War / Peace

Freedom's Watch Wants to be the Right's MoveOn

by John Stauber — February 6, 2008 - 8:48am

Bill Berkowitz reports, "a number of right wing groups have been contending for the unofficial designation of the conservative version of MoveOn.org, the liberal grassroots lobbying organization. These days, Freedom's Watch appears to have a leg up on them all. ...

Main Source: 
IPS News, February 5, 2008

War on Iran, Anyone? How the Pentagon Spun the Speedboats

by Sheldon Rampton — January 19, 2008 - 12:37am

"Senior Pentagon officials, evidently reflecting a broader administration policy decision, used an off-the-record Pentagon briefing to turn the January 6 US-Iranian incident in the Strait of Hormuz into a sensational story demonstrating Iran's military aggressiveness," reports Gareth Porter. The incident, described by Pentagon officials as a "careless, reckless and potentially hostile" provocation by Iranian boats that nearly led to gunfire, was actually a nonthreatening, "almost routine" encounter that officials in Washington distorted.

Main Source: 
Asia Times, January 17, 2008

War, What Is it Good For? Electing Democrats in '08

by John Stauber — January 17, 2008 - 7:58pm

Ryan Grim reports that the biggest and best-funded organizations in the liberal peace movement, primarily MoveOn and the groups in its Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (AAEI) coalition, are no longer advocating that Congress end the war.

Main Source: 
Politico.com, January 17, 2008

They Want Influencers for More New Recruits

by Diane Farsetta — January 16, 2008 - 3:28pm

"The U.S. Marine Corps is rolling out a new ad campaign this week in an effort to target teachers, coaches, clergy and other groups that tend to have influence on kids' career paths," reports the Wall Street Journal.

Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), January 16, 2008

Holy International Diplomacy, Batman!

by Diane Farsetta — January 9, 2008 - 3:30pm

Cartoon heroes are being "called upon to rescue the battered image of a very real-world institution -- the

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The Independent (UK), January 1, 2008

Return of the Swift Boaters

by Sheldon Rampton — January 6, 2008 - 12:03am

At his confirmation hearing for an ambassadorship to Belgium, nominee Sam Fox got grilled by Kerry for the $50,000 contribution he gave to the Sw

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The Nation, January 2, 2008

Dumbing Down Dateline

by Sheldon Rampton — January 4, 2008 - 7:39pm

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, recalls former Dateline NBC correspondent John Hockenberry, the network diverted him from reporting on al Qaeda and instead wanted him to come up with a version of "the show Cops, only with firefighters." During the invasion of Iraq, a network exec axed a segment featuring "a reporter in Baghdad who was experiencing the bombing firsthand" on grounds that it conveyed "a point of view." Hockenberry sees these stories as lessons about how telev

Main Source: 
Technology Review, January/February 2008

The Taming of Al Jazeera

by John Stauber — January 4, 2008 - 9:29am

The New York Times reports, "When a Saudi court sentenced a young woman to 200 lashes in November after she pressed charges against seven men who had raped her, the case provoked outrage and headlines around the world, including in the Middle East. But not at Al Jazeera, the Arab world's leading satellite television channel, seen by 40 million people. ...

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New York Times, January 4, 2008

Tortured Reasoning for Destroying Evidence of Torture

by Judith Siers-Poisson — January 2, 2008 - 2:32pm

Steve Benen writes that "As it turns out, the reasoning behind the CIA's decision to record interrogations on video, stop recording interrogations on video, and destroy the interrogation videos was all exactly the same: officials were hoping to avoid a public-relations nightmare." They were unsuccessful, of course, since the media reported widely on the destruction of the tapes and

Main Source: 
The Carpetbagger Report, December 30, 2007
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