Iraq

Jumpy G.I.s Start Jumping Journalists

by Sheldon Rampton — November 12, 2003 - 11:00pm

"With casualties mounting in Iraq, jumpy U.S. soldiers are becoming more aggressive in their treatment of journalists covering the conflict," reports Slobodan Lekic. "Media
people have been detained, news equipment has been confiscated, and some journalists have suffered verbal and physical abuse while trying to report on events.

Main Source:

Editor and Publisher, November 13, 2003

Scarborough to Lynch: "Shut Up and Take the Cash"

by Sheldon Rampton — November 11, 2003 - 11:00pm

Now that Private Jessica Lynch has told the truth about the conditions of her capture and rescue in Iraq, right-wing telebabbler Joe Scarborough is complaining that she "started whining about the Pentagon PR machine and the fact that they told parts of the stories that may have made her more of a hero than she considered herself to be. ... Well, Jessica, I've got bad news to break to you. It was because of the Pentagon PR machine that turned you into an American hero -- that got book publishers interested in paying you $1 million to tell your story. It was the Pentagon PR machine that told America how you were a hero that got NBC interested in doing a movie about your story. It was the Pentagon PR machine that's turned you into a millionaire."

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MSNBC, November 12, 2003

Pentagon's Iraqi Media Network 'Fair And Balanced'

by Laura Miller — November 11, 2003 - 11:00pm

The U.S. sponsored Iraqi Media Network -- planned to include a 24-hour satellite channel, two land-based TV channels, two radio channels, a national newspaper and studios in every major Iraqi region -- promises Iraqis "comprehensive, accurate, fair, and balanced news." The Village Voice's Cynthia Cotts reports, however, that IMN already faces credibility issues. Budgeted at $100 million (part of the $87.5 billion approved for Iraq), the project's money will flow through the Defense Department's Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict division, which also handles military psy-ops.

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Village Voice, November 12, 2003

Jessica Lynch Proves Her Courage & Integrity

by John Stauber — November 9, 2003 - 11:00pm

Buzzflash editorializes, "So this, in summary, is what happened: The Bush Cartel Ministry of Truth heard that a young blonde female soldier was severely injured and they made up a heroic story about her, as part of their ongoing Iraq-war attempt to manipulate American public opinion. And what does Jessica Lynch do? She has the nerve to toss out the script the propagandists wrote for her. She has the audacity to speak for herself. She has the American heartland respect for the truth. She became a hero, in an entirely different role than the Bush Cartel wrote for her.

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Buzzflash, November 10, 2003

Image Is Everything in Bush's Propaganda War

by John Stauber — November 8, 2003 - 11:00pm

Frank Rich writes, "Ah, the dazzling pyrotechnics of 'shock and awe.' The finality of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue. The thrill of that re-enactment of 'Top Gun.' The sense of closure provided by the banner reading 'Mission Accomplished.' Like all wars of the TV age, the war in Iraq is not just a clash of armies, but a succession of iconic images. Those who control the images, and the narratives they encapsulate, control history. At least until a new reality crashes in. ...

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New York Times, November 9, 2003

Lynch Says Military Should Not Have Filmed Her Rescue

by John Stauber — November 7, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch said the U.S. military was wrong to manipulate the story of her dramatic rescue and should not have filmed it in the first place. ...

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Associated Press, November 8, 2003

Republican PR Man Promotes Iraqi Lawyer's Book

by Laura Miller — November 6, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Shirley and Banister Public Affairs has been selected to promote Harper Collins' Because Each Life is Precious, the account by Iraqi lawyer Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief of Pfc. Jessica Lynch's capture and rescue during the Iraq invasion," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports.

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O'Dwyer's PR Daily, November 7, 2003

Bush Shifts War Justification To Democracy

by Laura Miller — November 6, 2003 - 11:00pm

Addressing the National Endowment for Democracy, George W. Bush said that "the United States must commit itself to a decades-long transformation of the Middle East and termed the U.S. occupation of Iraq a turning point in the future of worldwide democracy," the Washington Post reports. "Bush's speech was the latest effort by the administration to stop the slipping support for the U.S. occupation of Iraq at home and abroad.

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Washington Post, November 7, 2003

Jessica Lynch: The Symbol Clashes

by Sheldon Rampton — November 6, 2003 - 11:00pm

In her first significant public interview, Private Jessica Lynch has debunked many of the official stories told by the U.S. military about her personal heroics, abuse at the hands of Iraqis, and rescue. "It hurt in a way that people would make up stories that they had no truth about," Lynch said, adding that it bothered her that "they used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff.

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New York Times, November 7, 2003

'By-Passing the Media Filter' on the Iraq War

by John Stauber — November 2, 2003 - 11:00pm

As part of its PR strategy to 'by-pass the media filter' that it claims is distorting public perception of the Iraq war with too much negative reporting, the Bush administration has been granting interviews to smaller, more friendly media. A 'media by-pass' tactic of a different sort is being used by critics of the war who, as we've documented in our book Weapons of Mass Deception, have been locked out of mainstream media coverage.

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Alternet, November 3, 2003