Tag: iraq

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Lara Logan’s Plea From Baghdad

laralogan.jpgCBS News’ Baghdad Correspondent Lara Logan recently sent out an e-mail pleading for friends and colleagues to push CBS to air her “Battle of Haifa Street” report on any of their news programs. They have thus far agreed only to post the video on their Web site. Watch it here and you’ll see why they’re hesitant to broadcast it. The 2-minute clip closes with a soundbyte of an Iraqi citizens’ experience with American troops that may be just too balanced and accurate for today’s U.S. media: “They told us they would bring democracy, they promised life would be better than it was under Saddam. But they brought us nothing but death and killing. They brought mass destruction to Baghdad.” The text of Logan’s e-mail is below:

From: lara logan
Subject: help

The story below only appeared on our CBS website and was not aired on CBS. It is a story that is largely being ignored, even though this istakingplace verysingle day in central Baghdad, two blocks from where our office is located.

Our crew had to be pulled out because we got a call saying they were about to be killed, and on their way out, a civilian man was shot dead in front of them as they ran.

I would be very grateful if any of you have a chance to watch this story and pass the link on to as many people you know as possible. It should be seen. And people should know about this.

If anyone has time to send a comment to CBS – about the story – not about my request, then that would help highlight that people are interested and this is not too gruesome to air, but rather too important to ignore.

Many, many thanks.

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The L.A. Times’ Iraq Coverage

Lately it seems that the LA Times‘ A Section has at least one Iraq-related article on nearly every page. While the rest of the media world speculates on the fate of the TribCo and the designs the Times‘ potential suitors may have in mind, is the paper covering Iraq better than anyone else?

The general trend of newspapers focused on cost-cutting and boosting readership is to expand local coverage. But as recently as last month, the Times foreign desk has been looking to add more reporters to its Baghdad Bureau (LAO).

One definite advantage is printing in the Pacific Time Zone. When it’s midnight in LA, it’s 11am in Baghdad, so while East Coast papers have already hit the streets, the Times has the opportunity to print Monday’s early morning news from Iraq in the Monday paper. Case in point: The Times seemed to be the only major paper to sneak a report of last week’s early-morning execution of two Hussein aides into its morning edition.

The global press appears to be infatuated with the wordy and fairly balanced analyses of The New York Times‘ man in Baghdad, John F. Burns. But one man can’t possibly provide for a broad understanding of how the situation on the ground relates to the disingenuous and spin-wrought policy statements out of D.C. and Baghdad. Hence, this shout-out to Baghdad Bureau Chief Borzou Daragahi, Louise Roug, Julian E. Barnes, Peter Spiegel, Megan K. Stack, Solomon Moore, and Molly Hennessy-Fiske for bringing the truth to our doorsteps.

Ex-CNN News chief Eason Jordan lays out a typical day of LAT Iraq coverage here. Check for yourself online at http://latimes.com/iraq.

originally posted at LAist

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DeLay, Frist, Plame, Myers, Katrina, Iraq: is this the Denouement of the Republican Party?

The October 10 issue of The Weekly Standard is titled “Scandal Season.” It promises to be a remorseful introspection of the current state of the republican administration its bottomless pit of scandals.

William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard – a pointedly Conservative rag – is quoted in The Australian: “Even though DeLay has nothing to do with Frist and Frist has nothing to do with Abramoff, how does it look? Not good.”

Weekly Standard staff editor Matthew Continetti notes with pride that the Republican’s have once again bested the Dems, although as a young conservative, he admits: “looking at your party’s troubles, you see perverse confirmation of conservatism’s animating idea: that as the sphere of public decision-making expands, so do the opportunities for graft and wrongdoing.” Daily Kos has great insight on this.
Patrick J. Buchanan, in the National Conservative Weekly, evoked the words of Claudius in getting a handle on the disintegration within the Republican Party: “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.”

Frank Rich contends that conservative chronies have been flipping on their party for months now and many are tired of sleazy scandals. He points to conservative columnist Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard, who announced the beginning of the end of the Republican Party as we know it in an article he wrote on Jack Abramoff nearly a year ago.

there is MUCH MORE to this story… click to read on.
Down with Tommy D

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The Media on Iraq, Katrina / Iraq Polls

The last two days have been horrifying in Iraq with rampant suicide bombings and hundreds killed. The media appeared to be back on the attack, but, how can they let this unpopular war continue when it is only enabling MORE terror instead of defeating it? Ariana Huffington gripes.

According to an AP release: WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. military is mounting a counteroffensive in a war of words with Iraq’s insurgents, firing off accusations of child murder, kidnapping, torture, brainwashing and plans to use chemical weapons

Today in Media Matters, Bush wondered aloud if the U.S. is capable of handling another terrorist attack, but the Washington Post failed to print it.

The majority of the public would like to see Iraq funding cut to support the Katrina victims, notes a Wall Street Journal poll.

73% say rebuilding New Orleans is more important than cutting taxes.