Iraq

The List

by Sheldon Rampton — June 30, 2004 - 6:42pm

"Perhaps no list of reporters has commanded such attention in Washington since Richard Nixon compiled his enemies list more than thirty years ago," writes Douglas McCollam, discussing the reporters whose names and phone numbers appear in a confidential July 2002 memorandum from the Iraqi National Congress (INC). The memo lists 108 news stories that were influenced by INC-supplied defectors.

Main Source:

Columbia Journalism Review, June/July 2004

Power Play

by Sheldon Rampton — June 29, 2004 - 6:54am

The "handover of power" to Iraq is "a publicity stunt and has almost no substance to it," says Middle East history professor Juan Cole. "Gwen Ifill said on US television on Sunday that she had talked to Condaleeza Rice, and that her hope was that when something went wrong in Iraq, the journalists would now grill Allawi about it rather than the Bush administration. (Or words to that effect.) Ifill seems to me to have given away the whole Bush show. That's what this whole thing is about. It is Public Relations and manipulation of journalists. Let's see if they fall for it."

Main Source:

http://www.juancole.com/2004_06_01_juancole_archive.html#108843853517271330

New, Improved Mercenaries

by Sheldon Rampton — June 21, 2004 - 10:00pm

"A private British firm that won a $293 million contract from the Pentagon for coordinating security in Iraq is headed by a retired British commando with a reputation for illicit arms deals in Africa and for commanding a murderous military unit in Northern Ireland," reports Charles M. Sennott. The firm is owned by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Spicer, a former British military officer.

Main Source:

Boston Globe, June 22, 2004

Frank Talk

by Sheldon Rampton — June 19, 2004 - 10:00pm

A leaked memo by Republican advisor Frank Luntz advises GOP politicians to avoid the words "preemption" and "war in Iraq" when talking about the Bush administration's pre-emptive war in Iraq. "To do so is to undermine your message from the start," he advises.

Main Source:

Washington Post, June 20, 2004

War Is Still Sell

by Diane Farsetta — June 16, 2004 - 10:00pm

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States reported, "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated." Will Bush administration officials and other Republican politicians now stop saying there's a connection?

Main Source:

Reuters, June 17, 2004

Irrelevant No Longer?

by Diane Farsetta — June 3, 2004 - 10:00pm

The U.S. treatment of detainees in Iraq "might be designated as war crimes by a competent tribunal," warned acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan.

Main Source:

Reuters, June 4, 2004

Freedom Fries, Hold the Freedom

by Diane Farsetta — June 2, 2004 - 10:00pm

The U.S. State Department is warning Americans in Italy that "not all demonstrations" planned during George Bush's visit this weekend "are expected to be peaceful." Italian peace groups are organizing several demonstrations; one Rome-based activist explained: "We are going to disrupt this visit ...

Main Source:

BBC, June 3, 2004

The Manipulator

by Sheldon Rampton — May 31, 2004 - 10:00pm

In a detailed profile of Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress, Jane Mayer includes some fairly candid admissions by Francis Brooke, the INC's PR guru. Without Chalabi, he says, "This war would not have been fought. ...

Main Source:

The New Yorker, June 7, 2004

The Difference Between Terrorists and Wedding Guests

by Sheldon Rampton — May 31, 2004 - 10:00pm

"What exactly did U.S. military aircraft attack in the western Iraqi desert in the early morning of May 19, 2004?" asks Jefferson Morley. "If you read the U.S. press, that question is the subject of legitimate dispute and official investigation. If you read the overseas online media, you will find little doubt that the U.S. forces, deliberately or accidentally, perpetrated a 'massacre' near the village of Qaim that killed up to 45 people, including many women and children.

Main Source:

Washington Post, June 1, 2004

Miller's Crossing

by Sheldon Rampton — May 30, 2004 - 10:00pm

Franklin Foer has written a lengthy and unflattering profile of New York Times reporter Judith Miller, less than a week after an editors' note in her newspaper criticized some of her Iraq-related reporting. Foer identifies former Executive Editor Howell Raines as the key enabler for some of her shoddiest work.

Main Source:

New York Magazine, May 31, 2004