insights from the digital future
National Security, Anti-Americanism, The “War on Terror” and new methods in public diplomacy
After a 5-year study in 11 countries, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Organization for Standardization have concluded that the above sign has the ability to scare the sh*t out of anybody, regardless of linguistic, cultural, religious, international or planetary differences.
Apparently, only Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remains unphased.
And no, I’m not making this up.
The New York Times reporter who in 2002 co-authored several articles with Judith Miller that contended with near certainty that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is parroting propaganda once again.
Michael Gordon, whose reporting in 2002 was instrumental in the Bush administrations argument to invade Iraq, and has since been famously proven false, is back at it — this time using weak sourcing to report Iran’s involvement in supplying bombs in Iraq.
Bloggers on both the right and the left are interpreting the U.S. government’s rhetoric as straight posturing, while the top story of the day — and believe it or not, the top issue this morning on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace (where he is in the process of tearing Douglas Feith a new one) remains, ironically, the inspector general’s damning report on the Bush administration’s self-manufactured intel providing the definitive argument for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Is the Times already anxious to turn the page to Iran, days after Congressional Republicans appalled many legislators including at least 7 on the GOP, by effectively stifling a proposed debate/review on the Iraq War?
Greg Mitchell breaks down this “breaking news,” — as sourced by “civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies†— for Editor & Publisher:
Saturday’s New York Times features an article, posted at the top of its Web site late Friday, that suggests very strongly that Iran is supplying the “deadliest weapon aimed at American troops†in Iraq.
The New York Times is running with Gordon’s report just weeks after Gordon was castigated by the paper for stating the following on the Charlie Rose Show:
“So I think, you know, as a purely personal view, I think it’s worth it one last effort for sure to try to get this right, because my personal view is we’ve never really tried to win.
While failing to explain why we’ve been led to believe for so long that a Sunni-led insurgency is rife with IEDs (Iran is predominantly Shi’a), Gordon provides a bullhorn for Def. Sec. Robert Gates’ claim: “I Can Prove Iran’s Role in Iraq. Flip for more on Feith.
UPDATE: Dan Froomkin has further analysis on the media’s varied coverage and response to what was apparently a highly secretive and questionable display of “proof of Iranian involvement in Iraq” in his Monday column.
Continue reading “Iran: NYT Reporter Beats the Drum — Again”
Some have argued that GE – NBC has trumped up their anti-Bush Administration rhetoric since shortly before the November 2006 midterm elections.
Culprit #1 is Chris Matthews, who in his career has probably been accused more of garnering an anti-Liberal (or pro-Republican) bias (he worked for four Democratic politicians in the ’70s, but was a “Goldwater Republican” and in 2000 voted for Bush). The host of MSNBC’s Hardball is a regular contributor to the Imus in the morning show. And today he dropped the F-Bomb:
“I’m so sick of Southern guys with ranches running this country. I want a guy to run for President who doesn’t have a fucking — I’m sorry, a ranch.”
Watch the video below.
Last month, Matthews slipped the *s* word into a rant on Hardball:
“If you want America to be a hegemonic power in the Middle East, you’re out of step with the American people. We’re not going to fight it out with Iran for the next 30 years to see who the big shit — I’m sorry — the big name is on the block.”
This video is after the jump.
Matthews initial transgression into vociferously anti-Bush sentiment was first noted just 6 weeks before the November elections. Think Progress has the clip:
Matthews said that most of the media was sold a bill of goods by the Bush administration, but that he’s been “a voice out there against this bullshit war from the beginning.” He added that Cheney was “totally wrong” about Iraq but still “talks like God on television, and we are supposed to believe every word.”
Continue reading “Is GE / NBC Pushing For U.S. Regime Change?”
Thinking back on the “good ol’ days” of the early 21st century when I lived in Chicago, and was witness some of the greatest independent creations / multimedia commentaries / videos / and zines of this century. The best series of all is the Select Media Festival, a collaborative project that included some incredibly provocative video mashups and animations in the direct aftermath of 9/11 and continues, each Fall.
Check out the hilariously unfortunate G.I. Joe PSA’s here.
Other goodies can be found there, as well as at Version Fest — which takes place April 19-May 6 in Chicago. Lumpen is ground zero for the classic free zine and is in some way or another connected to each of these events as is GNN, whose original Guerrilla News Network broadcasts brought shock and awe into the home with critical responses to the War on Terror (Ian Inaba, an early contributor to GNN, recently produced the acclaimed “American Blackout” and is one of three people behind the Video the Vote project.
Also worth checking out is this short clip in which John Ashcroft reveals a new policy to deal with Illegal aliens.
