Submitted by Laura Miller on
The vacationing George W. Bush recently said from his Crawford, Texas ranch, "We've made a lot of progress" in Iraq. The pronouncement was timed with the White House release of a 24-page report called "Results in Iraq: 100 Days Toward Security and Freedom". Detailing "highlights of the successes" in Iraq, the report -- prepared by the White House Office of Global Communications and the staff of L. Paul Bremer, the U.S.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recently launched a national campaign to dismiss growing criticism of the controversial USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law passed after the September 11 attacks. Speaking at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, Ashcroft said, "To abandon this tool would disconnect the dots, risk American lives and liberty, and reject Sept. 11th's lessons." The Department of Justice Patriot Act website is LifeandLiberty.gov.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
The State Department's glossy Arabic-language magazine aimed at 18- to 35-year-olds is getting mixed reviews with its target audience. Hi Magazine which focuses on cultural and societal issues, is funded by more than $4 million of State Department money. So far 50,000 copies have been distributed from Morocco to Kuwait. U.S. officials hope to increase the circulation to 250,000.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Journalists and generals met in Chicago last week to discuss the media's role in reporting on the war in Iraq and agreed that the Pentagon's strategy of "embedding" journalists marked a sea change in combat reporting. "We brought the military service members into the homes of Americans, and they became spokespersons for the U.S. military," said an army chief of public affairs.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The White House is ducking questions about its plan to cut the pay of U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last month, the Pentagon proposed cutting the $75 a month that soldiers receive in "imminent danger pay" along with the $150 a month that they receive in "family separation allowances." According to the Defense Department, their budget can't sustain the higher payments amid a host of other priorities.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
The U.S. military ordered and then took back a directive that would have restricted journalists from going with American troops on all but routine missions in Iraq. According to the Associated Press, "The directive told commanders throughout Iraq that reporters, photographers and television crews would be prohibited from traveling with the military on some operations as so-called 'embedded' journalists. The U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad rescinded the order shortly after The Associated Press reported on it. No explanation was given. ... Media coverage of the frequent U.S.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
In an article based on "interviews with analysts and policymakers inside and outside the U.S. government, and access to internal documents and technical evidence not previously made public," the Washington Post's Barton Gellman and Walter Pincus
Submitted by Laura Miller on
A new study says the "Bush administration persistently manipulates scientific data to serve its ideology and protect the interests of its political supporters," the New York Times writes.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"Attorney General John Ashcroft is hitting the road to rally support for the Victory Act, which would further expand his powers to go after Al Qaeda and narcoterrorists," the New York Daily News reports. Ashcroft's 10-day tour will visit 20-states promoting his Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act. Critics say expanding Ashcroft's powers would further erode civil liberites.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Maverick ex-soldier David Hackworth believed the Bush administration's claims about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction until recently, but now he's steamed. "A whole bunch of folks here in the USA and around this beat-up globe are all worked up over George W. Bush's 16 shifty words in his 'Let's Do Saddam' State of the Union speech when they should be taking a harder look at the president's judgment on the most critical matter to a state: war," Hackworth writes. "Don't have heartburn over those 16 words.
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