Rumsfeld Must Go
Starmail - 30. Dez, 22:43
Irak-Krieg
30
Dez
2004
Tsunami Disaster Highlights Corporate Media Hypocrisy
by Peter Phillips
The terrible earthquake/tsunami disaster, along coastlines of the Indian Ocean, left tens of thousands dead and many times more people homeless and weakened. Front pages news stories swept the US corporate media -12,000 dead, 40,000, 60,000 and 100,000 made progressive day by day headlines. Twenty-four hour TV news provided minute by minute updates with added photos and live aerial shots of the effected regions. As the days after unfolded, personal stories of survival and loss were added to the overall coverage. Unique stories such as the 20 day old miracle baby found floating on a mattress, and the eight year old who lost both parents and later found by her uncle, were human interest features. Individualized reports from Americans caught in the catastrophe made national news and numbers of Europeans, and North Americans involved were a key part of the continuing story. US embassies set up hotlines for relatives of possible victims to seek information. Quickly added into the corporate media mix was coverage on how the US was responding with relief aid and dollars. In Crawford, Texas President Bush announced that he had formed an international coalition to respond to the massive tsunami disaster.
The US corporate media coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, for most Americans, was shocking, and emotional. Empathic Americans, with the knowledge that a terrible natural disaster of huge significant to hundreds of thousands people had occurred, wanted to help in any way they could. Church groups held prayer sessions for the victims, and the Red Cross received an upsurge of donations.
The US corporate media coverage of the tsunami disaster exposes a huge hypocrisy in the US press. Left uncovered this past year was the massive disaster that has befell Iraqi civilians. Over 100,000 civilians have died since the beginning of the US invasion and hundreds of thousands more are homeless and weakened. In late October 2004 the British Lancet medical journal published a scientific survey of households in Iraq that calculated over 100,000 civilians, mostly women and children, have died from war related causes. The study, formulated and conducted by researchers at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University and the College of Medicine at Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, involved a complex process of sampling households across Iraq to compare the numbers and causes of deaths before and after the invasion in March 2003. The mortality rate in these families worked out to 5 per 1,000 before the invasion and 12.3 per 1,000 after the invasion. Extrapolate the latter figure to the 22 million population of Iraq, and you end up with 100,000 total civilian deaths. The most common cause of death was aerial bombing followed by strokes and heart attacks. Recent civilian deaths in Fallujah would undoubtedly add significantly to the total.
The Iraqi word for disaster is museeba. Surly the lose of life from war in Iraq is as significant a meseeba as the Indian Ocean tsunami, yet where is the US corporate media coverage of thousands of dead and homeless? Where are the live aerial TV shots of the disaster zones and the up-close photos of the victims? Where are the survivor stories - the miracle child who lived thought a building collapsed by US bombs and rescued by neighbors? Where are the government official's press releases of regret and sorrow? Where is the international coalition for relief of civilians in Iraq and the upsurge in donations for Red Cross intervention? Would not Americans, if they knew, be just as caring about Iraqi deaths as they are for the victims of the tsunami?
The US corporate media has published Pentagon statements on civilian deaths in Iraq as unknown and dismissed the Lancet Medical Journal study. It seems US media concerns are for victims of natural disasters, while the man-made disasters, such as the deliberate invasion of another country by the US, are better left unreported.
Peter Phillips is a professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University and director of Project Censored a media research organization.
Peter Phillips Ph.D.
Sociology Department/Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-664-2588
http://www.projectcensored.org/
The terrible earthquake/tsunami disaster, along coastlines of the Indian Ocean, left tens of thousands dead and many times more people homeless and weakened. Front pages news stories swept the US corporate media -12,000 dead, 40,000, 60,000 and 100,000 made progressive day by day headlines. Twenty-four hour TV news provided minute by minute updates with added photos and live aerial shots of the effected regions. As the days after unfolded, personal stories of survival and loss were added to the overall coverage. Unique stories such as the 20 day old miracle baby found floating on a mattress, and the eight year old who lost both parents and later found by her uncle, were human interest features. Individualized reports from Americans caught in the catastrophe made national news and numbers of Europeans, and North Americans involved were a key part of the continuing story. US embassies set up hotlines for relatives of possible victims to seek information. Quickly added into the corporate media mix was coverage on how the US was responding with relief aid and dollars. In Crawford, Texas President Bush announced that he had formed an international coalition to respond to the massive tsunami disaster.
The US corporate media coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, for most Americans, was shocking, and emotional. Empathic Americans, with the knowledge that a terrible natural disaster of huge significant to hundreds of thousands people had occurred, wanted to help in any way they could. Church groups held prayer sessions for the victims, and the Red Cross received an upsurge of donations.
The US corporate media coverage of the tsunami disaster exposes a huge hypocrisy in the US press. Left uncovered this past year was the massive disaster that has befell Iraqi civilians. Over 100,000 civilians have died since the beginning of the US invasion and hundreds of thousands more are homeless and weakened. In late October 2004 the British Lancet medical journal published a scientific survey of households in Iraq that calculated over 100,000 civilians, mostly women and children, have died from war related causes. The study, formulated and conducted by researchers at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University and the College of Medicine at Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, involved a complex process of sampling households across Iraq to compare the numbers and causes of deaths before and after the invasion in March 2003. The mortality rate in these families worked out to 5 per 1,000 before the invasion and 12.3 per 1,000 after the invasion. Extrapolate the latter figure to the 22 million population of Iraq, and you end up with 100,000 total civilian deaths. The most common cause of death was aerial bombing followed by strokes and heart attacks. Recent civilian deaths in Fallujah would undoubtedly add significantly to the total.
The Iraqi word for disaster is museeba. Surly the lose of life from war in Iraq is as significant a meseeba as the Indian Ocean tsunami, yet where is the US corporate media coverage of thousands of dead and homeless? Where are the live aerial TV shots of the disaster zones and the up-close photos of the victims? Where are the survivor stories - the miracle child who lived thought a building collapsed by US bombs and rescued by neighbors? Where are the government official's press releases of regret and sorrow? Where is the international coalition for relief of civilians in Iraq and the upsurge in donations for Red Cross intervention? Would not Americans, if they knew, be just as caring about Iraqi deaths as they are for the victims of the tsunami?
The US corporate media has published Pentagon statements on civilian deaths in Iraq as unknown and dismissed the Lancet Medical Journal study. It seems US media concerns are for victims of natural disasters, while the man-made disasters, such as the deliberate invasion of another country by the US, are better left unreported.
Peter Phillips is a professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University and director of Project Censored a media research organization.
Peter Phillips Ph.D.
Sociology Department/Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-664-2588
http://www.projectcensored.org/
Starmail - 30. Dez, 22:41
Unbecoming Conduct
What Gets a General in Trouble
Being anti-torture. Article by Paul Craig Roberts:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts87.html
Being anti-torture. Article by Paul Craig Roberts:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts87.html
Starmail - 30. Dez, 14:08
Neo-cons can't escape responsibility
by Joseph L. Galloway
Knight-Ridder
12/28/04
The most curious turn of the worm this season is the attack by the neo-conservatives on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for the failures in Iraq. It should be noted that until now Rumsfeld was the darling of that same bunch. ... Now, suddenly, the voice of the neo-conservative movement, William Kristol, editor of The Standard, suggests that Rumsfeld has fouled up everything in Iraq and ought to be fired for his failures. Ditto, writes Tom Donnelly of the right-thinking American Enterprise Institute. ... So what happened? Why is Rumsfeld being stabbed in the back by those he trusted the most to back his play? ... Simple. They want someone else to be blamed besides them for fouling up their marvelous plans and schemes -- someone who is a handy lightning rod and who is NOT a card-carrying neo-conservative. So who better than Rumsfeld?
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/10521410.htm
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Knight-Ridder
12/28/04
The most curious turn of the worm this season is the attack by the neo-conservatives on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for the failures in Iraq. It should be noted that until now Rumsfeld was the darling of that same bunch. ... Now, suddenly, the voice of the neo-conservative movement, William Kristol, editor of The Standard, suggests that Rumsfeld has fouled up everything in Iraq and ought to be fired for his failures. Ditto, writes Tom Donnelly of the right-thinking American Enterprise Institute. ... So what happened? Why is Rumsfeld being stabbed in the back by those he trusted the most to back his play? ... Simple. They want someone else to be blamed besides them for fouling up their marvelous plans and schemes -- someone who is a handy lightning rod and who is NOT a card-carrying neo-conservative. So who better than Rumsfeld?
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/10521410.htm
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 30. Dez, 14:01
War bad for business
Poll: War bad for business
AntiWar.Com
12/30/04
The Bush administration's foreign policy may be costing U.S. corporations business overseas, according to a new survey of 8,000 international consumers released this week by the Seattle-based Global Market Insite (GMI) Inc. ... Twenty percent of respondents in Europe and Canada said they consciously avoided buying U.S. products as a protest against those policies. That finding was consistent with a similar poll carried out by GMI three weeks after Bush's November election victory...
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=4235
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
AntiWar.Com
12/30/04
The Bush administration's foreign policy may be costing U.S. corporations business overseas, according to a new survey of 8,000 international consumers released this week by the Seattle-based Global Market Insite (GMI) Inc. ... Twenty percent of respondents in Europe and Canada said they consciously avoided buying U.S. products as a protest against those policies. That finding was consistent with a similar poll carried out by GMI three weeks after Bush's November election victory...
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=4235
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 30. Dez, 13:43
28
Dez
2004
Uncle Sam wants you
Truly, Uncle Sam wants you:
They are desperate. How else can I explain the fact that I am 54 years old and the military is trying to recruit me?
http://207.44.245.159/article7565.htm
They are desperate. How else can I explain the fact that I am 54 years old and the military is trying to recruit me?
http://207.44.245.159/article7565.htm
Starmail - 28. Dez, 23:40
Demand that politicians do more to support our troops
Young men and women are fighting for us as I write, but who is fighting for them?
http://207.44.245.159/article7564.htm
http://207.44.245.159/article7564.htm
Starmail - 28. Dez, 23:39
An Open Letter to Our Leaders From an Iraq War Soldier
Our soldiers are putting their lives on the line. - We see no pictures of the sacrifice. That is hidden, and our media is ordered not to show it. We see only words and videos of politicians speaking boldly about supporting our military, and honoring their service with all the best equipment, supplies, and motivation. We see nothing of the loss, the destruction: It is kept from us.
http://207.44.245.159/article7562.htm
http://207.44.245.159/article7562.htm
Starmail - 28. Dez, 23:37
History will show U.S. lusted after oil
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1103802174249&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795
Informant: George Vye
Informant: George Vye
Starmail - 28. Dez, 14:35
Mosul attack "an inside job"
by Syed Saleem Shahzad
Asia Times
12/25/04
The Iraqi military is riddled with members of the resistance, Asia Times Online has been told, and this is what enabled a suicide bomber to penetrate the heart of US security in Mosul. And whether they be Ba'athists, Islamists or jihadis, the insurgents are united behind a common goal: 'freedom from foreign occupying forces...
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FL25Ak01.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Asia Times
12/25/04
The Iraqi military is riddled with members of the resistance, Asia Times Online has been told, and this is what enabled a suicide bomber to penetrate the heart of US security in Mosul. And whether they be Ba'athists, Islamists or jihadis, the insurgents are united behind a common goal: 'freedom from foreign occupying forces...
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FL25Ak01.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 28. Dez, 13:59
