Iraq

"Viva Nihilism! It must be great working in the Bush White House. Zero accountability," writes Russ Baker for TomPaine.com. "It's All Spin, All the Time. Nothing matters but politics, hence no unfounded claim requires correction or apology.

Alastair Campbell, the communications director for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is at the center of a major controversy sparked by BBC reports that he and other British government officials "sexed up" their Iraq weapons dossier to justify the government's war plans. Campbell fought back by accusing the BBC of lying and demanding an apology.

"For the first time since the beginning of the war in Iraq, a solid majority of Americans believe the Bush administration either 'stretched the truth' about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction or told outright lies, according to a new opinion survey," Agence France-Presse reports. A University of Maryland poll conducted from June 18 to 25 found that 52 percent of respondents said they believed President George W. Bush and his aides were "stretching the truth, but not making false statements" about Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's chemical, biological and nuclear programs.

"War, unlike any other news event, asks profound questions of journalists," writes Roy Greenslade in the Guardian. "How do we separate truth from propaganda? How do we overcome the dilemma of political and military leaders controlling access to vital information? What value do we place on what we see on the frontline as against what we are told back at headquarters? ... These questions hovered over last week's Media Guardian forum on war coverage as reporters and desk-bound decision-makers explained how and why they acted as they did.