Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (www.fair.org) analyzed U.S. war coverage, and learned that viewers "were 25 times as likely to see a pro-war guest as one who was anti-war during the first three weeks of the invasion of Iraq." (NYC Indymedia). Among other things, the FAIR analysis shows that the media were only too happy to provide the military and U.S. government airtime to support its positions, while not providing any where near proportionate opportunities for anti-war voices to speak relative to actual American anti-war sentiment. In addition, the tiny number of anti-war opinions were reduced to sound bites. "Not a single show in the study conducted a sit-down interview with a person identified as being against the war." The coverage was also slanted toward folks in the war business, obscuring the fact that international law, human rights, and many other significant issues are involved. If nothing else, read the article for the Dan Rather quote.
There is a lot of other great stuff at the FAIR, including an item that Former General Wesley Clark says he was asked by the White House to implicate Iraq on the very day of the September 11th attacks, but the White House would not provide him with any evidence; and another in which they point out that U.S. conservatives who hotly criticized U.S. military intervention in Kosovo and said their criticism was 'patriotic' under Clinton now insist that any questioning of the commander-in-chief is treason. (Perhaps they should all be tried retroactively, based only on their own standards?)
Friday, June 20, 2003
The United States is not preserving evidence of mass murders by Saddam Hussein's regime. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed by the Iraqi government and its friends during peacetime, and evidence of these crimes is being destroyed. (NPR Audio) If justice is going to be done, there need to be trials, evidence, proof, and the families of victims need to know what became of their missing relatives. After more than two months of trying to get a hold of its many other problems, the U.S. is finally turning its attentions to the big picture of war crimes against the Iraqi people.
Some lists that have come to light confirming the details of hundreds of state-organized executions, which need to be investigated and authenticated.
But in the meantime the mass graves are not being guarded; desperate relatives are poking through the mass graves they know of on their own; forensic evidence is being lost or moved; and the task of gathering evidence against the regime is falling on non-profit and non-governmental organizations, such as Human Rights Watch. Technical expertise is needed. The evidence won't stay there forever. If we're serious about bringing criminals to justice (rather than just a wholesale, collective punishment of anyone who enjoyed any privileges or successes under the Hussein regime), this has to be done right the first time.
But Arlene, didn't you oppose the war?
Goodness yes. I still oppose the war. I believe in the rule of law, which includes an assumption of innocence until guilt is proven, fair trial, and serious punishment. If the U.S.' incredibly well-funded 'intelligence' machine couldn't work up enough evidence to persuade the U.N. security council of a crime, rushing to bomb a country and execute its leaders is uncalled for. [Duh.] If Hussein is allged to have committed even a fraction of the crimes he is accused of, it should be relatively simple to put together a case and convict him and his minions.
Bombing the citizens of his country who had suffered so much is not an appropriate punishment for a man who had no compulsion about killing those same people, is it? No. Bombing his survivors is not just.
Well, don't you think that the U.S.' success in the war solves this problem? Isn't this justice?
So far as I know, Hussein, who I'm rather sure is a criminal, could be on a beach somewhere, drinking frosty drinks with fellow 'undisclosed location' comrades bin Laden and Cheney. (When was the last time we saw Cheney?) Meanwhile, there may have been 5,800 Iraqi civilian casualties (Iraqometer). I don't perceive this situation as just. Even if he died in the bombing along with so many civilians and kids, that still isn't quite "just" -- he hasn't been publicly and definitely held accountable for his actions. He hasn't been forced to face his victims in defeat. He hasn't even been made an example of. He hasn't had to sit in a jail cell, contemplating his crimes, for years and years.
Instead, his victims are maimed; the people of Iraq are suffering from irregular services, chaos, looting, and violence; looters have destroyed government offices which may have held damning documentary evidence of atrocities; and Hussein is either free or anonymously dead, an ambiguity which his supporters are enjoying to their own advantage.
To me, that's the proverbial 'winning the battle but losing the war.'
Speaking of losing things, aren't you going to bring up weapons of mass destruction, and our great success there?
Oh, shut up. Those aren't important.
Ha! I knew you'd be sensitive about that! Our government said they had proof that WMDs were in Iraq in huge volumes, and information about where the WMDs in Iraq were hidden. (SF Indymedia) Very precise. All sorts of details. And yet, searches based on the intelligence they had turned up nothing but false alarms.
Sadly, it appears not only that the intelligence information the U.S. relied on was dubious (BBC), but that the Bush Administration doesn't want to learn from its mistakes. Those mistakes apparently included getting information from defectors and exiles who had interests that do not necessarily mesh with our own. If we want to be safer from terrorism, we need to change the kind of information we rely on, to, oh say, GOOD information. The Bush Administration should not fear good information.
Some lists that have come to light confirming the details of hundreds of state-organized executions, which need to be investigated and authenticated.
But in the meantime the mass graves are not being guarded; desperate relatives are poking through the mass graves they know of on their own; forensic evidence is being lost or moved; and the task of gathering evidence against the regime is falling on non-profit and non-governmental organizations, such as Human Rights Watch. Technical expertise is needed. The evidence won't stay there forever. If we're serious about bringing criminals to justice (rather than just a wholesale, collective punishment of anyone who enjoyed any privileges or successes under the Hussein regime), this has to be done right the first time.
But Arlene, didn't you oppose the war?
Goodness yes. I still oppose the war. I believe in the rule of law, which includes an assumption of innocence until guilt is proven, fair trial, and serious punishment. If the U.S.' incredibly well-funded 'intelligence' machine couldn't work up enough evidence to persuade the U.N. security council of a crime, rushing to bomb a country and execute its leaders is uncalled for. [Duh.] If Hussein is allged to have committed even a fraction of the crimes he is accused of, it should be relatively simple to put together a case and convict him and his minions.
Bombing the citizens of his country who had suffered so much is not an appropriate punishment for a man who had no compulsion about killing those same people, is it? No. Bombing his survivors is not just.
Well, don't you think that the U.S.' success in the war solves this problem? Isn't this justice?
So far as I know, Hussein, who I'm rather sure is a criminal, could be on a beach somewhere, drinking frosty drinks with fellow 'undisclosed location' comrades bin Laden and Cheney. (When was the last time we saw Cheney?) Meanwhile, there may have been 5,800 Iraqi civilian casualties (Iraqometer). I don't perceive this situation as just. Even if he died in the bombing along with so many civilians and kids, that still isn't quite "just" -- he hasn't been publicly and definitely held accountable for his actions. He hasn't been forced to face his victims in defeat. He hasn't even been made an example of. He hasn't had to sit in a jail cell, contemplating his crimes, for years and years.
Instead, his victims are maimed; the people of Iraq are suffering from irregular services, chaos, looting, and violence; looters have destroyed government offices which may have held damning documentary evidence of atrocities; and Hussein is either free or anonymously dead, an ambiguity which his supporters are enjoying to their own advantage.
To me, that's the proverbial 'winning the battle but losing the war.'
Speaking of losing things, aren't you going to bring up weapons of mass destruction, and our great success there?
Oh, shut up. Those aren't important.
Ha! I knew you'd be sensitive about that! Our government said they had proof that WMDs were in Iraq in huge volumes, and information about where the WMDs in Iraq were hidden. (SF Indymedia) Very precise. All sorts of details. And yet, searches based on the intelligence they had turned up nothing but false alarms.
Sadly, it appears not only that the intelligence information the U.S. relied on was dubious (BBC), but that the Bush Administration doesn't want to learn from its mistakes. Those mistakes apparently included getting information from defectors and exiles who had interests that do not necessarily mesh with our own. If we want to be safer from terrorism, we need to change the kind of information we rely on, to, oh say, GOOD information. The Bush Administration should not fear good information.
The Baghdad Indymedia Center, Al MuaJaha, The Iraqi Witness, is up and running in multiple languages.
A way to win hearts and minds: having U.S. soldiers search schoolgirls in Baghdad. I'm sure that gives all parents a warm fuzzy feeling. Sure. Right.
*
Something I hadn't considered: there are plenty of international opinions not only are reviving the 'Iraq-as-Vietnam' analogy, but are also comparing this unhappy occupation with that of Korea. (Both links: Washington Post)
*
Something I hadn't considered: there are plenty of international opinions not only are reviving the 'Iraq-as-Vietnam' analogy, but are also comparing this unhappy occupation with that of Korea. (Both links: Washington Post)
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Americans theoretically have a right to travel freely throughout the U.S. Under the Bush Administration, this right is becoming more and more theoretical: the Feds have developed a "no-fly" list of Americans they don't want to be able to fly. Theoretically associated with the so-called War or Terror, the Feds can't actually explain what the list is, or why someone is on it.
For example, men named David Nelson are being hassled every time they fly (Yahoo news). Why? Because the Feds apparently can't tell one David Nelson from another, and so are simply throwing impediments to travel in front of all of them.
Do you feel safer knowing that the federal government can't even figure out which David Nelson it's concerned about? Or work up a description of him?
Me neither.
I've heard some entertaining stories about the ridiculousness of airport security (NPR audio), and some that were just sad: a frequent flier grandmother who is stopped every trip because her name is SIMILAR to a man who is listed on the no-fly list. Calls to multiple federal agencies demonstrated only that no one can help her, because no one is accountable for the list. No one on this list an restore their rights, because they aren't necessarily listed for any reason that can be explained. Garbage in, garbage out.
Meanwhile, anti-war activists find themselves on the no-fly list, (Common Dreams) and are bringing suit after their requests for explanations led nowhere. Some of their security problems aren't even based on their actual name being on the list, but merely on the fact that their names are spelled similarly to those on the list or, according to deputies, because their names sounded Hispanic. (Progressive.org)
A Transportation Security Administration spokesman acknowledges that it has "no guidelines defining who is put on the list.... The TSA also has no procedures for people to clear their names and get off the list." (In These Times) More:
Secret lists and unaccountable government agencies that are unwilling or unable to fix their own mistakes don't make for good security. Stopping grandmothers at airports will not keep us safe.
As the kids say now, "Duh!"
For example, men named David Nelson are being hassled every time they fly (Yahoo news). Why? Because the Feds apparently can't tell one David Nelson from another, and so are simply throwing impediments to travel in front of all of them.
Do you feel safer knowing that the federal government can't even figure out which David Nelson it's concerned about? Or work up a description of him?
Me neither.
I've heard some entertaining stories about the ridiculousness of airport security (NPR audio), and some that were just sad: a frequent flier grandmother who is stopped every trip because her name is SIMILAR to a man who is listed on the no-fly list. Calls to multiple federal agencies demonstrated only that no one can help her, because no one is accountable for the list. No one on this list an restore their rights, because they aren't necessarily listed for any reason that can be explained. Garbage in, garbage out.
Meanwhile, anti-war activists find themselves on the no-fly list, (Common Dreams) and are bringing suit after their requests for explanations led nowhere. Some of their security problems aren't even based on their actual name being on the list, but merely on the fact that their names are spelled similarly to those on the list or, according to deputies, because their names sounded Hispanic. (Progressive.org)
A Transportation Security Administration spokesman acknowledges that it has "no guidelines defining who is put on the list.... The TSA also has no procedures for people to clear their names and get off the list." (In These Times) More:
Asked if the TSA has a second list, one not of the “threats to aviation” who would never be allowed to get on a plane, but rather of political activists who are to be singled out for intense scrutiny and interrogation, Steigman said, “I don’t know. I’ll have to look into that.”Meanwhile, at least one delayed passenger observed the loose-leaf binder used by his interrogators, which contained a list of political and peace organizations, such as Greenpeace and the Green Party. (An additional article and more than a dozen additional links at this Indybay article (Indymedia).)
A day later, he came back with a curiously candid, if rather alarming, answer. “I checked with our security people,” he said, “and they said there is no second list.” Then, after a pause, he added, “Of course, that could mean one of two things: Either there is no second list, or there is a list, and they’re not going to talk about it for security reasons.”
Secret lists and unaccountable government agencies that are unwilling or unable to fix their own mistakes don't make for good security. Stopping grandmothers at airports will not keep us safe.
As the kids say now, "Duh!"
Today's radio program Marketplace announces that Private Jessica Lynch, who claims not to recall her time in an Iraqi hospital from which she was "rescued" by U.S. special forces, now has a Hollywood agent.
*moan*
In other moan-inspiring news, the U.S. military is setting up a court in Iraq intended to try others for crimes against the U.S. military. I'm sure it will be perceived to be as fair and just as it deserves to be.
*moan*
In other moan-inspiring news, the U.S. military is setting up a court in Iraq intended to try others for crimes against the U.S. military. I'm sure it will be perceived to be as fair and just as it deserves to be.
Monday, June 16, 2003
According the S.F. Chronicle/Associated press, Halliburton's no-bid, competition free oil production contract has doubled in cost, and "The expanded role awarded to Vice President Dick Cheney's former company cost taxpayers $184.7 million as of last week, up from $76.7 million a month ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed this week."
*
At least we're not alone: 60% of people polled in an international survey have a fairly unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion of George W. Bush (BBC).
*
Well, the GOP is trying to improve their image. The New York Times reported that the GOP plans to make the most of the September 11th memorial not only by holding its convention there (which I knew), but by laying the cornerstone to the still-being-designed monument to the September 11th victims.
Then the New York Times un-reported it.
It was in the print edition and on-line.
Then it was in the print edition, but the title changed for the on-line version, unless you performed an archive search, in which case it still came up with the original title.
Now it's just in the print edition.
But various people took pictures or scans of the article while it was still up, and so now they want to know: what gives?
Different Strings analysis
This Modern World analysis
*
According to this story in the Charlotte Observer, "A third of the American public believes U.S. forces found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll, and 22 percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons.". Even though those things didn't happen.
Ouch.
The poll notes that this misperception is strongest among those who supported the war. (Go figure.)
A friend had complained that he heard many sensationalistic stories during the war about all sorts of SUSPICIOUS materials that were found, but which were never mentioned again after testing proved they weren't WMDs. And the ABSENCE of WMDs is only now becoming news... So those who don't pay attention could have interpreted poor reporting to be evidence of guilt. And they must be really confused when Bush announces that evidence will EVENTUALLY be found, wondering why he doesn't just turn to all the evidence they think they heard something about... But that doesn't make this any better, does it?
*
At least we're not alone: 60% of people polled in an international survey have a fairly unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion of George W. Bush (BBC).
*
Well, the GOP is trying to improve their image. The New York Times reported that the GOP plans to make the most of the September 11th memorial not only by holding its convention there (which I knew), but by laying the cornerstone to the still-being-designed monument to the September 11th victims.
Then the New York Times un-reported it.
It was in the print edition and on-line.
Then it was in the print edition, but the title changed for the on-line version, unless you performed an archive search, in which case it still came up with the original title.
Now it's just in the print edition.
But various people took pictures or scans of the article while it was still up, and so now they want to know: what gives?
Different Strings analysis
This Modern World analysis
*
According to this story in the Charlotte Observer, "A third of the American public believes U.S. forces found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll, and 22 percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons.". Even though those things didn't happen.
Ouch.
The poll notes that this misperception is strongest among those who supported the war. (Go figure.)
A friend had complained that he heard many sensationalistic stories during the war about all sorts of SUSPICIOUS materials that were found, but which were never mentioned again after testing proved they weren't WMDs. And the ABSENCE of WMDs is only now becoming news... So those who don't pay attention could have interpreted poor reporting to be evidence of guilt. And they must be really confused when Bush announces that evidence will EVENTUALLY be found, wondering why he doesn't just turn to all the evidence they think they heard something about... But that doesn't make this any better, does it?
Sunday, June 15, 2003
So, I'm supposed to take Bush seriously when he talks about how important the public protests in the street are in Iran, about how the Iranian people are speaking, about how the people of Iran are speaking loudly and demanding a change in their government... Even though he said it it was irrelevant when hundreds of thousands of AMERICANS did the same exact thing?
I see.
I see.