Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
In its damning report, the Red Cross states that "physical and psychological coercion were used by [U.S.] military intelligence in a systematic way to gain confessions and extract information and other forms of cooperation" from Iraqi detainees.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"By many accounts, the horrible treatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers and mercenaries has been going on ever since the end of the invasion," notes Dan Gillmor. "The Red Cross warned U.S. officials a year ago. Yet it took those appalling photographs to turn this into the huge story that it's become.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib are bad enough, considering that possibly 25 prisoners have died while in American custody. However, some faked photos are also circulating, including pictures of an alleged rape by soldiers that were actually taken from a porno site. Independent journalist Chris Albritton debunks the fakes and criticizes a cavalier attitude toward the truth that "seems to have taken hold in anti-war journalism as well.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Ahmed Chalabi is a treacherous, spineless turncoat. He had one set of friends before he was in power, and now he's got another," says L. Marc Zell, a former law partner of Douglas Feith, now the undersecretary of defense for policy, and a former friend and supporter of Chalabi and his aspirations to lead Iraq.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"The Bush administration, despite the savvy of its spinmeisters and Hollywood-trained publicists, has lost the war of images abroad," writes Juan Cole. "Although it has had more success in managing war images at home, cracks have increasingly opened up on the domestic front as well." Recent examples have included the publication of photos of flag-draped coffins bearing U.S.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that Selective Service System acting Director Lewis Brodsky, in a February 2003 proposal to Pentagon officials, recommended that the draft "be re-engineered toward maintaining a national inventory of American men and, for the first time, women, ages 18 through 34, with an added focus on identifying individuals with critical skills." The agency's public and congression
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Friday's "Nightline" pays tribute to U.S. servicemembers killed in Iraq, with anchor Ted Koppel reading the names of fallen troops. Saying the show "appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq," the Sinclair Broadcast Group is barring its ABC-affiliate stations from airing the show. The ban affects seven media markets in six states.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Was it the horrifiic images of US soldiers torturing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners that caused the announcement? If so, no mention was made of it when "Margaret D. Tutwiler, the State Department veteran who was summoned from abroad to overhaul the public diplomacy effort, said Thursday that she was resigning to take a position at the New York Stock Exchange.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Colin Powell and other U.S. officials are complaining to Middle Eastern news executives and government officials about Al Jazeera's and Al Arabiya's "inflammatory" reporting on Iraq. The Pentagon's Arabic Media and Programs Unit has developed a "truth matrix" of allegedly unfair or untrue reports. U.S.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Bill Mitchell, whose son was a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq earlier this month, has written a letter to The Seattle Times thanking the newspaper for publishing the picture of flag-draped caskets that broke a Pentagon ban. Mitchell believes his son was in one of the caskets shown in the now-famous photo by Tami Silicio. "Hiding the death and destruction of this war does not make it easier on anyone except those who want to keep the truth away from the people," he wrote.
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