CBS Falsifies Iraq War History
There’s a cynical old saying that the victors write the history. CBS’s “60 Minutes” demonstrated how that process works on Jan. 27 in airing Scott Pelley’s interview with the FBI agent who de-briefed former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
In a world of objective reality, a reporter might say that the United States launched an unprovoked invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003, under the false pretense that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, even after Iraq had repeatedly - and accurately - announced that its WMD had been destroyed in the 1990s.
On Dec. 7, 2002, Iraq even sent to the United Nations a 12,000-page declaration explaining how its WMD stockpiles had been eliminated. In fall 2002, Hussein’s government also allowed teams of U.N. inspectors into Iraq and gave them free rein to examine any site of their choosing.
Those inspections only ended in March 2003 when President George W. Bush decided to press ahead with war despite the U.N. Security Council’s refusal to authorize the invasion and its desire to give the U.N. inspectors time to finish their work.
But none of that reality is part of the history that Americans are supposed to know. The officially sanctioned U.S. account, as embraced by Bush in speech after speech, is that Saddam Hussein “chose war” by defying the U.N. over the WMD issue and by misleading the world into believing that he still possessed these weapons.
In line with Bush’s version of history, “60 Minutes” correspondent Pelley asked FBI interrogator George Piro why Hussein kept pretending that he had WMD even as U.S. troops massed on Iraq’s borders, when a simple announcement that the WMD was gone would have prevented the war.
“For a man who drew America into two wars and countless military engagements, we never knew what Saddam Hussein was thinking,” Pelley said in introducing the segment on the interrogation of Hussein about his WMD stockpiles. “Why did he choose war with the United States?”
The segment never mentions the fact that Hussein’s government did disclose that it had eliminated its WMD. Instead Pelley presses Piro on the question of why Hussein was hiding that fact.
Piro said Hussein explained to him that “most of the WMD had been destroyed by the U.N. inspectors in the ‘90s, and those that hadn’t been destroyed by the inspectors were unilaterally destroyed by Iraq.”
“So,” Pelley asked, “why keep the secret? Why put your nation at risk, why put your own life at risk to maintain this charade?”
After Piro mentioned Hussein’s lingering fear of neighboring Iran, Pelley felt he was close to an answer to the mystery: “He believed that he couldn’t survive without the perception that he had weapons of mass destruction?”
Wanting an Invasion?
But, still, Pelley puzzled over why Hussein’s continued in his miscalculation.
Pelley asked: “As the U.S. marched toward war and we began massing troops on his border, why didn’t he stop it then? And say, ‘Look, I have no weapons of mass destruction,’ I mean, how could he have wanted his country to be invaded?”
It’s Bush World, with Pelley - like other prominent U.S. news correspondents - ignoring the well-established facts of the run-up to war and following the made-up story first presented by Bush four months after he forced the U.N. inspectors out, when he began claiming that Hussein had never let them in.
On July 14, 2003, as the U.S.-led WMD search also was coming up empty, Bush began asserting that it was all Hussein’s fault because he had never let the U.N. inspectors in. Bush told reporters:
“We gave him [Saddam Hussein] a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn’t let them in. And, therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power.”
Facing no challenge from the White House press corps, Bush continued repeating this lie in varied forms over the next four years as part of his public litany for defending the invasion.
On Jan. 27, 2004, for example, Bush said, “We went to the United Nations, of course, and got an overwhelming resolution - 1441 - unanimous resolution, that said to Saddam, you must disclose and destroy your weapons programs, which obviously meant the world felt he had such programs. He chose defiance. It was his choice to make, and he did not let us in.”
As the months and years went by, Bush’s lie and its constant retelling took on the color of truth.
At a March 21, 2006, news conference, Bush again blamed the war on Hussein’s defiance of U.N. demands for unfettered inspections.
“I was hoping to solve this [Iraq] problem diplomatically,” Bush said. “The world said, ‘Disarm, disclose or face serious consequences.’ … We worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny the inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did.”
At a press conference on May 24, 2007, Bush offered a short-hand version, even inviting the journalists to remember the invented history.
“As you might remember back then, we tried the diplomatic route: [U.N. Resolution] 1441 was a unanimous vote in the Security Council that said disclose, disarm or face serious consequences. So the choice was his [Hussein’s] to make. And he made a choice that has subsequently caused him to lose his life.”
In the frequent repetition of this claim, Bush never acknowledges the fact that Hussein did comply with Resolution 1441 by declaring accurately that he had disposed of his WMD stockpiles and by permitting U.N. inspectors to examine any site of their choosing.
Journalistic Group Think
Prominent Washington journalists have even repeated Bush’s lie as their own. For instance, in a July 2004 interview, ABC’s veteran newsman Ted Koppel used it to explain why he - Koppel - thought the invasion of Iraq was justified.
“It did not make logical sense that Saddam Hussein, whose armies had been defeated once before by the United States and the Coalition, would be prepared to lose control over his country if all he had to do was say, ‘All right, U.N., come on in, check it out,” Koppel told Amy Goodman, host of “Democracy Now.”
Of course, Hussein did tell the U.N. to “come on in, check it out.” But he did so in the real history, not in the faux reality that now governs Washington and pervades America’s top news programs, including “60 Minutes.”
In Pelley’s historical formulation, the question is not why did Bush invade Iraq in violation of international law, causing the deaths of nearly 4,000 American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, but rather “How could [Hussein] have wanted his country to be invaded?”
This strategy of repeating a “big lie” often enough to make it sound true was famously described in the writings of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels during World War II. However, given the relatively free U.S. press, many Americans feel they are protected from “big lie” techniques, counting on journalists to call lying politicians to account.
But that clearly is no longer the case - and hasn’t been for some time. Facing career pressure from well-organized right-wing attack groups, American journalists act more like triangulating politicians, fearful of accusations of “liberal bias” or unpatriotic behavior or softness on terrorism.
To have challenged George W. Bush in July 2003 - when he was near the height of his popularity - or even now with his approval ratings at historic lows would carry career dangers that few American reporters want to risk.
So, discretion - or in this case the acceptance of a lie as truth - is the better part of valor.
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, was written with two of his sons, Sam and Nat. His two previous books are Secrecy & Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & ‘Project Truth’.
Damn the corporate media…my shoe just about went through the tv screen and put an abrupt end to the blatant LIES of CBS and the FBI stooge…Boycott the corporate media!
When this report began I just turned it off. After listening to the sub-prime mortgage report (also slanted by the way) I could not stomach a rehash of lies. It pains me to watch MSM these days. Could someone in the MSM please make note of the fact that the sub-prime mortgage collapse is just a symptom of many economic ills in this country. Just as the coming credit collapse (people not paying their VISA/MC bills) will be just a symptom. Our incomes have been depressed since the 1970s. As we came off the gold-standard we also started exporting jobs. So now we’re a nation of under-employed, under-insured, stressed out people with the lowest living standards in the developed world.
Write to CBS and demand a correction. If enough people call them on their lies often enough, they’ll improve.
We’ve crossed into a new era, where the media doesn’t merely rest on ignoring anti-establishment stories, or defend their misrepresentations as a result of a lack of due diligence, with apologies after the fact, of course; now, the corporate media chooses to blatantly lie in subservience to a criminal government and its corporate overlords. There is no excuse for “60 Minutes” blatant propaganda, and I am afraid that this type of flagrant deceit will only get worse in the coming years.
We are witnessing the final days of the American democracy, as no democracy can survive without a free and independent press. All is lost for what? Greed? Of the few? I pity the next generations… and I am glad now that I chose not to have children.
From Jack London’s IRON HEEL: “You have forgotten the editors. They draw their salaries for the policy they maintain. Their policy is to print nothing that is a vital menace to the established. The press of the United States? It is a parasitic growth that battens on the capitalist class. Its function is to serve the established by moulding public opinion, and right well it serves it.”
War sells. Corporate media have a vested interest in having war available to fill air-time to sell to advertisers. It’s a sick system, but it’s America.
Hoa binh
CBS stands for.
Cacaphony of B. S.
Ceaseless B. S.
Compromised Bulletin of Sh#t
Corporate B. S.
ad nauseum
For me, it has come down to avoiding the MSM at all costs to keep what remaining sanity I have left since the Cheney/sock puppet takeover. But for some reason, I actually caught the 60 minute segment this article is about. Thank God for Common Dreams and the rest of the free press on the web! Like Mr. Hall, the seething out-of-control anger I have acquired makes me want to put my foot through the screen. But here at CD, Mr. Parry speaks for me (and a lot of other disgusted citizens) with clarity and force. The US is toast and on a one way trip to collapse and martial law, I see no hope. But again, thank God I am not alone. I’ll see you in the ditch.
There is a deep seeded need to put the MSM is it’s place. Do not buy anything that is advertized on their shows! They are just propaganda pimps for the military industrial complex.
John R Hall - did you ever live in Kansas City?
Is this the same CBS that is owned by Westinghouse? The second largest manufacturer of nuclear weapons on Earth? Now why would CBS possibly want to misinform the public about such a just war?
This is similar to the crap the MSM started sprouting after 9-11 about ‘they hate are freedom’ rather than they hate our policies simply because that phrase wouldn’t fit their agenda very well.
Americans responded to this avalanche of lies and deceit by re-electing Bush in 2004.
I was so pissed off after seeing the beginning of the interview, I had to turn it off. The media spews this crap and expects no one to question it like “good Germans”, I mean good Americans. If the population of America does not start doing something more to question these naritives publicly, they will condemmed to walk the same line to fascism the Germans did. Fear those terrorists, just like the Germans feared those communists. The parallels are uncanny.
Boycott Corporate Media! said one of the above citizens
AMEN. And let that message not only be seen on Websites.
Let it be an incantation on the subway, a murmur among the 3 remaining bees, a
>>>>>>>Americans responded to this avalanche of lies and deceit by re-electing Bush in 2004.
Wrong. He stole the election - again.
Whoever steals this one will take us to war with Iran and hell on Earth for everyone - not just the subjugated billions of brown-skinned people most Americans have no problem with bleeding dry for their resources or using them for cannon fodder so Dubai based corporations like Halliburton can profit. Welcome to the end of ‘the grand experiemnt’!
Piro also rewrote some history in the same interview.
From the 60 minutes interview;
“He told me that most of the WMD had been destroyed by the U.N. inspectors in the ’90s. And those that hadn’t been destroyed by the inspectors were unilaterally destroyed by Iraq,” Piro says. “So why keep the secret? Why put your nation at risk, why put your own life at risk to maintain this charade?” [60 Minutes reporter Steve] Pelley asks.
“It was very important for him to project that because that was what kept him, in his mind, in power. That capability kept the Iranians away. It kept them from reinvading Iraq,” Piro says.
Before his wars with America, Saddam had fought a ruinous eight year war with Iran and it was Iran he still feared the most. “He believed that he couldn’t survive without the perception that he had weapons of mass destruction?” Pelley asks. “Absolutely,” Piro says.
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=1619
While I’m not an expert on the history of the Iran-Iraq war I thought it was generally accepted that Iraq attacked Iran. I have no doubt that in Saddam’s version of the story Iran was the aggressor and Piro was accurately describing Saddam’s thoughts but to not correct the facts caused me to suspect this interview was just another piece of anti-Iran propaganda from the Bush administration.
I have no doubt that Bush would paint even Saddam Hussein as warm and fuzzy to justify his planned attack on Iran.
In the check out queue at the grocery, the headlines of the “news” scream out, “We are lying to you”. It is the same with broadcast media. Why is anyone surprised or outraged? It is the standard fare.
When it comes to corporate media, as this story illustrates, the so-called “journalists” (like Pelley) don’t even have the integrity and subsequent motive to tell the story accurately.
The best archive of the Iraq invasion and occupation I’ve found (and the easiest to use) is the one at Mother Jones. This is not hard to find, but the so-called “journalists” don’t want the facts. But anyone can get them:
http://www.motherjones.com/bush_war_timeline/
Eastasia is our enemy and we have never been at war with Eurasia. We’re at war with Iran, not Iraq. We always have been. Saddam was never our stooge, he was always our enemy. Noriega was never our asset, he was always our enemy. We’re in Iraq only to find al Qaida and to help the Iraqi people build democracy.
Parry’s history is five years out of date. The facts have been re-written as necessary to support our policy. Whose side are you on, ours or the terrorists’? In time of war, an American journalist supports the troops, unless he is with the terrorists. Supporting the troops means supporting our version of what happened. But it’s not enough to support it, it is necessary for the journalist and pundit class to believe it. Without conviction, a journalist cannot serve his country well because his support is likely to sound superficial or cynical.
I was so furious! I was yelling at the TV. As a rule, I avoid corporate media because it’s total crud. I watch Free Speech TV, C-SPAN and other non-commercial channels.
People like Robert Perry are treasures in this increasingly totalitarian country. We are lucky to have them. I wish I had more courage.
I thought CBS was supposed to be liberal news corporation. They like other media conglomerates complasent and are the foot soldiers of the state. Michael Parenti and Chomsky have been saying this for years. But the masses are too stupid and ignorant to realized that they are living a life in servitude. The got us by the Balls.
Two related points –
1) On the same day (Jan 27), the New York Times ran a long story about former Indonesian dictator Suharto, who died over the weekend. The NYT story glossed over the extent & nature of US govt support for Suharto. A reader of the story in the US “newspaper of record” would not know that Suharto’s mass murder of a half-million (or perhaps a million) Indonesians in 1965 was largely planned & financed by Washington. The whole lengthy article mentioned Washington’s involvement only in passing, in one sentence; and this one sentence downplayed the involvement.
2) CBS is the same network that fired Dan Rather for trying to expose GW Bush’s AWOL in 1973, 2 months before the 2004 election. CBS then apologized in January 2005 — for having accidentally spoken at least some of the truth.
Such distortions have aided the White House’s manipulation of public sentiment throughout the Iraq war/occupation enterprise. In particular, the mainstream media has too often embraced Bush administration fabrications designed to activate our core concerns and garner our support. I’ve recently completed a 10-minute online video entitled “Resisting the Drums of War” that examines these warmongering appeals and offers suggestions for how to counter them. It’s available for viewing HERE.
Thank you Robert Parry and sons!
This Administration just repeats itself ad nauseum until people are benumbed. the bigger the whopper, the more people think it’s true. And remember: Whoever controls the past, controls the future.
Given the paucity of historical context in our bankrupt education system, it is no surprise that the public is duped again and again.
Pathetic!
auggiedaddy…John R. Hall is my real name…can only hope that I’ve made the White House Enemies List by now…if not, they just haven’t been paying attention. No, never lived in Kansas City, but just passed through there a couple months ago for the first time. Lived mostly in Jackson Hole, Wy., Phoenix, Az. area, 3 Hawaiian islands, and now outside Santa Fe, NM. Save room for me & my family in the ditch…reservations for about a dozen please.
Dose Fox own that network (yet)?
I was glad to see this article as, last night, as soon as the segment ended, I went to my computer and wrote to 60 minutes excoriating them for their inaccurate portrayal of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and for perpetuating lies and falsehoods again. I hope a lot of people have written to them, if only to let them know we are watching and listening and will call them on their misrepresentations when we see them.
better get keith olbermann on the phone.
Yes, the powerful do fabricate history, and current events to fit their agenda. Bush’s fabricaton of facts in Iraq was preceeded by Clinton’s in Yugoslavia, and his 1998 bombing of Iraq. The most outrageous technique they use is the use of real events, but deliberately misorder them in time, or reversing cause and effect, to fit their agenda.
1. in 1998, UN inspectors are warned by the US to leave Iraq or risk getting killed by US bombs; the official story becomes “Saddam ‘kicks’ UN inspectors out”.
2. Residents of Kosovo (mostly Serbian) flee Kosovo to escape US bombing and expulsions by US-supported Albanian thugs; the official story becomes Serbians were comitting mass etnic cleansing of Albanians - and we starting bombing just in time!.
These fabrications are just big-time versions of what I used to hear schoolyard bullys do when brought to the principals office.
Corporate Network Ownership:
NBC–General Electric
CBS–Westinghouse
ABC–Disney:
The Military Industrial Fantasy Complex. Add FOX and CNN and you have the five most important ENEMIES of HUMANITY. Forget Bush and Cheney, Obama and Clinton. It’s these enemies that insure the placement of presidential candidates that would never be elected in the 19th or early 20th century. The deprogramed few know what the masses don’t–that nothing coming from the MIFC is believable unless verified by non-MIFC sources. Fortunately, the MIFC’s viability is tied to the real economy, not the fantasy promoted by the MIFC, and will collapse when the real economy does. This will be the death of the closest any county has come to a Ministry of Truth. Good Riddance.
NO SURPRISE HERE FOLKS!! cbs is just another rogue company that will spew forth its constant stream of propaganda into 90% of Americans living rooms hour after hour, day after day. It is a damn shame, but many people i know are completely brainwashed by the tube, including my own mother! She watches hours and hours of tv, i can barely even have an intelligent conversation with her. Its always did you hear what celebrity was this or that and such. Never anything of real substance. The companies that rule the airwaves have totally abandoned their duties to use that “PRIVILAGE” Of public broadcasting for the public good. Just look at the news coverage right after 9/eleven. Even though any scientist who is worth his weight in salt would have told New Yorkers to stay indoors or get out of the city because a cornicopia of cancer causing debris was floating in the very air they would be breathing. But NO, THEY (MSM) JUST READ OFF THE BUSH ADMINS SCRIPT OUT OF THE EPA-(ironically), THAT EVERYTHING WAS A OKAY AND GO BACK TO BEING A ‘HAPPY CONSUMER’ i sincerally hope that the next president will not shirk their duties and investigate this foul administration, and push for serious punishment on every single last one in the administration for knowingly misleading the American people into endless war. They should revolk the licenses of these companies just as fast as they would if you were pulled over for DUI. FOLKS IT IS A MATTER OF GETTING TOGETHER TO MAKE ANY CHANGE HAPPEN. we do this by turning off that glowing tube (including the one you are starring at) and enrolling for that college class you have been wanting to take, or that community service you have been putting off. I agree with anyone who says AVOID SPENDING EVERY SINGLE LAST DOLLAR AT (MOST ALL) FAST FOOD PLACES, MALL-WORT, TARGET, BIG BOX STORES, buy needed supplies used as much as possible and get your hygene products at a dollar store. Pay down any credit card debt you have FAST, because while you have debt you are little more than a $lave to those companies. once the CCs are out of the way add any extra funds newly found from not buying worthless plastic crap, and send in your mortgage payments with an extra check with the specific directions that the extra PAY DOWN THE PRINCIPAL on that mortgage. instead of being a $lave to the bank for 30 years you just halved your servitude to them to 12 years!! rip that pretty lawn out and be the first on the block with a productive vegi garden and replanted with native life giving flowers. if you have space in the garage may i suggest you take up the lost art of reprocessing used vegi oil taken from the fry pan of places like McDonalds, and process it into biofuel. of course any of these suggestions is just that. BUT THE POINT IS DO WHAT YOU CAN TO GET OUT OF THE ‘CONSUMER’ DRONE HABIT, AND MAKE THOSE LITTLE EVERYDAY CHOICES ADD UP FAST!!!
In watching 60 Minutes last night, how many drug commercials did you see? At least one for each commercial break.
BOYCOTT BIG PHARMA - these crooks underwrite the shafting of America and are poisoning us and making us slaves to their pills.
Media is murder
I’m sorry to say that CBS’s falsification and propaganda will not write history. History will be written long after war criminals have decomposed in their stinking graves. CBS is vainly attempting to exonerate itself and the rest of the U.S. mainstream media from having been cheerleaders and criminal accomplices in the war. That is not history.
CBS, when I was young, was the most ethical and trustworthy network. Now it has become a shill for the right wing corporatocracy and the kleptomaniacs who own it. 60 Minutes was my favorite program for many years, now, along with their “news”, they have destroyed my trust in any of their programs. I shall no longer even watch CSI. I am personally boycotting CBS and all of their advertisers.
This gives me the same feeling I’ve had since Poppy Bush (”I don’t care what the facts are!”)—astounded, disgusted, and completely unsurprised at the same time. “The News Business”: lies interspersed with commercials till you’re so sick you don’t want to think anymore. Journo-scum rule the planet! Turn them OFF wherever/however you can…
CBS is falsifying financial history also. We all know that trickle-down voodoo-economics has turned a balanced budget into a multi-trillion dollar debt. 60 Minutes tv show spent a large portion of their Sunday(2weeks ago) night show repeating and repeating the “facts” about how the Subprime mortgage meltdown is forcing the government to “jump-start” the market place that is in a panic. The mainstream financial news media has been using spaced repetition over and over again, like some kind of subliminal programing, to sell us on the concept that supply side economics (voodoo) isn’t causing our “economy” to tank. I’ seeing the same “facts” in Forbes, Fortune and Time magazine. Why do I get the feeling that Karl Rove is still on the job?
I’m thinking of replacing my old tube 27″ tv with one of the LDC flat screens.
But why, to watch this garbage in more vivid color? To watch DVDs? More blood, gore, super patriotism BS?
I guess the History channel is worth it…
History channel,?,
Oh, wait -
What’s a CBS? I unpluged my propaganda machine many months ago.
It’s hard to boycott TV in Cuba; there is only one channel. It’s hard to boycott TV in the U.S. All the networks say the same thing. It’s hard to boycott slave labor. All shoes are made in China.
Freedom as an illusion used to be a philosophical debate. It is rapidly becoming a political reality.
W+M$M=1984
Glad to see it wasn’t just me who had questions and concerns about this CBS interview.
So now we now why Saddam, that madman, invaded Kuwait. Because of an insult. Has anybody in the US media — that you have seen — ever dared to raise the question — the question! — as to whether or not there was ANY merit to Saddam’s side of his dispute with Kuwait? Is it possible he was being dealt with unfairly? Was Iraq owed large sums of money for its (US-supported) role in waging war on Iran? And is it really possible, in this day of intelligence satellites, that the US was really SURPRISED by his invasion?
So Saddam destroyed the rest of his WMD stockpile on his own? Why would he do that? I can’t be the ony one who wondered about this. Why was this question not raised?
So his FBI interrogator controlled time, as far as Saddam was concerned. And yet he claims he did not subject Saddam to any abusive or coercive practices or methods. Did you notice how “Mr. George” froze up a little when responding to this question? And how the camera focused on the skeptical face of Mr. Scott? (My guess: we did try some of those coercive methods and they did not work.)
So how much sunlight did Saddam see each day? And how long did he go without seeing any sunlight at all? After all, we did learn he was eventually allowed a small garden.
And do you — or does anyone besides Mr. Scott and Mr. George — really think Saddam was so dumb as to not see through the gambit about questioning which speeches he wrote? “I do not think you wrote those speeches about WMDs, Mr. Saddam.” (You know, those speeches about the issue we said we were most concerned about, our very reason for going to war, in fact.)
So, what kindnesses was Saddam allowed when he cooperated, besides the small garden? Or maybe to ask that would be to appear too sympathetic to the brutal, psychopathic dictator?
And yet, I am trying to remember, I do not recall CBS showing any footage of Saddam coming out of that hole he was hiding in when we captured him. If not, why this sign of respect? Why only show us the image Saddam wanted us to see of his hanging?
Another question unasked: In particular, from what movies did Saddam get his wrong ideas about how the US government functions?
And then there was the often ridiculous (but sometimes funny) Andy Rooney. Who can understand these (easily understandable) headlines from recent editions of The Wall Street Journal? This financial mess is just too difficult for us ordinary people to grasp, I guess. Move along folks, there is nothing here for you to see.
But, of course — says Mr. Andy — I will still keep reading the Wall Street Journal. (What, do you think I am completely nuts?)
half of writing history is hiding the truth
Mal Reynolds
Why not “Falsify It” — the ‘reality’ suks…
Along with the US the state of Isreal is involved in this whole middle east fiasco, or more properly put ‘because’ of Isreal the US is in this quagmire. Look at this link, and if you can’t figure out why the MSM is the enemy you probably get 5 when you add 2 plus 2:
http://www.natvan.com/who-rules-america/wra.pdf
All of this was known in 2002 and CBS or any others of our media didn’t call Bush out on his lies, that led us into the disasterous mess in Iraq. It is our media and press who are the most guilty, they allow the Bush types to get away with murder and fail to broadcast the truths.
ABC is just as bad. I tried posting that this same story wasn’t true on their message board and they removed my E-mail address so I couldn’t post again. Right away I went to Google and made another E-mail address and re-posted on the ABC board again. Within 5 minutes I was removed again. Is there no truth left in America? To me, it seems as though we’re heading for a revolution!
Parry is great. That’s why you’ll never see him on Meet The Press, Face The Nation, This Week With George, CNN, FOX etc.
What’s gone on in this country during the past seven years is insane.
Parry was working for Newsweek when he broke the Iran Contra scandal involving Reagan illegally selling arms to terrorists.
Nobody ever mentions in this twisted media climate that Reagan actually sold weapons, ILLEGALLY, to terrorists. And of course, the Dems and liberals never mention it.
And after Sadaam attacked the United States on 911 and threatened us with Nuclear War, we had no choice….EVERYBODY KNOWS…..
See? History is simple.
Parry also pointed out in a column several years ago, that all Independent prosecutors are Republican.
Lawrence Walsh, who investigated Reagan in Iran Contra, was an Eisenhower Republican. Republican investigating a Republican.
Joe DiGenova, who investigated Bush 1 in the Passport scandal of 1992 was a Republican. Republican investigating Republican.
But of course, Robert Fisk and Kenneth Starr, who investigated Clinton were both Republicans. Clinton was a Democrat.
And Patrick FitzGerald, who investigated Scooter Libby, of course was a Republican. A Republican investigating Republicans. Why do you think Rove, Cheney, etc. was not indicted?
It’s all a heavy game — too heavy for Dems and Libs to even understand. You can’t beat ‘em unless you had a strong counter television media.And I’m not talking about Democracy Now and Keith Oberman
I have long been a 60 Minutes fan, but always have considered Scott Pelley to be the most credulous and gullible of the group there.
I chose to go to the grocery store last night during Pelley’s segment, suspecting it would be pure government propaganda.
Mr. Parry has confirmed that I made a good decision.
That piece would make Orwell blush.
One of our chief problems is that we cannot really afford to boycott this travesty of media because to stay involved and to keep them honest, we have to necessarily be exposed to their crapola.
It is most difficult to watch this stuff and be responsible without losing interest or one’s sense of perspective - so we ignore it at our peril because those who could possibly make good and decent decision based on true facts and truths, do not have the wake up call from those who want to know reality rather than the spin and are willing to call the “news makers” like GWB and Co. on their LIES for their so called life…
The Bush team with their paid media allies and sycophants have turned LYING into a high art. Perhaps it should be included in some kind of international contest? How many can procure this capacity to such a faith-based extent as these neocon sociopaths?
I was so sickened by this 60 Minutes episode. After seeing the trailer I thought, naively, that we would get a snippet of the duplicitous role of the US in Saddam’s queer little world. Instead we got another chapter and verse of “Saddam chose war”. LOL. It makes it almost embarrassing to be an American anymore. Stupid is as stupid does.
Sever the connection to the cable networks.
If your TV programing isn’t free to you, it isn’t worth watching.
Stop giving them your money.
Start reading or playing music or telling stories, create your own culture.
You are not CBS or NBC, the networks have no useful information for you, they exist to keep you acquiescent.
Re-read the desiderata.
I have not watched 60 Mins since they broomed Rather. His only mistake was one questionable document but the rest of the story about Bush being AWOL, etc. is true. The BBC stood by their reporter that wrote the first article. I’m down to Countdown only as far as MSM goes. Discontinued the NY Times, etc. Thank You for the internet and organiztions like Common Dreams, Democracy Now, Media Matters, The Nation, etc. I’m hoping Rather’s suit against CBS makes it to court.
Pelley is a right wing reporter from the dallas area and a old buddy of the fascist bush crime family
On Jan. 27, 2004, for example, Bush said, “We went to the United Nations, of course, and got an overwhelming resolution - 1441 - unanimous resolution, that said to Saddam, you must disclose and destroy your weapons programs, which obviously meant the world felt he had such programs. He chose defiance. It was his choice to make, and he did not let us in.”
So what EXACTLY is the problem with charging him for treason (let alone getting votes for impeachment)?
My fellow Americans The media is our one and only political party,like it or not.Who is calling the shots you ask,Answer SPONSORS.Not any grocery store sponsor or the like.These Sponsors do as they please,they have no country,they have no loyality to anything,they answer to no one.Mr. Perry this story shows you are on the right track,you must be young,God Bess you sir.
If you are unarmed and come up against someone with an assault rifle, you are pretty helpless to resist. In America today, the corporate media has the assault weapons and are in complete control of the content of the news reported. In effect, we have lost our democracy to the desires of the wealthy and giant corporations. We have too few people that realize what has happened, the rest are only sheep being shorn.
However, it is of no value to crawl in a hole and refuse to pay attention to what is going on, as it is always good to keep an eye open to any developements.
The media coverage of the war was skewed in favor of the GOP. The media is corporate-controlled with a direct financial link to the war spending trough. They have no incentive to stop the war or alienate their advertizers.
Innoculating others by educating them will be key to overcoming the M$M omissions and agitprop.
I keep a list of links called media watchdog where I put examples of omissions and spin. Mediamatters.org has many current news items under scrutiny. Look at Center for Public
Integrity for more on the machinations behind media consolidation/corporatization.
For grins, freepress.org has a Whack-A-Murdoch game (http://www.stopbigmedia.com/=whackamurdoch) showing just how broadly Fox and its sister companies have spread.
“….Bush began asserting that it was all Hussein’s fault…”
Orwellian New Speak at its best.
So let me get this straight; Saddam correctly stated the WMDs were destroyed but it’s his fault we launched a war against Iraq because we didn’t believe him. Oh good one!
Is this a child talking or is this actually the president of the most powerful country on Earth?
We cant hit back because we are moated here on the internet. Only when we talk to others and point out how bad Corporate Media is can we have leverage over them==or at least begin to develop it. Go on mainstream sites and build bridges here.
zxvtrp, I had the same experience with ABC News message board. If a person posts anything that is critical of Bush or the present administration, they remove it and you can’t post any more messages. However, they allow right-wing blather and don’t remove their messages. Welcome to the Nazi police state of America.
This 60 Minutes story was needed to counterbalance the truth, that somehow managed to get out, in the article about the 935 LIES the administration used to mislead the country to war.
Bush brandished U.N. resolution 1441 as justification for invasion. Look closely at the key paragraph from 1441:
(http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/15016.htm)
11. Directs the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC and the Director-General of the IAEA to report immediately to the Council any interference by Iraq with inspection activities, as well as any failure by Iraq to comply with its disarmament obligations, including its obligations regarding inspections under this resolution;….
In other words, it was Hans Blix’ excruciating call that would justify and trigger the “dire consequences”. He asked for more inspection time; the U.S.
pulled the inspectors.
Very successful strategy for the hawks: continue to heap on the accusations of WMD, yet remove the means of verification. Then, just sell fear.
Hans Blix, Scott Ritter… among the few who emerged with clean hands.
CBS is wholly owned by Viacom whose Chairman is Murray Rothstein, who understandably is committed to the survival of the nation of Israel, which is currently governed by hardcore Zionists who adhere much more to the use of violence than diplomacy to meet foreign policy objectives and who are also the grateful beneficiaries of such invaluable and prominent U.S. Zionist tools as the Neocons, the American Heritage Foundation, AIPAC and the New York Times, all of which went to extraordinary lengths to sell us a very smelly war of aggression in Iraq. Pelley, in the service of CBS while trying to bury the historical bones of our recklessness and illegality, became the first puppet in memory to have soiled himself in full public view.
One has to admire the persistence and cleverness of the expert mind-manipulators behind Bush.
Daddy Bush started it all with his Office of Political Diplomacy back in the 1980’s… run by Otto Reich and staffed with the cream-of-the-crop CIA and 4th PSYOPS Group people.
Otto was shunted off to be Ambassador to Venezuela by Daddy Bush when the KERRY COMMISSION exposed his illegal operation planting false news stories in the U.S. media and lobbying Congress from the basement of the State Department.
Of course Otto didn’t stop there, he snookered Venezuela out of holding terrorist bomber Orlando Bosch and brought Bosch back to the U.S. where he was granted a pardon and asylum by Bush1 in July of 1991.
Much later, in February of 2002, Junior Bush brought Otto back into the fold to help him sell the Iraq WMD lies.
If you have enough power, money and megalomania, you can make history wind up being anything you want it to be.
There will always be a “reporter” willing to help you sell the lie.
All progressives basically know how Bush got away with so many crimes… Corporate media (owned by a few billionaires but with an infinitely greater audience than the blogs) gave Bush a free pass to wreck the Constitution.
Almost all progressives also pretend that there’s nothing we can do about it. We play media whack-a-mole with criticism of O’Reilly and Chris Matthews and CBS and pretend that the corporate media can’t be broken up into smaller pieces and de-politicized by law.
“It would violate the First Amendment!”
But it wouldn’t. There are still hundreds of laws on the books regulating media ownership in specific markets. There is no difference in principle involved in requiring that no news outlet can be owned by a larger corporate entity.
Until the media giants are broken into smaller pieces, their enormous voices will overwhelm everything we say on the blogs, and we all know it.
We’re just pretending not to know what has to be done, because it’s so much easier to whine on the blogs and do nothing.
I am worried when there will be a full-scale right-wing assault on the internet. That assault will come dressed as “internet deregulation”, which is a code word for allowing the corporate telecoms who own the internet hardware to be able to v-chip net content that goes against corporate-think. This is what Google helped the Chinese government to do, and now China has a censored internet. We here in cyberspace inhabit the only truly democratic medium, and despite the MSM, the influence of the internet is growing daily. And that terrifies the corporatists. Add to that the fact that viewership of the MSM is declining as a direct result of the internet, and they are pooping their collective corporate trousers. So you see, I am somewhat of an optimist, for we have seen the power we have grow. And that is why the corporatists hate the very concept of net neutrality. So folks, start gearing up for the fight for democracy itself: Net Neutrality.
RE: cornelbox11 January 28th, 2008 9:32 pm
“Nobody ever mentions in this twisted media climate that Reagan actually sold weapons, ILLEGALLY, to terrorists. And of course, the Dems and liberals never mention it.”
Nor do they ever mention Bush’s father (GHW Bush) was being considered for indictment as the reason crack cocaine was introduced into the United States due to the Ollie north Iran Contra criminal activities.
Hey, how many generations of crooked un-American Bushies (Prescott-aided the Nazis, George I-crack introduced to US, George II-un-necessarily killed Americans & robbed our treasury) before we squash these people for the roaches they are?
Now it seems the Republicans are even cannibalizing their own (check out the voting fiasco/unreported by MSM sham of Ron Paul being screwed in the NH primary…Blackboxvoting.org has an eyeful on YouTube if you dare…just type in their name, Ron Paul, and voting fraud).
I guess I should be happy about this, but the question comes to mind, “If they will steal from their own, what about those in opposition?” (admittedly Paul is more oppositional than conspiratorial with them…that’s why he is marginalized in the MSM, along with Dennis Kucinich & John Edwards…shouldn’t this tell us something?)
RE: CBolin January 28th, 2008 9:57 pm
“That piece would make Orwell blush.”
And now the Attorney General has a picture of George Orwell hung in his office…how appropriate. Let’s all go stand on the rock these people crawl out from under.
I suppose it is safe to assume that most people are beleiving the lies.
If so… This is INCREDIBLE …
What short memories people have. George Orwell seems to have told us EXACTLY how
things will be. Is this 2008, or is it still 1984?
As this generation passes away, who will still know the truth.
“Most High” by Robert Plant:-
Who guards the truth, oh Lord most high?
A frightened dove in the starless sky
Oh-oh - so high, most high, so high
Who hides the east from the blind man’s eye?
In the land of peace where the righteous cry
Oh-oh - so high, most high, so high
Where are the words - of a king
Who moved the stars and the son
To the light when my spirit was born
Bring this wanderer home
While mercy sleeps in the hearts of liars
And the olive tree is consumed by fire
Oh-oh - so high, most high, so high
Put out the words - I’m the king
Who moved the star above the sun
To the light when the spirit was born
Bring this wanderer home
Come on, come on, come on
Now David seed talks through his paper crown
And he spits hot steel - see all the kids fall down
Oh-oh - so high, most high, oh-oh
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on –
Most high, most high
Most high, so high, so high
What is AMAZING to me is:
George Bush has proven over and over and over again that he is a ‘PATHOLOGICAL LIAR’.
Yet, last night (State of BUSH’s Union Address) we encouraged to listen to Bush speak to the Nation.
Are we to believe that GEORGE BUSH has experienced his own “burning bush” on the road to Damascus? Has GEORGE BUSH suddenly become some great beacon of light and truth? Just look at the permanent smirk on Dick Cheney’s face.
THE PRES + VICE-PRESIDENT HAVE CHANGED!!!!!!!!!! “Elmer, don’t eat that, it’s BULLSHIT”. (But, Elmer,ONCE AGAIN, ate it).
The ruling elite will tell you who to do die for, why to die for them, why dying for them is noble, why you sons and daughters are heroes because they died for the good of the ruling class, all the while the elites sons and daughters are not dying they don’t need to muddy their beautiful minds with such things.
We are but kindling for the fire that keeps the ruling class power over us. The fight is not against nations it should be against the 1% that kill millions to make billions to keep you in the cave of darkness and ignorance.
Revolution is needed. It is our duty!
This government is ours no longer it doesn’t serve the cititzens of this country!!
It is time. The fore fathers demand it of us!
This is no longer a land of laws but a land of corruption!!
D.C. is a pit of corruption. We are being controlled by crack addicts but the crack is power and $$. Their are blind with it. We need to stand up against them.
If Ukraine can do it.. why can’t we why don’t we?
How bad does it have to get for you to say enough is enough!!
Where is the Rubicon?
I don’t believe I will ever trust the corporate media again as long as I live! They really did a number on us this time and are still doing it! Because I feel the most of the current mess in Iraq and this country both can be laid on their doorstep. They sold a faulty bill of goods to the American people and aren’t making any effort to correct that mistake! I still run across people in my daily travels who believe the lies that were told by Bush. It does no good to try and present the truth! The lies are so deeply embedded in their minds it’s impossible to break through. They still spout the same set of lies they were told to start a totally unnecessary war. It makes me want to scream and start pulling out my hair with frustration. That no one in this country cares to look for what the truth is. And they took a pathological liars word for it without so much as ever questioning his motives.
So I did not bother to watch that segment on 60 minutes. I watched the first one then changed the channel. Because I feel like George W Bush should be the one who was put in the same position Saddam Hussein was of being a war criminal. So until the day arrives when that happens MSM is off my list of reliable sources.
Buckheaddad, I couldn’t agree with you more. How can any thinking individual who has not had his/her head in the sand over the past 7 years believe anything President Bush or Vice President Cheney says. And I gave up on many main stream journalists a while ago…most have proven to be little more than Administration cheerleaders who uncritically parrot the official line. Oh, and did I mention self-absorbed?…another endearing quality of many journalists.
“Facing no challenge from the White House press corps, Bush continued repeating this lie in varied forms over the next four years as part of his public litany for defending the invasion.”–R. Parry
I’d also like to point out that bald-faced as the lie was–even to a casual observer–the Democrats in congress didn’t challenge it either. Dems were guilty of blindness, stupidity, cowardice or all of the above.
So, we are supposed to be surprised that one of the few multinational corporations which, as one of their diversified enterprises runs a commercial advertisement store (i.e. a “media” outlet) refuses to rock the boat and tell a truth which might piss off some of their clientele (advertisers)?
The Dumb Down program has been so successful that all our jounalists have signed up.
Welcome to the Blighted Fates of America.
Our future , our fortunes and the very lives of our families lay in how the facts are present to the people. If you like what you are getting and want more of the same then accept what you are told without question. OR fight back.
To Jacob Freeze…
“Almost all progressives also pretend that there’s nothing we can do about it. We play media whack-a-mole with criticism of O’Reilly and Chris Matthews and CBS and pretend that the corporate media can’t be broken up into smaller pieces and de-politicized by law.”
Jacob, the problem lies in the fact that rich and powerful control who is on the FCC and who writes the laws or at least who polices them.
Over recent years we have seen the “Fairness Doctrine” eliminated, restrictions on media consolidation eliminated, “free speakers” attacked as “terrorist sympathizers”, and logical argument and pointing up obvious facts as “paranoid conspiracy theory” by those in power.
Makes it difficult to make much of a dent!
We have to make a concerted effort to:
1. vote out all of the incumbents that have allowed those things to happen.
2. make it clear to the new congress critters what we want done.
3. boycott sponsors of the most slanted programs and media outlets in large and organized numbers.
4. someone needs to form an organization that will bring loud and very visible pressure on those media outlets that are slanting the news for political and religious purposes via their sponsors.
As long as it remains profitable for the Rupert Murdochs and Sun Yung Moons of today to poison the minds of Americans, they will continue to do it. Even they can’t afford to own media outlets just to voice their own views… those outlets have to make money too!
If those outlets cease to make money and start COSTING the Murdochs and Moons, we will take away their power!
I have a different opinion on this. I found the interview with Piro to be a breath of fresh air. It was the first time on a mainstream news network that I heard some real analysis of Saddam Hussein that matches up with what I’ve read about him in biographies and other books.
Piro noted some important facts that I think most Americans don’t know…maybe facts that CommonDreams readers know…but remember, the majority of Americans havent heard these things yet:
1. Hussein was never aligned with bin Laden, and in fact did not like bin Laden
2. Hussein had somewhat of a plan for an insurgency against the Americans…an insurgency led by IRAQIS who did not want us there - not by Al-Qaeda and outsiders as this admin. and most media leads us to believe
3. Hussein desired and respected one thing: POWER. All of his oppressive actions as President was geared towards one thing - maintaining his hold on power.
Also, we all knew that Hussein had denied that he had WMDs, and this was all public in 2003. What Bush wanted was more and more inspections, and that is what Hussein denied, and that is what Bush used to justify invasion. Why did Hussein deny continued inspections? Well, I think Piro’s analysis is fair - Hussein needed, wherever possible, to show that he was strong and could stand up against American aggression. That is why I think he refused the inspectors.
As Piro noted, I think Hussein underestimated Bush’ intentions. Bush intended to go to war no matter what Hussein did, but I dont think Hussein realized that.
Yeah, another tansparent attempt at damage control similar to the ex-CIA agent who claimed torture was bad, of course, and we shouldn’t do it, but then snuck in the little disinformation disclaimer about how we gained a font of essential info that prevented further terrorist attacks.
Same thing here of course–try to paint it as Saddam wanted the world to think he had WMD.
Hey, we were here–we watched them drum up the case for attack despite Saddams denials and the record of evidence indicating otherwise.
Just another lie.
If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.
Adolf Hitler
Humbolt, Saddam didn’t refuse inspections. The more outrageous Bush’s demands became, the more the world was sure that Saddam would refuse, but he always gave in before the deadline. That is the point of the article, that the ruling class is rewriting history.
The only deadline he didn’t abide by was the get-out-of-town threat Bush made right before the invasion.
homeward angel…forget college its just part of the problem,too..i went back in 2001 at the age of 39…professors have been gagged and my ‘education’ has only lead to unemployment and debt.
dollar stores are not the answer..they’re just little “big boxes”…if you can afford it - and still have local markets - you must buy locally.
other wise i like most of your suggestions.