Iraq

Political Football

by Sheldon Rampton — August 18, 2004 - 10:00pm

Iraqi soccer players at the Olympic games in Greece are angered at the Bush campaign for using the Iraqi Olympic team in Bush's latest re-election campaign advertisements. "Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," said Iraqi midfielder Salih Sadir. Another player, Ahmed Manajid, had even stronger words: "How will he meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women?" Manajid said. "He has committed so many crimes." Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl interviewed the players.

Main Source:

Sports Illustrated, August 19, 2004

Another Media Mea Culpa

by Diane Farsetta — August 11, 2004 - 10:00pm

An internal Washington Post review found that, before the invasion of Iraq, "Administration assertions were on the front page. Things that challenged the administration were on A18 on Sunday or A24 on Monday. There was an attitude among editors: Look, we're going to war, why do we even worry about all this contrary stuff?" - in the words of the paper's Pentagon correspondent.

Main Source:

Washington Post, August 12, 2004

Al-Jazeera Gets a Time Out

by Diane Farsetta — August 7, 2004 - 10:00pm

"To protect the people of Iraq and the interests of Iraq," Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi ordered the Al-Jazeera television network's Baghdad offices closed for one month. The closure "will give them the chance to readjust their policy against Iraq," said Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib.

Main Source:

CNN, August 8, 2004

Iraq's War on Unwarranted Criticism

by Diane Farsetta — July 26, 2004 - 10:00pm

"In a difficult security situation, we need to fight the terrorists by all means, and one of the main means is the media. We need them all to co-operate, even the private sector. It's for national security," said Ibrahim Janabi, a former Iraqi intelligence officer who Prime Minister Iyad Allawi just appointed as the head of the new Higher Media Commission.

Main Source:

Financial Times (UK), July 27, 2004

Lobbying for Solitude, Oil

by Diane Farsetta — July 22, 2004 - 10:00pm

The Iraqi Kurdish region's "leaders try to project a united front in Baghdad and abroad, but few Kurds in the north or Arabs in the south have forgotten that" the Kurdish Democratic Party and the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan "spent four of their Saddam-free years fighting a civil war." Now, the KDP "has retained Barbour Griffith & Rogers as its lobbyist to ensure that Iraqi Kurdistan maintains its autonomy" and to push for "the return of oil-rich Kirkuk,"

Main Source:

The Guardian (UK), July 23, 2004

Iraq War Supporters Profit From Reconstruction

by Laura Miller — July 13, 2004 - 10:00pm

Iraq

Several key advocates for the invasion of Iraq are now profiting from Iraq's reconstruction the Los Angeles Times reports. "As lobbyists, public relations counselors and confidential advisors to senior federal officials, they warned against Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, praised exiled leader Ahmad Chalabi, and argued that toppling Saddam Hussein was a matter of national security and moral duty.

Main Source:

Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2004

Deceptive Defectors

by Sheldon Rampton — July 8, 2004 - 10:00pm

Iraq

Iraqi defectors who stepped forward with stories about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction were coached by senior figures in Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress, according to a former INC field leader. To back up his claim, Muhammad al-Zubaidi has provided his handwritten diaries from 2001 and 2002, and his existing reports on the statements originally made by the defectors.

Main Source:

New York Times, July 9, 2004

How Conspiracy Theories Took Us To War

by Sheldon Rampton — July 4, 2004 - 10:00pm

Peter Bergen, a professor of international studies and author of a recent book about Osama Bin Laden, takes a look at Laurie Mylroie of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), whose theory that Iraq was behind Al Qaeda exerted strong influence on the Bush administration's decision for war. "She is a conspiracy theorist whose political conceits have consistently been proved wrong," Bergen says.

Main Source:

Guardian (UK), July 5, 2004

Statue Liberties

by Sheldon Rampton — July 2, 2004 - 10:00pm

In our book, Weapons of Mass Deception, we wrote that the famous toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue, a moment that seemed to symbolize victory for U.S. troops in Iraq, was staged by the U.S. army. Now the army has admitted it.

Main Source:

Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2004

The Butchered Audio of Baghdad

by Diane Farsetta — June 30, 2004 - 10:00pm

U.S. military censors are vetting video and audio footage of Saddam Hussein's Baghdad trial, according to Variety. Some of the edited footage provided to U.S. news networks might have come from Defense Department cameras, the only ones allowed to record sound.

Main Source:

Variety, July 1, 2004