< Archives: 2004 November

The Packaging Of Propaganda As Film

November 30th, 2004 - by: danny

The Packaging Of Propaganda As Film

TRUTH TRICKLES DOWN
INVESTIGATING “VOICES OF IRAQ”
WINNING THE BATTLE, LOSING THE WAR

Why does it take so long for truth to trickle out? This morning, the NY Times tells us that the Red Cross, set up to protect rights of prisoner of war among its other humanitarian missions, has issued “a confidential report (that) states that the U.S. military has used psychological and sometimes physical coercion “tantamount to torture” on prisoners.”

Let’s play three questions: Why is this report “confidential?” Why is it so late? Why the equivocations with phrases like “tantamount to torture?” Unfortunately, we are living in a “tantamount to truth” era.

And one more: why the often lack of news in the news? Today, the Financial Times of London consults someone who should know: “Barbara Walters says US TV is losing interest in hard news.” Oh, really?

US ARMY PR FIRM BOOSTS NEW IRAQ WAR FILM

I know that some of you may be tired of hearing my critique on the reporting of the Iraq War or about my new film on the subject, WMD. And yet, as our film prepares to open this Friday night in Boston, Austin and Denver, (see www.wmdthefilm.com for details), I was alerted to some competition.

Yup, ANOTHER “Indy” film is out attacking the media for its war reporting. Another film about the Iraq War. This one was made with about ten times my budget and is opening in twice as many cities, And it is apparently getting a big PR boost around the country. I must have missed it because of the all the traveling I have been doing.

Significantly, this movie is being is being touted as an “Anti-Michael Moore film.”How about that? After spending a few hours checking it out, I became convinced that this movie actually belongs in MY movie because it smells positively Rumsfeldesque and appears to be a weapon of mass deception in its own right.

Read on.

This film is called “Voices Of Iraq.” I was alerted to its existence yesterday by retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner who is the best informed expert I know on Pentagon propaganda and information dominance strategies. I interviewed him for WMD and the two of us often correspond about new developments in the selling of the war.

Yesterday, Gardiner wrote to ask a question:

“In your travels, have you run into any discussion of the documentary “Voices of Iraq?” Looks, from a number of perspectives, to have been an inside job (which would be illegal). Publicity was by a PR firm with an Army contract.” In a later note, Sam added that the film was promoted on a November 24th Voice of America story, noting that the nominally independent “VOA sits in on strategic communications meetings held by the White House Office of Global Communications.”

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

A DISSECTOR INVESTIGATION

So off to Google my fingers dashed, there to find a blow job review for Voices of Iraq on none other than David Horowitz’s Front Page website. I once worked with David at Ramparts magazine and was friendly with him until he took a hard right turn to become a commisar for the Reaganauts spending his time attacking all of his old colleagues and progressives of every stripe. He came after our South Africa Now program years ago with a false red-baiting attack on Nelson Mandela and the ANC.

Horowitz’s site features a story by Joel Mowbray, author of a book attacking our State Department as a den of subversives. He loves Voices of Iraq which he describes this way:

“Two former MTV producers have accomplished what the entire mainstream media thus far has not: they’ve captured the real life and times of the Iraqi people.

“They didn’t do it alone, however. Producers Eric Manes and Martin Kunert sent 150 digital cameras into Iraq this April with very simple instructions: “Videotape your neighborhood, shopping area, where you live and work, pray, relax, and play” and interview “people who have the most meaning in your life.”

“… The finished product, Voices of Iraq, is a taut 75-minute documentary, opening in limited release in ten cities. .. Infused throughout with an Iraqi hip-hop soundtrack, the briskly edited film is hands-off in letting ordinary Iraqis drive the storyline. That it won’t realistically have much of an impact on the election is the only disappointing thing about this film.

“Groundbreaking and instantly compelling, VOI is sort of the anti-Michael Moore film. There’s no narration, no heavy-handed editing. And whereas the man from Flint started with his premise and assembled his film to support it, the only goal when making VOI was to emulate the producers’ trailblazing MTV show Fear, which gave cameras to everyday youths who filmed themselves at supposedly haunted locations. Defying expectations, the show was a hit.”

www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=15739

VOICES MASKS ITS POLITICAL AGENDA

I can’t comment on the film itself since I haven’t seen it, but once I saw who is boosting this “anti-Michael Moore” film, I started digging into its hidden political orientation.

Voices of Iraq claims to be produced and directed by the Iraqi people. But the film was financed by investors in the “voices of freedom” LLC in California, certainly an indication of its politics. (Voices of Iraq melds into voices of freedom — get it?) I don’t know who the funders are yet. They are not disclosed.

The Magnolia distribution company picked up the film. The Washington Times, that fount of objectivity, says it is “neither partisan or conservative.” Gulf War veteran, ex- marine and actor Archie Drury says the film is about the choices Iraqs will make and speaks of “the run-up to historic elections.” Their website carries links to organizations like the Iraq America Freedom Alliance and similar front groups, even as the film is being presented as just a cross section of Iraqi voices and politically neutral. No wonder Sam Gardiner is suspicious. Nary a critical word about the war is to be found on the site.

This “independent film” has PR support from the PR bigs of Manning Selvage & Lee. The firm describes itself this way on its website (www.mslpr.com) where its government and Iraq links are barely to be found: “With more than 950 employees, 2001 fee income of $118 million and a network of 100 offices and affiliates, Manning Selvage & Lee is one of the world’s leading global public relations firms.”

A KEY GOP-ARMY LINK

I then read about its principals. Bingo. “Don Hannaford, a managing director handles the firm’s work with the US Army” What Army work? It does not appear on the website. His bio explains Don’s background and work as a political operative:

“Hannaford began his public affairs career on Capitol Hill, serving in the office of a U.S. Senator. He subsequently worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior, first in the Office of Territorial and International Affairs and then as a public affairs manager with the Minerals Management Service. Upon leaving government, Hannaford served as director of political communications and advertising for the Republican National Committee.”

Checking on, I found that the publicist on the film is named Mark Bennett. I called but he wasn’t there. I checked his name and an earlier project association. Dig this project:

“U.S. Army Joins With NASCAR to Enhance Recruiting; Official Military Partner NASCAR and Sponsor of the Army 01 Winston Cup Pontiac. (Source: PR Newswire, Jan 23, 2003)

“We chose the number 01 to reinforce our slogan ‘An Army of One’. The individual talents of each soldier are melded to create a single-minded team. NASCAR fans understand that kind of teamwork, because they see it in action every weekend in the pits. I firmly believe through our participation in NASCAR, they’ll begin to understand that the U.S. Army lives it everyday,” said Cavin.

“For more information about the U.S. Army and its racing programs, visit goarmy.com.

CONTACT: Mark Bennett, +1-202-261 2872, for the U.S. Army

“FOR THE US ARMY?”

The plot thickens. I came across another site at http://cryptome.org/voi-who.htm. I don’t know who runs it but it sure is on target. It offers a number of links that reveals that at this firm MS&L “The U.S. Army account [is] one of the largest and most visible accounts at one of the world’s leading PR shops”

www.diversityinbusiness.com/dib2004/dib20404/Adv_NuTalent_SJhnsn.htm

Digging can be fun. I went deeper to discover how this firm echoes the Pentagon’s “perception management” strategy: “At MS&L, we have a new and higher purpose. We don’t just change perceptions, because perceptions can be fleeting. What we do – in every sense of the words – is this: Change Minds.”

“They’ve recently won P.R. industry awards for their Army work:
www.publicity.org/trumpet2002winners.htm
www.publicity.org/trumpet2003silver.htm

DECEPTION

“The bottom line, the film and its PR firm are concealing their real agenda in Iraq. MS&L’s website contains zero references to Iraq, perhaps due to the flash interface (I spidered the site through their sitemap, and in ~850 pages there is no tangible reference to Iraq.) However, other folks have tracked some of MS&L’s work in Iraq

“The film’s producers put out press releases stating that the film was directed by Iraqis themselves. However, their press releases say they sent out 150 cameras and received them back with 450 hours of footage – who edited the footage? What was their criteria for the footage selected and the ~448 hours left on the cutting room floor?

“More ponderage: when you’re handing out what has to be at least US$150,000 worth of mini-DV cameras and stock, you want to get that back. So you choose carefully. It’s just a guess that these cameras weren’t handed to insurgents or poor folk, but to the educated class.”

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Now lets go back to their funding entity. It’s called: Booya Studios, LLC and:

Voices of Freedom, LLC
11026 Ventura Blvd., Suite 13
Studio City, CA 91604
818-769-7558

Whoever is writing on this critical site then adds: “Having lived in that area for a number of years, I somewhat familiar with the area. Be advised that quite a number of addresses on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City, CA, are mail drops. I searched GOOGLE on this: 11026 Ventura Blvd., Suite 13

“Found this also…
“Boyfriend Cosmetics 11026 Ventura Blvd., Suite 13 Studio City, CA 91604″

Address appears to me as a “mail drop” as opposed to a “real” office.

I will have to leave this investigation here but you can see what I/we are up against. Tracking this film could become film in itself, a film investigating the shadowy world of covert ops and the uses made of film to push government policy while appearing to be independent of it.

WHY IS MAGNOLIA FILMS BEHIND THIS?

What’s a reputable distribution company like Magnolia doing in this swamp? (Disclaimer: They “passed” on WMD. ) They do distribute Control Room, and other good films. Mark Cuban of the firm defends his apolitical posture in a blog:

http://tinyurl.com/3mnnf

Another pro-war Blog of War blog claims that Voices of Iraq represents the good news that the media leaves out. The site also contains an ad for a T-SHIRT making a hero out of a marine accused of murdering a wounded civilian in Fallujah:

“The US Military can not accept donations from the public to pay for the Marine’s defense. So, in lieu of money for that purpose we are assisting local military wives and families while their men are away taking care of the Nation’s business.

“In addition to helping a worthy cause, it’s important to make sure the public does not forget about this brave Marine, who acted swiftly, in defense of his brothers.

“Wear this shirt as often as possible. You can even wear it under your work shirt or under your business suit.

“The Marine who killed the wounded insurgent in Fallujah deserves our praise and admiration. In a split second decision, he acted valiantly. CAPTION READS: “The Gods of War Hate those who Hesitate.”

Printed on high quality superheavyweight, preshrunk cotton (6.1oz)…”

Once I see Voices, I will share my take. Before you see it, be warned.

MEANWHILE ON THE BATTLE GROUND

Yes, Napalm was dropped on Fallujah. And its associated gas:

“US troops are secretly using outlawed napalm gas to wipe out remaining insurgents in and around Fallujah. News that President George W. Bush has sanctioned the use of napalm, a deadly cocktail of polystyrene and jet fuel banned by the United Nations in 1980, will stun governments around the world.”

http://tinyurl.com/5rro3

Ivan Eland of the independent institute writes:

“The U.S. military “victory” in Falluja is unlikely to change the dismal course of the guerilla war in Iraq. Military history has repeatedly shown why the cliché “winning the battle and losing the war” has crept into popular culture. Moreover, winning back Falluja the way the U.S. did is likely to be a sure prescription for military defeat in the wider Iraq war.”

Anwaar Hussain, of the Pak Tribune notes that “Known as the “city of mosques” for its more than 200 mosques, Fallujah is also known for refusing to add Saddam’s name to the call for prayers from its ancient minarets. …

“Fallujah has been laid waste. It has been bombed, re-bombed, its citizens gunned down, its structures devastated by powerful weapons. It is a hell on earth of crushed bodies, shattered buildings and the reek of death.

“In addition to the artillery and the warplanes dropping 500, 1000, and 2000-pound bombs, 70-ton Abrams Tanks and the murderous AC-130 Spectre gunship that can demolish a whole city block in less than a minute, the Marines had snipers crisscrossing the entire town firing at will at whatever moved outside the buildings. For those inside, the US troops were equipped with thermal sights capable of detecting body heat. Any such detection was eagerly assumed to indicate the presence of “insurgents” inviting a deadly salvo.

“No body has an accurate idea of how many Iraqis — combatants and noncombatants — have been killed by the thousands of tons of explosives and bullets let loose upon the city. Mortuary teams collecting the dead rotting in the city streets are fighting the wandering dogs that are busy devouring their former masters. The hundreds buried beneath the rubble and debris will be dug out later. A US marine spokesman, Colonel Mike Regner, estimated 1,000 and 2,000 Iraqis dead. The world is awaiting the toll from more reliable sources with a wincing anticipation.”

www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=84915

AIDS: A FORM OF MASS MURDER

“The severity of HIV/AIDS in Africa is tantamount to ‘mass murder by indifference’, the UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, said in the German weekly, Die Zeit.

“Speaking ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December, Lewis said: ‘Africa lost its geostrategic interest after the Cold War … But there has always also been underlying racism towards [the continent] … This is why I speak of mass murder through indifference.’

“‘Rich countries don’t worry enough about poor countries,’ Lewis said, noting that that UNAIDS had spent US $4.3 billion dollars on AIDS last year, while the war and reconstruction in Iraq will cost $200 billion dollars by the end of 2004.”

MEDIA NEWS: C-SPAN CRITICIZED

Guests from conservative think tanks outnumber guests from progressive ones by a margin of over three to one (48 percent from conservative think tanks versus 13 percent from progressive think tanks) on C-Span’s daily TV talk show, Washington Journal, according to a one-year study released today by Rocky Mountain Media Watch (www.bigmedia.org).

UK: Media Guardian reports “The BBC is to axe around 350 people from its news operation, around 15 per cent of staff, as part of swinging cuts to be announced by director general Mark Thompson next month. The service, frequently described as being ‘at the core’ of the publicly-funded organisation, will be cut back as part of a purge of up to 6,000 jobs across all departments.

FRANCE: The editor of Frances’s Le Monde has resigned. For background, see DIRELAND, “The Crisis at Le Monde: the Inside Story,” at http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2004/11/the_crisis_at_l.html

YOUR LETTERS

I was sent a letter criticizing Canada’s CBC for its coverage of the Ukraine elections from Marjaleena Rep:

“Once again, CBC is covering a political development in Eastern Europe, with a combination of extreme bias and glaring superficiality. You have accepted, with indecent haste, that the election was fraudulent, and you jump in to urge that “something” be done about it. (No such insistence when it came to U.S. election fraud that got President Bush elected for the first time, and no investigation whatsoever of the countless misdeeds in the most recent election, so thoroughly documented and discussed on the internet.

“The Ukrainian election is a carbon copy of two previous ones, Yugoslavia in 2000 and Georgia last year, in both cases election results were forcibly changed in a coup d’etat fashion., while mobs shouted “Democracy Now!” and “People Power.” The violent overthrow was accomplished with the aid of American dollars and the full involvement of U.S. government agencies, with significant financial and organizational help from the likes of George Soros and his “Open society,” both of which have played a significant role in the dismantling and “rearranging” of former Soviet Bloc countries, readying them for the joys of the “free market.”

Note: it now appears that new elections may occur.

Some one who preferred not to give us his name — just the initials bjc — blasts yesterday’s blog. Here’s a taste what passes for an argument:

“Re: VOTER FRAUD IN THE USSA?

“Yeah, that’s right. The President’s really is a communist dictator. Soon he’ll appoint Fidel Castro as Secretary of Keeping The Populace In Line. Too bad Uday Hussein is dead, huh? And once all of those who never got over the 2000 election, and who keep telling the rest of us (the majority) who “should have” won the election can haul those truckloads of fraudulent ballots to the U.S. Capitol and show us how the election was stolen, we’ll NEVER be free!!

“Re: IS THE US USING POISON GAS?

“That’s right. The U.S. military is pulling out all stops to murder “civilians” in Fallujah. Those innocent, unarmed civilians, who do nothing all day but play soccer and fly kites, are getting a full dose of mustard gas and nerve gas and any other chemical agent we can gather, just like they deserve. “Gas them all” is the new motto. In fact, you can ask some of the soldiers’ families to forward you letters home from Iraq and find all the soldiers gushing about how many innocent, harmless people they’ve meanlinglessly slaughtered in recent days. It gives them a warm and fuzzy feeling to know that they’ve gassed and blown up women and children all day long. Just wait until we break out the biological agents!

“AND NOW SOME NEWS FOR YOU

1. The 2000 election is now moot. Get over it.
2. The 2004 election was almost a month ago. George W. Bush won fair and square.
3. You can’t fly around the world like Superman and change the election…

“And that’s the news flash for today. But feel free to call me crazy, stupid, a moron, misinformed, a puppet, hypnotized, duped, and just plain ignorant. Because everybody else who disagrees with you is just that. Right?”

In a similar vein, Noirman Toback comments on two stories I shared yesterday on Poison gas and Israelis in Iraq: “Yeah, and this from the same source that claimed the Mossad did 9/11, right? You know, even when painful, a bit of common sense and objectivity can do wonders.”

David Schwartz writes re: Air America “I live in West Los Angeles. Where is “Air America?” on the radio or on the web. I’m a intellectually starved, culture shocked, transplanted New Yorker and I need to find the news!” Try KPFK.

RATHER VINDICATION TO COME?

Da’ud X Mohammed:

“Glad you and the blog are back.

“What is your guess on Rather’s vindication coordinated with his bowing out?

“I always believed Rather went for the bait set in the Rove trap (the forged documents were in fact “planted” after the originals were actually seen by the CBS producer – that’s how the forgeries were accepted as the originals, before the switch), and the CBS “investigation” will uncover just that. Maybe.”

HATING AMERICA

Bob Hadley: Thought you would find this op-ed on Fox News’s John Gibson’s special “Hating America” of interest, as well as pretty darned funny:

www.rawstory.com/exclusives/blyler/fox_news_hating_america_1125.htm

FAMILY SECRET

On a personal note, in a column often filled with personal notes, I would like to tell the world how proud I am of my brother Bill for an article he wrote yesterday for the Boston Globe on a fascinating development affecting our family. Since it is no longer personal, allow me to share our “family secret” with you:

www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/11/29/family_secret/

MAY THE REIGN OF THE WITCHES PASS

Finally, for some inspiration, I close with some words from Tom Jefferson. slave owner though he was. In a letter written in 1789, he called for a “little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt … If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience until luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake.”

Feedback welcome to dissector@mediachannel.org

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Voter Fraud Here And There

November 29th, 2004 - by: danny

Voter Fraud Here And There

HARD RAIN IS FALLING
ELECTION FRAUD IN OHIO AND UKRAINE
THE FLIES OCCUPY FALLUJAH

The hard rain that Dylan sang about was pouring down yesterday, easing my return to Dissector Central after what seemed like weeks in Old Europe trying to stretch a few dollars which were in free fall against the Euro. If Bush’s America is the strongest bully on the block why is the dollar increasingly worthless?

Why do we keep hearing about how the Christmas shopping season us off to such a big bang— even as Walmart says their sales were not up to expectations. It seems to happen every year when the shopping news after Thanksgiving is bullish on econ recovery only to be revised when goods are returned and estimates prove overly optimistic. Not to mention the fact that all of this is funded by billions in credit card debt.

For the alternative, hear the preachings, oh lawd, of Reverend Billy of the Church to Stop Shopping. He was arrested over the weekend in a protest in the heart of Times Square, now a mall in United States of Consumerism. See revbilly.com.

CNN was leading yesterday morning with flight delays in Reno, a sign that the news had taken the weekend off. A strong feature story by Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported on an old story on a growth of aids in the Black Community in the US was compelling. What made it news was it was being run at all. With World Aids Day approaching, more HIV-AIDS stories will make their annual appearance.

SCUTTLING THE 911 “REFORMS”

Over on Meet The Press, the 911 Commission chairman and co-chair was using an appearance to lobby before the intelligence reform recommendations that were all the rage before the elections only to succumb to maneuvers by a small clique of Republicans in the House out to scuttle the reforms at the behest, it seemed of Mr. Rumsfeld and the Defense Department. President Bush who backed the bill before the election has suddenly gone quiet. 911 Commission Chairman Tom Kean predicted his “reforms” to make us safer will pass either now or after the next Al Qaeda attack.

The Washington Post reports today:

“The fate of an overhaul of U.S. intelligence agencies rests with President Bush, who must exert more pressure on holdout Republicans if he wants compromise legislation to pass this year, a lead Senate negotiator said yesterday.

“If the president of the United States wants this bill, as commander in chief in the middle of a war, I cannot believe Republicans in the House are going to stop him from getting it,” said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) on ABC’s “This Week.”

The best comment cited on Meet the Press was from a former CIA official who criticizes the Commission report for not naming the names of all the incompetents in high places who let it happen. Kean dismisses that criticism. For a more comprehensive critique, check out David Ray Griffin’s new book “The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions”.

CRONKITE: NEW ELECTION NEEDED HERE

Before we delve in to the election fraud news, there’s this from the Miami Herald: “What America needs right now, legendary TV anchor Walter Cronkite said Thursday, is a new election — and, he warned a laughing press conference full of reporters, he wasn’t kidding.

“That’s not entirely a joke,” Cronkite said solemnly, arguing that the Bush administration has spent itself into ruin while embroiling the country in a war that will eventually make public revulsion to the war in Vietnam look “like peanuts.”

VOTER FRAUD IN THE USSA?

Voter fraud stories are all over the news–not allegations of fraud in the US but stories about that disputed election in the Ukraine. The media here has all but certified the election of 2004 even as all the votes have not been counted and as Jesse Jackson barnstorms Ohio talking about violations of voting rights. Where are the Dems?

The best report I read about all this was in a letter from Bill Smirnow who says “perhaps the juiciest analytical morsel comes from Steven F. Freeman, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, who thoroughly examined discrepancies between reported results and exit poll data, with particular emphasis on the crucial states of Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania.”

“Specifically, Ohio’s reported results gave Bush a 6.7% premium over exit polls in 2004, Florida gave him an extra 5%, and Pennsylvania boosted him by 6.5%. Freeman calculates the combined statistical probability of these three discrepancies occurring in 2004, is one in 250 million. In 10 of the 11 so-called “battleground” states, he observes, “the tallied marginu differs from the predicted margin, and in every one, the shift favors Bush.”

“The study shows an unexplained discrepancy between votes for Bush in counties where electronic voting machines were used, versus counties using traditional voting methods. The statistical probability for these anomalies is less than 0.1%.

“But what are exit polls, and how accurate are they? Basically, they ask people leaving a polling area how they voted. And, as for precision, even Republican consultant Dick Morris gives them high marks. “Exit polls are almost never wrong,” he wrote in a November 2004 article. “So reliable are the surveys that actually tap voters as they leave the polling places, that they are used as guides to the relative honesty of elections in Third World countries….

DOWN WITH THE BLUE STATES

But despite reports like this by activists challenging what they call “votergate,” the story has all but disappeared except perhaps in the Indy media and over Air America. Have the American people gone to sleep? David Broder, the dean of American political reporters was revealing yesterday that the Bush Administration has begun rewarding the so-called Red States at the expense of the Blue. He explained yesterday in the Washington Post that the election’s results already have ” real-world consequences, effects that can be measured in hundreds of millions of dollars in federal spending….

“The county-by-county maps, displaying vast expanses of red where The impact of these election returns was exhibited vividly and in damaging fashion in the catch-all government spending bill the Republican-controlled Congress cleared three weeks after Election Day.

“The legislators who fashioned that bill and the president who will sign it get their votes from red America. The legislators and advocates who counted up the consequences come from the blue-dot city constituencies….

Sheila Crowley, a longtime housing advocate, wrote to the members of her organization, “People who need or rely on public housing, Indian housing, elderly housing, housing for people with AIDS or who are disabled, block grants for affordable housing and community development, and even homeless assistance will have to do with less in the coming year. . . Tougher times are ahead for low-income people in the United States.”

UP WITH THE UKRAINE

Perhaps this because there have been no mass protests like we have seen in the Ukraine. What is happening there? There seems to be more to the story we are getting. The focus in the US press tends to mirror the Administration view–namely that the electrion was stolen. Many Ukranians believe it:

This was in the news yesterday: “Ukraine’s parliament on Saturday declared invalid the disputed presidential election that triggered a week of growing street protests and legal maneuvers, a move that was not legally binding but clearly demonstrated rising dissatisfaction with the announced outcome.

MSNBC reports “Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said Sunday that compromise was needed to solve the political crisis that has engulfed the country since its disputed presidential vote last week.”

Today Ukraine’s Supreme Court — already blockaded by protesters — hears an appeal by Yushchenko’s supporters , and Yanukovych will not be inaugurated before that appeal is decided. Regional courts also are considering some 11,000 complaints — from both sides — about alleged voting fraud.

State TV Revolts

Sebastian Usher reports that there is a revolt on Ukranian State TV

“Journalists on Ukraine’s state-owned channel — which had previously given unswerving support to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych — have joined the opposition, saying they have had enough of “telling the government’s lies”.

“Ukraine journalists pledge impartiality

“Journalists on another strongly pro-government TV station have also promised an end to the bias in their reporting. The turnaround in news coverage, after years of toeing the government line, is a big setback for Mr Yanukovych.”

WHAT WE ARE NOT SEEING

From these stories, it seems like this is a simple good-guy bad guy story. With forces of light and western democracy up against old Stalinists and/or Putin lovers. But is it? The Guardian has been carrying several stories that challenge this simplistic media frame:

First, long time foreign correspondent Jonathan Steele who knows the former Soviet Union as well as any journalist:

“Oranges can often be bitter, and the mass street protests now going on in Ukraine may not be quite as sweet as their supporters claim.

“For one thing the demonstrators do not reflect nationwide sentiments. Ukraine is riven by deep historical, religious and linguistic divisions. The crowds in the street include a large contingent from western Ukraine, which has never felt comfortable with rule from Kiev, let alone from people associated with eastern Ukraine, the home-base of Viktor Yanukovich, the disputed president-elect.

“Their traditions are not always pleasant. Some protesters have been chanting nationalistic and secessionist songs from the anti-semitic years of the second world war.

“Nor are we watching a struggle between freedom and authoritarianism as is romantically alleged. Viktor Yushchenko, who claims to have won Sunday’s election, served as prime minister under the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, and some of his backers are also linked to the brutal industrial clans who manipulated Ukraine’s post-Soviet privatisation.

“On some issues Yushchenko may be a better potential president than Yanukovich, but to suggest he would provide a sea-change in Ukrainian politics and economic management is naive. Nor is there much evidence to imagine that, were he the incumbent president facing a severe challenge, he would not have tried to falsify the poll….

WHAT ARE WE WATCHING?

The Guardian’s John Laughland argues: ” The western media’s view of Ukraine’s election is hopelessly biased ”

“There was a time when the left was in favor of revolution, while the right stood unambiguously for the authority of the state. Not any more. This week both the anti-war Independent and the pro-war Telegraph excitedly announced a “revolution” in Ukraine. Across the pond, the rightwing Washington Times welcomed “the people versus the power”.

“Whether it is Albania in 1997, Serbia in 2000, Georgia last November or Ukraine now, our media regularly peddle the same fairy tale about how youthful demonstrators manage to bring down an authoritarian regime, simply by attending a rock concert in a central square. Two million anti-war demonstrators can stream though the streets of London and be politically ignored, but a few tens of thousands in central Kiev are proclaimed to be “the people”, while the Ukrainian police, courts and governmental institutions are discounted as instruments of oppression.

” The western imagination is now so gripped by its own mythology of popular revolution that we have become dangerously tolerant of blatant double standards in media reporting. Enormous rallies have been held in Kiev in support of the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, but they are not shown on our TV screens: if their existence is admitted, Yanukovich supporters are denigrated as having been “bussed in”. The demonstrations in favour of Viktor Yushchenko have laser lights, plasma screens, sophisticated sound systems, rock concerts, tents to camp in and huge quantities of orange clothing; yet we happily dupe ourselves that they are spontaneous….”

UNSEEN: THE COVERT MANIPULATORS

Ok, so what is behind all of this? Ian Traynor of the Guardian sees the deft hand of the US in the shadows, writing: “the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavory regimes.

“Funded and organized by the US government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organizations, the campaign was first used in Europe in Belgrade in 2000 to beat Slobodan Milosevic at the ballot box.

“Richard Miles, the US ambassador in Belgrade, played a key role. And by last year, as US ambassador in Tbilisi, he repeated the trick in Georgia, coaching Mikhail Saakashvili in how to bring down Eduard Shevardnadze.

“Ten months after the success in Belgrade, the US ambassador in Minsk, Michael Kozak, a veteran of similar operations in central America, notably in Nicaragua, organized a near identical campaign to try to defeat the Belarus hardman, Alexander Lukashenko.

…. Apart from the student movement and the united opposition, the other key element in the democracy template is what is known as the “parallel vote tabulation”, a counter to the election-rigging tricks beloved of disreputable regimes.

“There are professional outside election monitors from bodies such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, but the Ukrainian poll, like its predecessors, also featured thousands of local election monitors trained and paid by western groups.

” Freedom House and the Democratic party’s NDI helped fund and organize the “largest civil regional election monitoring effort” in Ukraine, involving more than 1,000 trained observers. They also organized exit polls. On Sunday night those polls gave Mr. Yushchenko an 11-point lead and set the agenda for much of what has followed.”

www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine/story/0,15569,1360236,00.html

MEANWHILE BACK IN LONDON, A NEW PARTY SURFACES

“LONDON (AP)– U.K. actress Vanessa Redgrave and her brother, political activist Corin Redgrave, Saturday launched a political party devoted to human rights, called the Peace and Progress Party.

“The party, co-founded with Azmat Begg, the father of a Guantanamo Bay detainee, says it will field candidates and endorse politicians with strong human rights records in the next general election.

“Our goal is to ring the alarm bells about the human rights abuses our government is sanctioning, and to act as a focus for people who want to stand up against them,” Corin Redgrave said.”

NEXT STOP ON THE ELECTION EXPRESS

“Democracy” marches on–this time to Iraq where despite appeals from l5 parties, the elections scheduled for late January will go forward blessed by Shia cleric Grand Ayatillah Sistani and the US picked Iraqi interim regime. There appears to be a timetable here — perhaps to create a pretext for a US withdrawal and the entry of international troops — once successful elections are proclaimed as you know they will be What this could lead to is a civil war with the Shia majority seeking to dominate in the country’s future. Stand by for Mullahocracy.

Meanwhile in Iraq, we learn that 20,802 US Soldiers have been heavily wounded according to military hospital statistics –not the official DOD figures–and that as many as 6000 Iraqis may have died in the latest wave of the US “liberation of Fallujah.

Remember how comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq were poo-pahed when first raise. See John Burns in Today’s NY Times: “Shadow of Vietnam Falls Over Iraq River Raids….As marines aboard patrol boats roared up the Euphrates on a dawn raid on Sunday, images pressed in of another American war.”

Three other Iraq stories caught my attention:

THE FLIES OF FALLUJAH

Hakim Mirzoev reported in the Russian newspaper “Zavtra” about what he saw there. This is not a perspective we have seen:

Together with Americans the flies invaded the city. They are millions. The whole city seems to be under their power. The flies cover the corpses. The older is corpse, the more flies are upon it. First they cover a corpse as by some strange rash. Then they begin to swarm upon it, and then a gray moving shroud covers the corpse. Flies swarm upon some ruins as gray monstrous shadows. The stench is awful.

“The flies are everywhere. In the hospital wards, operating rooms, canteen. You find them even where they cannot be. In the “humanitarian” plastic bottle with warm plastic-stinking water. The bottle is almost full, simply someone opened it for a second and made a gulp, but this black spot is already floating there…

“It is a general crisis with water. There are simply no clean sources. The local residents fetch water from the river, muddy, gray and dead. You can buy anything for water now. The sewage system is broken, the water supply is broken, and electricity is absent in the city.

“I am afraid to imagine what will happen in two weeks. Hepatitis will take toll of thousands. They say already that people at the outskirts are in fever with the symptoms of typhus. But one cannot verify it. They prohibited moving in the city…

IS THE US USING POISON GAS?

Dahr Jamail reports for Inter Press Service “The U.S. military has used poison gas and other non-conventional weapons against civilians in Fallujah, eyewitnesses report. “Poisonous gases have been used in Fallujah,” 35-year-old trader from Fallujah Abu Hammad told IPS. “They used everything — tanks, artillery, infantry, poison gas. Fallujah has been bombed to the ground.”

ISRAELI TROOPS IN IRAQ?

Then there was this by eye-opener, if true, from Rashid Khashana from the Arab newspaper Al Hayat:

“It has become clear that Israel played a major role in the battle for Fallujah, despite the American concern to conceal this fact. What news leaked of officers, soldiers, and even rabbis of dual citizenships that took part in the battles, some of which were killed by the resistance’s bullets, is only the tip of the iceberg. The killing of an Israeli officer in Fallujah exposed the existence of a large number officers, snipers, and paratroopers in Iraq.

“Based on Israeli press statistics, Israel currently has no fewer than 1,000 officers and soldiers scattered around the American units working in Iraq. In addition, 37 rabbis are operating within the American troops, which leads to believe that the real number is greater; which makes them self-driven Israeli citizens. Currently, there is a recruitment campaign coinciding with the escalation of the operations in Iraq, which seeks to send further assistance there. Amongst these campaigns is the incitement of Rabbi Irving Elson in his latest speech given in New Yor to allocate further “Fighting Rabbis” and encourage them to enlist in the American forces, in addition to another rabbi’s advisory stating that those killed in Fallujah are “martyrs.”

http://tinyurl.com/5p6g2

YOUR LETTERS: FAREWELL BILL MOYERS

Bill Moyers has left PBS. Adelaide Gomer comments: “I feel like we have lost the only sane voice in the media today. We have no leader, I remember his speech at the Media Reform meeting in Madison, Wisconsin where he implored us to look around the auditorium. He told us that we would be the people who would fight for democracy. He warned that it was up to this new generation because he would not be around forever. That time has come and it is so sad. He is leaving such a vacuum. Journalism has lost one of its biggest heroes. There will never be another Bill Moyers. He was philosophical, sensitive, compassionate, courageous and wise. God help PBS (or the new amalgamated homogenous CPB). ”

TRANSLATIONS ANYONE?

Joel Bainerman writes from Israel:

“I have been a writer on Israel and Middle East political and economic affairs since moving to the region from Toronto in 1982. You can view my research and published archive at my website at www.joelbainerman.com

“About a year ago I came up with an idea and have been investing in it to bring it to fruition. The idea is to write alternative articles and then have them translated into ten European languages.

“I have an experimental website up and running at www.theotherside.org.uk and am currently in the process of redesigning the look and feel of it- and then having each language have its own separate website.

“I don’t know if a media idea like this is profitable — eventually — or if I just keep it as a non-profit venture and do it “for the cause.” I have invested about $5,000 in it to get the articles translated — and would very much like to hook up with someone else out there on the net- to take it to the next step. I am currently involved in another media venture to create a database of companies active in the renewable energy industry worldwide — and an on-line newsletter/portal for people that want to invest in renewable energy companies that are traded publicly in North America and Europe. This is the project my expertise is in- rather than “alternative literature” however I am willing to stick with the “The Other Side” until I find someone or some entity that can help me take it to the next phase.” ANYONE INTRESTED?

Henry Fernandez writes from Texas:

“In today’s world our leaders (who are simply celebrity role-models and seonded for special interests) banter about terms like “ethics” and “moral compass” in such a hollow fashion that any such “moral compass” is spinning out of control. It is this role-model aspect that should concern us as a people who are being led. If our children’s generation grows up to mimic these leaders, God help us all. Those of us that strive to be responsible citizens within our society need desperately to find a voice….

Neb Conner sounds off on the ‘liberal media’: “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of the “liberal media” having the likes of Jerry Falwall and Pat Robertson on television to spread the lie that there was a mandate in the last election and that the 22% fundamentalist voter should have more representation from their government, than the other Seventy Eight percent!

WHO KILLED JFK?

Jerry Sanford writes from Florida:

” This may not be any stranger than other letters you receive; I hope not. I’m a federal prosecutor in Gainesville, FL. I did the same thing in Miami from 1975-80, then left the gov’t because of too many threats on my life and my family. Here’s the point: during that time, I assisted investigators from the House Select Committee on Assassinations. I was then and am still certain that anti-Castro Cuban exiles were involved; some I knew or had investigated told me as much. In 1984 I ran against Janet Reno in the Democratic primary for State Attorney of Dade County. Obviously, I lost. Had I won, I would have opened the Kennedy assassination investigation with a clean slate and unemcumbered by political considerations. I’ve been an Assistant U.S. Attorney now for nearly twenty years, and I’ve sadly come to the realization that if I could bring to justice and prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt of the men who killed JFK — now, today — no one would care or give a damn. That’s a condition of this country I thought I’d never have to bequeath to my children.”

WMD WORLDWIDE

I just returned from an incredible reception for WMD in Europe. The film sold out three screenings at the IFDA documentary festival in Amsterdam. That’s the world’s largest, known for the best documentaries in the world. I also took part in two packed panel discussion there, and was interviewed by the leading newspaper in Amsterdam, on radio and TV. There is interest in broadcasting WMD there as well.

I also spoke at the University of Amsterdam at a well attended forum. Best comment — from a graduate student there: “WMD IS FAHRENHEIT 911 FOR GROWN UPS!”

In Paris, a wonderfully enterprising Media Channel reader Frank Meagher organized a a packed screening in a classy venue off the Champs Elysee. Nearly 300 people came. I was interviewed by Canal Plus and Belgian’s leading French speaking TV station. Prominent journalists and Americans in Paris were there. Countess Albina and Princess Caroline’s husband turned up as well. Viv La France. And Le Frank.

ON AIR AMERICA AND AIR FRANCE

Last night I was on Air America with the always engaging Laura Flanders, and learned that they now have 40 Stations. Impressive.

The night before I was on Air France, and to my surprise was recognized by two fellow flyers when I stumbled to the facilities. Turns out they had both seen and liked WMD. We had a mid-ocean exchange. Wmdthefilm.com has all the latest details.

And it is good to be back in the saddle just bursting with news as you can read if you can penetrate this blogothon, Sorry to report that Vietnam war journalist David Leitch has died in the UK…. Let’s hope those Chinese miners are rescued and that Canada survives Dubya’s visit … And I could go on, but I won’t.

Your emails are welcome at dissector@mediachannel.org

Posted by Danny on Mon, Nov 29, 2004 at 06:51 AM EST

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Give Thanks

November 25th, 2004 - by: danny

Give Thanks

Washington, D.C.

October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

Abraham Lincoln

Special thanks to John Hocheimer. Posted in Copenhagen.

Thanks for all the letters pointing out how bizarre it is to hear Colin Powell and his Big Boss condemining voter fraud in the Ukraine, FSU, but not the USSA.

“What a web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

Posted by Danny on Thu, Nov 25, 2004 at 04:52 PM EST

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