Iraq

Marching for Peace is Banned in New York

by John Stauber — February 7, 2003 - 10:16am

In New York the coalition United for Peace & Justice is in court today suing the city over its refusal to provide a permit for a non-violent peace march February 15th. Newsday noted yesterday that "the lawsuit ... sought a declaration from the court that the city's action violated the First Amendment and for an order permitting a parade of between 50,000 and 100,000 people. The Feb.

Main Source: 
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=815

Downing Street's Deceit

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

"Downing Street was last night plunged into acute international embarrassment after it emerged that large parts of the British government's latest dossier on Iraq - allegedly based on 'intelligence material' - were taken from published academic articles, some of them several years old," the Guardian writes.

Main Source: 
Guardian (UK), February 7, 2003

A Skeptic's Battle Cry: 'Remember Nayirah!'

by John Stauber — February 5, 2003 - 11:00pm

The Wisconsin State Journal advocates a US attack on Iraq, but WSJ columnist George Hesselberg remembers 'Nayirah.' He recently wrote a column suggesting "perhaps we should question some of the evidence being gathered to justify an invasion of Iraq. The column was not appreciated by several readers, including ... Teddy Fedkenheuer, of Baraboo: 'To either accuse or blame an American President of lying to the American people ... is un-American. ... You are also implying that his stand on Iraq is also 'smoke and mirrors.' I find that offensive.' ...

Main Source: 
Wisconsin State Journal, February 6, 2003

The Good Side of War

by Sheldon Rampton — February 4, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Just as the advertising industry picks up the pieces from a crushing slump, the drumbeat of war is threatening to spoil the recovery," write Merissa Marr and Adam Pasick. "Advertisers are nervously reviewing their campaigns as a U.S.-led conflict in Iraq looms ... reporting a reluctance among some marketers to spend money on new campaigns and launch new products. ... In the last Gulf war in 1991, advertising spending almost entirely dried up for two months.

Main Source: 
Reuters, February 5, 2003

Don't Look at Picasso

by Sheldon Rampton — February 1, 2003 - 11:00pm

A reproduction of the "Guernica" work by Pablo Picasso, which depicts the horrors of war, has been covered with a curtain at the United Nations because it is apparently an "inappropriate" backdrop for discussions of the pending war with Iraq: "A diplomat stated that it would not be an appropriate background if the amba

Main Source: 
Art Daily, February 2, 2003

'Americans for Tax Reform' Part of a Pro-War Movement

by John Stauber — January 31, 2003 - 11:00pm

The New York Times notes that "spurred by local antiwar
sentiment, dozens of cities and counties around the country
have passed resolutions imploring President Bush to slow
down his confrontation with Iraq. ... City and county councils in 20 states have passed such
measures, from small towns like Woodstock, N.Y., to cities
as large as Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit." Well-funded right wing supporters of the march to war "stand ready to try to mobilize a
countermovement.

Main Source: 
New York Times, February 1, 2003

Liquid Truth

by Sheldon Rampton — January 30, 2003 - 11:00pm

The accusation that Iraq has used chemical weapons against its own citizens - Iraqi Kurds at the town of Halabja - is a familiar part of the debate over whether to go to war. According to a controversial article by Stephen C. Pelletiere, however, the facts surrounding that claim have been selectively presented and distorted.

Main Source: 
New York Times, January 31, 2003

Staying on Message

by Sheldon Rampton — January 23, 2003 - 11:00pm

As it prepares for war with Iraq, the new White House Office of Global Communications (OGC) is "revving up a global effort to defuse its image as arrogant and overbearing," reports Randall Mikkelsen. The State Department is creating an Islamic media center in London to manage U.S. communications with the al Jazeera satellite television network. The OGC is also organizing "daily telephone conference calls to coordinate foreign policy messages among U.S. government agencies and representatives of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Main Source: 
Reuters, January 24, 2003

The Unseen Gulf War

by Sheldon Rampton — January 22, 2003 - 12:06pm

During the first war in the Persian Gulf, U.S. citizens saw mostly sanitized images of smart bombs hitting non-human targets. Images of death and suffering were kept to a minimum, thanks in part to the military's pool system which controlled the movements and activities of most journalists. Photographer Peter Turnley refused to participate in the pool system and managed to get pictures that few people have seen. "Many people have asked the question 'how many people died' during the war with Iraq and the question has never been well answered," he writes.

Main Source: 
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0212/pt_intro.html

Bush PR Barrage Formalizes Office of Global Communications

by John Stauber — January 21, 2003 - 11:00pm

'War Is Sell,' and the techniques being used by the US are familiar marketing and PR strategies. The Financial Times notes today that the Bush Administration has "published a dossier depicting Saddam Hussein's government as an 'apparatus of lies', as President George W. Bush maintained a high-pitched note of impatience with the Iraqi leader. ... However, the White House's own version of agitprop also skates over some aspects of history. ...

Main Source: 
Financial Times, January 22, 2003
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