Submitted by John Stauber on
As pundits and the Pentagon try to quantify the number of acceptable US casualties, world-wide opposition to the attack on Iraq grows by the day. The New York Times notes that "the public mood in
many countries around the world seemed to become angrier
and more sarcastic than ever... . Another day of global protest
is being advertised on Web sites and posters for Sunday,
Submitted by John Stauber on
"Bush planners appear to have left television off the
initial [bombing] target list because they wanted to use it to
administer Iraq immediately after the war and to limit the
damage to civilian infrastructure. Reports from Iraq, however, suggest that the American
restraint was seen by many Iraqis as an indication of Mr.
Hussein's resilience, undermining the allied message that
his days were numbered. There are, in fact, two parallel battles underway. One is
the intense assault American forces are mounting to set
Submitted by John Stauber on
Journalist Joseph L. Galloway, the military affairs correspondent for Knight Ridder, criticized the Bush administration's war fighting plan today on NPR's Fresh Air program. Galloway, the co-author of We Were Soldiers Once, and Young, was recently a consultant to Colin Powell.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh asks, "Why did the Administration endorse a forgery about Iraq's nuclear program?" How did the misinformation end up in the President's State of the Union address, and who has been fooling whom to make sure the US attacked Iraq?
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Pundits have depicted the U.S. military strategy of "shock and awe" in largely sanitary terms, suggesting that the high accuracy of laser-guided "smart bombs" will make it possible to decapitate the Iraqi command and control structure while leaving the country's infrastructure intact and limiting civilian casualties.
Submitted by John Stauber on
"Critics of the war ... blame the
news media, asserting that they failed to challenge the
administration aggressively enough as it made a shaky case
for war. In an interview, Eric Alterman ... argued,
'Support for this war is in part a reflection that the
media has allowed the Bush administration to get away with
misleading the American people.' ... The strongest indictment of the press, many of these
critics argue, are recent polls that suggest many Americans
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Weeks before the first bombs dropped in Iraq, the Bush administration began rebuilding plans," reports ABC News, which has obtained a copy of a 99-page contract worth $600 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) - the most money the agency has ever spent in a single country in a single year. Among the companies believed to be bidding are Bechtel, Fluor, Parsons, the Washington Group and Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's old firm," ABC reports. "All are experienced. But in addition, all are generous political donors - principally to Republicans."
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia banned broadcast media from his speech on March 19 at an appearance where he received an award for supporting free speech. "That was one of the criteria that he had for acceptance," said James Foster, executive director of Cleveland's City Club, which gave Scalia its "Citadel of Free Speech Award."
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"The Bush administration has frequently compared the level and scope of international support for its military operations in Iraq to the coalition that fought the first Persian Gulf War," reports Glenn Kessler. "But the statements are exaggerations, according to independent experts and a review of figures from both conflicts." The so-called "coalition of the willing is almost entirely a U.S.-British campaign, with virtually no military contribution from other countries except Australia.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Bush administration officials once referred to Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite network based here, as 'All Osama All the Time' for its regular showings of Al Qaeda video tapes and frequent appearances by anti-American commentators," write Jane Perlez and Jim Rutenberg. Last week, however, several U.S. officials accepted an invitation to a barbecue in at the home of Al-Jazeera's news director.
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