Iraq

Embedded Only While In Bed with the U.S. Government

by Judith Siers-Poisson — October 24, 2006 - 4:33pm

Apparently the U.S. government is only in favor of embedded reporters when it serves its own purposes.

Main Source: 
San Jos̩ Mercury News, October 20, 2006

Iraqis Stand Up

by Sheldon Rampton — October 22, 2006 - 10:05am

British war photographer Sean Smith spent nearly six weeks with the 101st Division of the U.S. army in Iraq and has produced an eloquent short film which explodes the myth around the claims that U.S.-trained Iraqis are preparing to take control of their own country.

Main Source: 
The Guardian (UK), October 2006

Stauber On Book Tour with "The Best War Ever"

by Anonymous — October 14, 2006 - 11:39am

CMD executive director John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, co-authors of The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned Lies and the Mess in Iraq, have been barnstorming the country talking in classrooms, bookstores, homes, on radio and TV prog

Main Source: 
YouTube

Zigging and Zagging on Cutting and Running

by Sheldon Rampton — October 11, 2006 - 11:06am
  • Topics: Iraq, Rhetoric

    • The Bush administration's use of the term "cut and run" to caricature opponents of the war in Iraq is yet another example of the attention that America's war party pays to rhetorical repetition and linguistic framing at the expense of realistic discourse and analysis. Bush himself has taken to using this catchprase repeatedly.

    Stymied by Their Own Spin

    by Judith Siers-Poisson — October 4, 2006 - 10:10am

    The Bush Administration has been a little too effective with its propaganda for their own purposes. After deciding that more than 120 detainees at the Guantánamo detention camp are eligible for transfer or release, it is proving difficult to identify countries willing to take them.

    Main Source: 
    NPR's Morning Edition, October 4, 2006

    Iraqi Journalists: Not So Liberated

    by Diane Farsetta — September 29, 2006 - 10:36am

    "Under a broad new set of laws criminalizing speech that ridicules the government or its officials, some resurrected verbatim from Saddam Hussein's penal code, roughly a dozen Iraqi journalists have been charged with offending public officials in the past year," reports Paul von Zielbauer. "Three journalists for a small newspaper in southeastern Iraq are being tried ... for articles last year that accused a provincial governor, local judges and police officials of corruption. ... On Sept.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, September 29, 2006

    Moving Foreign Investment Forward: A Strange PR Pick for Iraqi Kurdistan

    by Diane Farsetta — September 27, 2006 - 10:25am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Iraq, International, Public Relations

    • Some weeks are slow on Move America Forward's email list. Others are bustling. September 15 to 21, 2006, was an example of the latter. Six emails were sent, including two from "The Other Iraq," at the address "KDC@RMRWest.Net."

    The emails are noteworthy because they illustrate synergy between two clients of the Republican-associated Sacramento public relations firm Russo Marsh & Rogers (RM&R): Move America Forward, a conservative cheerleader for the Bush administration's "war on terror," and the Kurdistan Development Corporation, an "investment holding and tradings company" formed in partnership with the Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq (and presumably the KDC of the above email address).

    The first of the "other Iraq" emails began, "We wanted to send you this short note to let you know that a delegation from Iraqi Kurdistan is back in the United States - continuing our campaign to tell the American public about 'The Other Iraq.'"

    Iraq "98 Percent Off-Limits" for Press Corps

    by Jonathan Rosenblum — September 27, 2006 - 9:54am

    "Everyone is kind of groping around in the dark," says New York Times Baghdad correspondent Dexter Filkins on his return from reporting in Iraq. Despite employing 70 Iraqi staffers, the civil war there (Filkins doesn't hedge--"Yeah, sure" it's a civil war) has meant the Times cannot safely access stories. Its own five correspondents primarily spend their time pasting together reports by the Iraqi staff, protected by a small army of 45 security guards, armored cars, and belt-fed rooftop machine guns.

    Main Source: 
    Editor and Publisher, September 16, 2006 (sub req'd)
    Syndicate content