but Israel also
undertook an intentionally punishing and destructive air
campaign against the people and government of Lebanon.”
I am raising this not because I want to
criticize Israel or defend
Iran. Not at all. This is just one more
instance of the
failure of TV programs we should be
trusting to do more
original and balanced research and not
echo fear creating
propaganda claims that seek
to win public
support for new wars.
A week ago, we all read about how the Pentagon cultivated
former military experts to do the Administration’s bidding.
Now we see, its not just the Pentagon or the former military
officers who are complicit and irresponsible but TV journalists
themselves who turn their own programs into propaganda.
What say you Bob Simon?
There’s more on the media-war connection:
Jeff Schogo Stars and Stripes Halts Feeding of Information
to Retired Officers While Issue is Reviewed
Arlington, Virginia - The Defense Department has temporarily stopped feeding information to retired military officers pending a review of the issue, said Robert Hastings, principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for public affairs.
The New York Times first reported on Sunday that the Defense Department was giving information to retired officers serving as pundits for various media organizations in order to garner favorable media coverage.
Some of these retired officers saw their access to key decision-makers as possible business opportunities for the defense contractors they represent, according to the newspaper. The story also alleged that the officers who did not repeat the Bush administration’s official line were denied further access to information.
Hastings said he is concerned about allegations that the Defense Department’s relationship with the retired military analysts was improper.
PROJECT CENSORED’S EXPERIENCE
LISTEN TO A RECENT FORUM ON
THE MEDIA AND THE WAR
Tom Englehardt: PETRAEUS CULTIVATED MEDIA:
“Selling the President’s General, The Petraeus Story”
Last week, we learned two things: David Barstow of
the New York Times revealed an extensive five year
-old Pentagon propaganda operation to embed retired
military officers spouting DoD “talking points” in
the mainstream media and, at about the same time,
the President’s favorite general, David Petraeus, was
given another promotion by being nominated as the
head of U.S. Central Command in the Middle East.There was a single sentence in the Barstow piece that
was telling on Petraeus, but has so far been ignored:
“When David H. Petraeus was appointed the
commanding general in Iraq in January 2007, one
of his early acts was to meet with the [Pentagon’s retired
military] analysts.” In other words, Petraeus began his
surge campaign by helping to promote a media propaganda
surge at home focused on his future moves in Iraq. This
tells us much about a general who has been remarkably
promotional (as well as self-promotional) as befits an
administration which, since the President climbed atop
a pile of rubble in New York City with a bullhorn on
September 14, 2001, has always worked hardest on its
selling war, on the American “home front.”
UPDATE: Barack Obama has endorsed Petraeus’ promotion.
Source: newsdissector
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