"The story of how high officials misled the country has been told. But they couldn't have done it on their own; they needed a compliant press, to pass on their propaganda as news and cheer them on."
Bill Moyers returned to PBS last night with
this documentary (
transcript) examining the mainstream media's role in the run-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq.
posted by ibmcginty
on Apr 26, 2007 -
56 comments
"Misunderstood" joke gets Kerry into trouble (youtube): "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Kerry insists that he was referring to Bush, not the troops, in Monday's speech at a Pasadena, CA university, and that he
won't apologize for his remarks.
Some Democrats are distancing themselves after his remarks, in fear that public backlash might affect the upcoming elections.
posted by aberrant
on Nov 1, 2006 -
140 comments
Then:
Q - Mr. Secretary, on Iraq, how much money do you think the Department of Defense would need to pay for a war with Iraq?
Rumsfeld - Well, the Office of Management and Budget, has come up come up with a number that's something under $50 billion for the cost. How much of that would be the U.S. burden, and how much would be other countries, is an open question.
And now:
The estimated cost to US taxpayers of the Iraq war to date is
$250 billion and rising, or $100,000 per minute. Total cost of the Bush doctrine of spreading "democracy" since September 11th -- half a trillion dollars, or nearly the cost of the 13 years of the Vietnam War, adjusted for inflation. What else could we have done with
that kind of money? Also see
here.
posted by digaman
on Feb 3, 2006 -
112 comments
"Hi, Mom? Hi, I'm just calling to say I'm on my way to Baghdad." In which a Floridian teen decides he wants to see what's going on in Iraq. So he, you know, goes.
"It was mid-afternoon Tuesday, after his second night in Baghdad, that he sought out editors at The Associated Press and announced he was in Iraq to do research and humanitarian work. AP staffers had never seen an unaccompanied teenage American walk into their war zone office. ("I would have been less surprised if little green men had walked in," said editor Patrick Quinn.)"
posted by LondonYank
on Dec 29, 2005 -
109 comments
In 2001 America
destroyed the Kabul offices of al-Jazeera with two smartbombs; officials said it was an accident. In 2003 America
destroyed the Baghdad offices of al-Jazeera with missiles; officials said it was an accident. Now, two British civil servants are on trial for leaking a memo revealing that Bush intended to bomb al-Jazeera...
at their headquarters in allied Qatar.
posted by Pretty_Generic
on Nov 22, 2005 -
155 comments
"We are here to hand over to you the power in order to avoid bloodshed." Today is the
thirtieth anniversary of the
Fall of
Saigon.
A
secret plan to end the war. After the rewarding the Vietnam war's
technocratic architect with the
Presidency of the World Bank, after the twin failures of President Nixon's
"madman plan", to scare the
Soviet Union into concessions over Vietnam out of fear of Nixon's insanity, and of
"Vietnamization", turning over
responsibility for the war to
the South Vietnamese, the North nevertheless
won the war.
Disposable helicopters.
Operation Frequent Wind, the
chaotic evacuation of the
American Embassy, brought to
a close fifteen
years of
American hubris. Karl Marx, who got little else right, observed "History repeats itself, the first as
tragedy, then as
farce."
posted by orthogonality
on Apr 30, 2005 -
50 comments
No Iraq link to al-Qaida "The report of the joint congressional inquiry into the suicide hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001, to be published Thursday, reveals U.S. intelligence had no evidence that the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks, or that it had supported al-Qaida, United Press International has learned."
[more inside]
posted by kirkaracha
on Jul 24, 2003 -
72 comments
The "Axis of Evil" v. the "Forces of Evil." Saddam Hussein warns the US that any attack on Iraq is "doomed to failure." While the Bush Administration claims that there are no firm plans to invade Iraq, the rhetoric on both sides is intensifying. Are the Hawks on both sides gunning for a showdown? Can a diplomatic solution be reached? If the Bush Administration's goal is to oust Saddam, have we foreclosed any hope of a meaningful "dialogue"? Reportedly, even some generals are wary of invading Iraq. I think containment of Saddam is a much better option than war. Does anyone disagree? What are the alternatives?
posted by Bag Man
on Aug 8, 2002 -
121 comments
