Iran

Pushing Back Against the Pentagon's Pundits

by Diane Farsetta — April 23, 2008 - 10:18am

In addition to helping research the "Pentagon's pundits" on SourceWatch -- those retired military officers who took part in the Pentagon program to promote Bush Administration talking points on the Iraq and Af

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Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), April 22, 2008

Featured Participatory Project: Who Are the Pentagon's Pundits?

by Diane Farsetta — April 22, 2008 - 4:02pm

On Sunday, the New York Times outed the Pentagon's "military analyst program," an extensive effort to cultivate retired military officers as "message force multipliers" or "surrogates" spouting Bush administration talking points on Iraq and other hot-button issues. We've compiled a list of known participants, and started SourceWatch profiles on each. Can you help us uncover more about the Pentagon's pundits? What did they say, on what news programs?

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SourceWatch, April 23, 2008

War on Iran, Anyone? How the Pentagon Spun the Speedboats

by Sheldon Rampton — January 19, 2008 - 1:37am

"Senior Pentagon officials, evidently reflecting a broader administration policy decision, used an off-the-record Pentagon briefing to turn the January 6 US-Iranian incident in the Strait of Hormuz into a sensational story demonstrating Iran's military aggressiveness," reports Gareth Porter. The incident, described by Pentagon officials as a "careless, reckless and potentially hostile" provocation by Iranian boats that nearly led to gunfire, was actually a nonthreatening, "almost routine" encounter that officials in Washington distorted.

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Asia Times, January 17, 2008

The Taming of Al Jazeera

by John Stauber — January 4, 2008 - 10:29am

The New York Times reports, "When a Saudi court sentenced a young woman to 200 lashes in November after she pressed charges against seven men who had raped her, the case provoked outrage and headlines around the world, including in the Middle East. But not at Al Jazeera, the Arab world's leading satellite television channel, seen by 40 million people. ...

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New York Times, January 4, 2008

Stop Me if You've Heard This One Before

by Diane Farsetta — December 7, 2007 - 5:41pm

"It's an oddly familiar pattern of deception," writes Dan Froomkin.

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Washington Post, December 5, 2007

Wolfowitz Rides Again with Bush/Cheney

by John Stauber — December 6, 2007 - 1:08pm

Bill Berkowitz reports that Paul Wolfowitz "has been offered a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board -- formerly known as the Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board -- a prestigious State Department pane

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Media Transparency, December 6, 2007

U.S. Does Democracy Demotion in Iran

by Diane Farsetta — October 18, 2007 - 3:26pm

"The United States has begun a $75-million program to promote democracy by supporting Iranian NGO's [non-governmental organizations]," write Haleh Esfandiari and Robert Litwak. "That program, coupled with loose talk about regime change ...

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Chronicle of Higher Education, October 19, 2007

AEI & Freedom's Watch Seek $200 Million to Sell War on Iran

by John Stauber — October 1, 2007 - 9:21am

The New York Times reports that Freedom's Watch is working with the American Enterprise Institute to lobby for war with Iran. "'If Hitler's warnings were heeded when he wrote Mein Kampf he could have been stopped,' said Bradley Blakeman, 49, the president of Freedom's Watch and a former deputy assistant to Mr.

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New York Times, September 30, 2007
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