The Bush administration naturally wants Iraqis to see the war and rebuilding as it does — positively. But there is no justification for the tactic reportedly being used by the U.S. military of paying Iraqi newspapers and journalists to plant favorable stories under the guise of independent journalism. That the stories are “factual,” at least by Pentagon standards, is no excuse. If Iraqis take Pentagon propaganda to be independent reporting, they are being misled. And the Bush administration is undermining a crucial component of the democracy it’s otherwise trying to promote — media freedom.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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33 Comments
What In God’s green earth makes you think that this Pentagon, this bush of Nazis, this Rumsfeld degenerate, is trying to sell democracy? Have you lost your cotton-picking mind?
Good grief, girl, don’t bet the farm on it……..Please
This “Rumsfeld thing” comes straight from hell and if, if, if he ever told the truth, he’d catch on fire. Don’t be standing to close to him if he adds 2 and 2 and tells you it’s four. Or be sure you’re wearing a flame-suit, with the Wichita Fire Dept standing right there……Please.
Rhonda, You beat me to it, It was right there in my inbox, I just hadn’t got to it yet. You are faster than greased lightin’US military planting stories in Iraqi papers
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1201/dailyUpdate.html
If I was an Iraqi translator, I’d fix Rumsfeld’s wagon for good….Yee Haaa.
Remember the Bush administration was paying journalists tax dollars to say kind words about NCLB. This is more of the same, and for the Whitehouse to express concern about it is the obscenest (is there such a word?) form of hypocrisy
While this type of thing is objectionable here in the US, I think it is appropriate in Iraq. Consider what is going on over there. War encompasses all fronts, including public relations. Organizations like Al Jazeera are filling the airwaves with anti-American lies and propoganda. What’s wrong with making sure that the truth gets out to the Iraq people?
Steven, I believe it’s “most obscene”.
Outlander,”What’s wrong with making sure that the truth gets out to the Iraq people?”
Not a thing. Now tell me what “the truth” and anybody in the Bush administration have in common.
nice picture, RHONDA.did you get that from your leftist folder in your internet favorites?
too bad the eagle has a socialist writing for them.
Al Jazeera tells the truth. Bush lies and we all know that with one exception, or so it seems.
“Al Jazeera tells the truth. Bush lies and we all know that with one exception, or so it seems.”
Ed,
Where do you get this stuff? Aliens visit you at night? I’m thinking you need to wear your tinfoil hat.
Al Jazeera tells you what it wants to, be it truth or fiction. Bush and his administration does the same thing.
But what gets me is the phrase, “Bush lies.” Tell me about a politician that doesn’t lie. Now that would be news!
Whatever you say…Blowhard
J.M.–
Carter. When did Carter lie?
Clinton lied about Monica, granted. I mean who wouldn’t lie about doing that chubby chunk? I mean JFK had Marilyn Monroe . . .
But last I checked, troops didn’t die when he lied.
10 bucks says captain pointdexter is actually Hank Price. Same writing style, yeah?This reeks of desperation. Planting good stories among the ones that show this illegal war in a bad light.If this war was really for a great cause and had great outcomes, the media would report that, I think. Without nudging from the military and the administration.Why aren’t people outraged about this lack of ethics?
NYT Headline
“Profusion of Rebel Groups Helps Them Survive in Iraq”
Karl Rove’s lie is beginning to surface in the New York Times….Finally
I’ve been trying to explain what they are finally beginning to grasp: Al Qaeda is not an organization, but rather an “Idea.” Not unlike the “idea” which drove the American revolution…..The Idea of Freedom.
Yes, Arabs want the United States to stop being “terrorists” and financing “terrorism” is the form of Israel. And they will never stop fighting those “terrorist” invaders of Palestine or Iraq.
Karl Rove can dance his little puppet Bush until they both become dizzy, Al Qaeda can not be defeated, any more than the “Minute Men” could be defeated.
The American People have a right to know that their sons and daughters are being sacrificed to expand Israeli greed, nothing more, nothing less. It’s about time or pasted due time for telling them.
Read from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/02/international/middleeast/02insurgency.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1133520669-ieeWYFaW1GaK332QJ/GDpQ
Galahad,
Well, blow me down, I plum fergot about ole billy. Might have been the only honest politician we had.
As for the rest, I rest my case. And please point out where I have ever condoned this war!
My point was that Ed noted that Al Jazeera told nothing but the truth, so help him Ed. It lies as much as Bush does. I said nothing about the war, nor it’s consequences. Focus, dude, focus.
Al Jazeera does tell the truth and you’re too stupid to know the truth if it took a bite out your crap.
I run up against blowhard morons like you every day, but usually too busy to respond.
The Pentagon lies, that why Karl Rove needed to bomb Al Jazeera.
Now go away and play with youself.
Al Jazeera is recognized worldwide for its journalistic integrity. The United States is not. And for the United States to murder Al Jazeera journalists is unforgivable, which it did in both Baghdad and Afghanistan.
This country’s association with Israel has brought to new lows. And as a result of that, the world considers the United States as morally depraved.
We need to regain our status, and a continued association with Israel, and its war criminal Ariel Sharon, sets that goal adrift.
NYT: Lobbyist’s Role in Hiring Aides Is Investigated
The Pentagon is not alone.
There’s a limit as to how far the New York Times will go in truth-telling. No mention of the largest “lobby” in Washington, with its Israeli death-grip on congress.
Perhaps just an oversite?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/02/politics/02abramoff.html?pagewanted=2&th&adxnnl=0&emc=th&adxnnlx=1133529225-1NNE1CZ3JQxnMWdDaYiagA
I’ve been reading this blog and posting occasionally since it started. From the start it has been a cesspool of left-wing vitriol, led by Crazy Ed, the jew hating, tin foil hat wearing, skipped his meds this morning nut case who tries to dominate every topic. Who has that much time?
But I think I’ve finally figured out who Ed Friedmann is. He’s our own little socialist pinko on the WE Editorial board – Rhonda Holman.
No James, just one of the many voices inside your head.
Pentagon selling democracy, now that’s an idea. Since when is a military run by majority rule, anyway? If so, I guess generals would be serving coffee to enlisted personnels. On the other hand, what’s the selling price for this gunboat democracy? Can the buyers haggle over it?
Ed, I got question to ask. According to my many dictionaries (and some Bible reading), Arabs are also Semitic people. Wouldn’t that mean IDF are commiting Anti-Semitic acts as well?
Roo
You’re right. Israel is contradiction after contradiction. The “Likuds” are not religious and want nothing to do with the “Religious Party.”
The Likuds are also billionaires while the children of the “Labor Party” go to bed hungry. The Labor party Jews are the ones who ride the buses and are made easy targets for Palestinian retaliation. If the Palestinians don’t blow them up, the Likuds have the means to see to it.
A Zionist, also not religious, murdered Rabin, the most peace-loving Israeli Prime Minster God ever put on the earth.
The Zionist, again not religious, which killed Rabin said that “God told him to kill Rabin.” He is still in jail, while the Likuds demand his release……Their hero.
People have asked me: What is a Zionist? Answer: A Zionist is an exploiter, who gives the Jewish People their awful and unfair reputation. Zionists exploit the Jewish religion as an excuse to conquer the world. They are depraved and what they have done to the Palestinians is unthinkable and as bad or worse than Hitler did to European Jews.
They now control our White House under the guise of being Neoconservatives { giving the false impression of being conservatives}.
They own Bush.
Ariel Sharon is the worst of the Zionist lot. He is a psychopathic killer and con-man and came to power by being a ruthless butcher. There is no evil deed to which he will not stoop. His actions keep the fires of anti-Semitism burning, and he uses those fires to exploit { mostly money from the United States }.
Rabin and Arafat had reached a peace agreement with just a few minor details to agree. And that is why the Zionists killed Rabin.
Along with any hope for a peaceful Israel.
If Bush undersood Israeli politics, he could manage a peaceful settlement, but he does not understand.
Yitzhak Rabin
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/rabin/umbrella/
Ten more Marines dead. How many more to you want Karl Rove, you murdering filthy thug.
http://www.cnn.com/
These antics give “public relations” a bad name. This is blatant propaganda, not public relations.
Galahad.BS. When Carter lied -” No we are not planning any military action”a chopper of military died.We do lie to the ememy in time of war to save our soldiers lives. If you disagree with that tactic you are the enemy.
The Eagle does that all the time. We had a good time trashing wal-mart a while back. They are a major advertiser for the Eagle. did you see the Paper version of the Wal-Mart story?A newspaper rarely trashes a good advertiser. They occasionally kill negative stories and worse.
The degree of stink this story is raising surprises me compared to the NCLB story. In the latter, the Dept of Education was paying a black conservative columnist money ($200K – if I am remembering correctly) to slip in praise for NCLB. The press coverage seemed like a mere yawn compared to this story.
But, now that we’re undermining Iraqi press integrity with these phony stories, you’d think the world was coming to an end. The press corp is hounding little Scotty McClellan like you’ve never seen before.
Bush & Co. have not changed, and in fact this escapade is a minor one in their history of dishonesty. I think the press coverage has reached a tipping point and going after Bush is now easier than it was not long ago.
Codie,You’ll note that it’s the newspaper that runs this blog, and who set the Wal-Mart controversy as a topic. Get real!
On the BLOG not on the front page. Read the white copy and you get a different slant.
Karl Rove’s Latest Trick: “Victory” or his latest contemptuous “bone” to throw to his American anti-war dogs { otherwise known as the vast majority of People of the United States of America }.
America is under siege. A small group of men calling themselves Neoconservatives are threatening a takeover of our constitutional government right from the White House which they now occupy and control.
The United States of America exists as a result of its constitution and destroy that and you have conquered America.
AIPAC, a Zionist Jewish hard-liner Lobbing group, has launched an all out assault, by bribing members of congress on both sides of the isle to enact legislation which strips Americans of their basic constitutional guarantees and the Supreme court has given government the right to confiscate private property at its discretion. It doesn’t get worse than that, but wait, I’m afraid it does.
An American citizen can be arrested and held in secret forever if the government decides its in their best interest. If that’s not enough to worry Americans, then wait there’s more.
The president of the United States has launched an all-out so-called “war” against Arabs under the guise of fighting so-called “terrorism” which is in his words a “Global War,” based on fabricated excuses and outright lies. This so-called war is a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.
George W. Bush, now a war-criminal, has acted in concert with Ariel Sharon, named a war criminal by the “then” Israel government, which is a persistent violator of international law, to attack the sovereign country of Iraq. When 70% of the American people objected strongly, he simply changed tactics, and is now offering a “Victory” which is not possible without killing every Arab worldwide. Something which does favor Israel, but works against the best interests of the United States of America.
Martin van Creveld, a professor of military history at the Hebrew University, is author of “Transformation of War” (Free Press, 1991). He is the only non-American author on the U.S. Army’s required reading list for officers.Martin van Creveld had this to say in part:”The number of American casualties in Iraq is now well more than 2,000, and there is no end in sight.”
Sounding “Victory” might seem a great tactic of “foolery” for Karl Rove, but certainly lacks any humor or truth for both the American people or their Arab counterparts.
NYT
“WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 – There could be no doubt about the theme of President Bush’s Iraq war strategy speech on Wednesday at the Naval Academy. He used the word victory 15 times in the address; “Plan for Victory” signs crowded the podium he spoke on; and the word heavily peppered the accompanying 35-page National Security Council document titled, “Our National Strategy for Victory in Iraq.”
So I guess Karl Rove gave us 15 “victory Bones” to chew-on.
I hate being lies to, how about you?
Why won’t Bush do as the American People ask?
Why won’t that moron change his mind, or doesn’t he have a mind to change?
Who is he representing?
Bush is representing someone, not the American People, and why is that?
Who is Bush representing?