Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., repeatedly lobbied Tony Blair to invade Iraq. In the days leading up to the invasion, Tony Blair's Director of Communications wrote that "(Blair) took a call from Murdoch who was pressing on timings, saying how News International would support us, etc. Both TB and I felt it was prompted by Washington, and another example of their over-crude diplomacy. Murdoch was pushing all the Republican buttons, how the longer we waited the harder it got."
The phone call in question took place just days before
a crucial vote on Iraq, and was
one of three personal calls from Murdoch that Blair received in that week alone. Blair recently testified, admitting an
"unhealthy" level of closeness with Murdoch, oftentimes communicating more with him than with his own ministers.
In the first 19 days following the invasion of Iraq, Rupert Murdoch's Fox News
averaged 3.3 million viewers, a 236% increase from the weeks preceding the war.
Huge increases in newspaper sales were seen throughout his
global media empire, with advertising revenue soaring to record levels. That empire now
faces serious calls for it to be broken up.
posted by markkraft
on Jun 16, 2012 -
62 comments
In honor of the 5-year anniversary of the Iraq War, PBS'
Frontline presented a fantastic 2- part special on the issue this past Monday and Tuesday. It is now available in it's entirety online along with interview transcripts from senior officials, a video timeline of the war, and battlefield stories from soldiers.
Bush's War
posted by auralcoral
on Mar 26, 2008 -
100 comments
United States attorneys can be fired whenever a president wants, but not, as § 1512 (c) puts it, to corruptly obstruct, influence, or impede an official proceeding. "The day the news broke that Ms. Lam, who had already put one Republican congressman in jail, was investigating a second one, Mr. Sampson wrote an e-mail message referring to the
“real problem we have right now with Carol Lam.”
Bush, Gonzales and Rove are trying to
cover their tracks.
posted by meddeviceengineer
on Mar 19, 2007 -
143 comments
TPM's David Kurtz: I've gone from being open to the idea of an Imperial Vice Presidency to being convinced that historians will debate whether something approaching a Cheney-led coup d'etat has occurred, in which some of the powers of the Executive were extra-constitutionally usurped by the Office of the Vice President.
More about the Vice President, Richard "Dick" Cheney.
posted by nevercalm
on Feb 4, 2007 -
51 comments
Mexico's election: now being recounted, but
some are saying it was stolen with our help. Many countries in Latin and South America have been moving to the left lately,
following in the footsteps of Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile. Argentina actually caught us messing with things during their election, too. Exit polls in Mexico (as in Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004) showed a lead for the more leftist (relatively) candidate, and for those who scoff at using exit polls as evidence--in 2004,
US Republican Senator Richard Lugar, in Kiev, cited the divergence of exit polls and official polls as solid evidence of “blatant fraud” in the vote count in Ukraine. As a result, the Bush Administration refused to recognize the Ukraine government’s official vote tally. So, honest election, or what?
posted by amberglow
on Jul 3, 2006 -
65 comments
Whooops! While making a required filing to the state ethics commission, Ohio Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell finds Diebold shares in his stock portfolio that he now claims to have bought "accidentally." Yes,
that Diebold -- the e-voting company whose chairman promised to "
deliver the vote" to George Bush. And yes,
that Blackwell, whose state
helped deliver the White House to the GOP. Blackwell insists that the humble amount of Diebold stock was in one of those "
blind trust" type of arrangements that worked out so rewardingly for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
[newsfilter via RawStory.]
posted by digaman
on Apr 4, 2006 -
108 comments
"These are just slush funds for conservative interest groups" --The Compassion Capital Fund ($148 million of our money), and the Community-Based Abstinence Education grant program ($391.7 million of our money)--just 2 of many new programs.
...The distribution of new money to conservative organizations is a small part of an estimated flood of $2 billion a year in federal grants to religious and religiously affiliated organizations.--except it's only to organizations who have policies that agree with Bush and the GOP agenda on social issues, and not about need.
posted by amberglow
on Mar 22, 2006 -
61 comments
Did the Interim Iraqi Defense Minister have these two Americans murdered for $300 million? In the middle of a election that will decide who controls Iraq, Interim Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim Shaalan has announced that Ahmad Chalabi -- a rival candidate --
will be arrested on
13-year-old charges. But why now? Shaalan says Chalabi "wanted to malign the reputation of the defense ministry". How?
1> Shaalan claims Chalabi
released documents accusing Shaalan of being
a former member of the Mokhaberat, Saddam's intelligence service. (Shaalan claims political fraud, with the intent of silencing
his claims against the Iranians.)
2> Chalabi claims that Shaalan
flew $300 million in U.S. currency to a shady businessman in Lebanon, bypassing financial controls, the public bidding process, and Iraqi government oversight.
So, how does this tie in with Stoffel and Wemple? Stoffel
recently alerted senior U.S. officials that the Iraqi Defense Ministry was involved in a kickback scheme involving a shady businessman in Lebanon and
a multimillion-dollar arms deal. Late last year,
Stoffel, a
prominent Republican donor and arms dealer,
met with aides to Sen. Santorum, R-Pa. Santorum wrote Donald Rumsfeld on Stoffel's behalf, asking him to raise the issue with Shaalan. Stoffel was later invited by the Coalition to arbitrate a solution with the Lebanese businessman. After several days, the arbitrator told the businessman to pay Stoffel -- a debt which is still unpaid. Upon leaving the base, Stoffel and Wemple were attacked and killed nearby.
A video from a previously unknown terrorist group claimed responsibility, but one expert suggests that the video may be
"manufactured". A reporter recently granted an interview with an Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman was
forbidden to ask "dangerous" questions about the contract. Stoffel and Wemple are survived by their wives and five children.
posted by insomnia_lj
on Jan 22, 2005 -
26 comments
Red, White and Blue Dogs of War Just found this story in
The Nation about a decision by the Bush administration to hire
Aegis Defense Services to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The trouble is, its boss, ex-British Lt. Col. Tim Spicer, who is responsible for actually starting a coup in Papua New Guinea in 1996, among other things. Perhaps Bush, the free market disciple, is beginning to think that he needs to hire some mercs to make up for all the reserve and Guard guys quitting. If the Army needs more help and advice, they could hire
this or
that homegrown "consulting firm."
posted by Leege
on Jan 11, 2005 -
22 comments
The editor of CBS Marketwatch predicts that
Enron is not Bush's Whitewater; it's worse. "Don't expect to see either Bush or Vice President Cheney directly linked to the financial shenanigans that brought Enron down. They won't be.... Enron won't bring down Bush.... But it will be a major thorn in his side through the rest of this presidential term, and it might even play a role in the next election, depending on what comes out." (via Drudge)
posted by pmurray63
on Jan 10, 2002 -
31 comments
