Iraq Worse Than Vietnam Experts Say. Is there a turnaround?
April 30th, 2007 - by: danny
PRESIDENT BUSH’S POWER TO IMPOSE MARTIAL LAW
SHOCKING: SHOCK AND AWE GENIUS NAMED IN DC HOOKER SCANDAL
Harlan Ullman was named as a client of the DC Madam, He became a columnist for the NY Post while Baghdad was bombed. The Washington Post notes: “Harlan K. Ullman, an academic whose main claim to fame was a scholarly paper he wrote more than a decade ago on the military strategy known as “shock and awe.” Responded Ullman: “It doesn’t deserve the dignity of a response.”
THE PLAY’S THE THING
IRAQ WORSE THAN VIETNAM
JEWS AT ALJAZEERA
I love theater but somehow I never get to go. For years, I worked literally on Broadway and rarely found time (and admittedly the money for ever escalating ticket prices) to see many of the plays that tourist descend on New York to savor. While many are big ticket entertainments some offer sharp and biting commentary on the world we live in and under.
Thanks to my Steven Green, a producer and colleague on some of my films, I was able to see a revival of Eric Bogosian’s “Talk Radio” now featuring Liev Shreiber who masterfully plays Barry Shamplain, the Late Night Talk show host/shock jock on a Cleveland station who alternatively blasts the system and takes issues to the edge of irony and insult with non-stop banter but, then, also takes on his own listeners.
The show offers a window into the profit motives that led broadcasters to feature more and more outrageous programming and how it in turn provokes and dumbs down listeners.
New York Magazine asked actor Chris Noth about his radio listening habits after attending the premiere. His reply:
None. It sucks. There’s no art in radio these days. Most of talk radio is right wing. It’s part of the cultural boneyard, along with everything else. It’s a lot of chatter that is meaningless. When’s the last time you mouthed off? I never really got in trouble on the radio. But I did an interview on an FM station in Australia, and they told me I could play any song I wanted, but then they said “We can’t play that!” What song? A Jethro Tull song. It’s because they have a playlist on FM now, and if a song’s not on it, they can’t play it. That’s how fucked up things are.
Meanwhile the show that practices free speech is also testing with their advertising as their website explains:
Ads for the Broadway revival of Eric Bogosian’s play have been rejected by a number of radio stations. The reason is that the spots contain a phrase from the play: ‘pet’s orgasm’. Maybe they should try satellite radio where pretty much anything Howard Stern-ish goes”. Should we be protected from discussions of pet orgasms? We want to hear from you
If Talk Radio is more factional than fictional so was the other theatrical production I saw. It was by the legendary Living Theater which is back with a twenty year lease to a new basement facility on the Lower East Side’s Clinton Street. The venerable loved and admired doyen of this globally important institution Judith Malina (termed a “femme fatale at 81″ by the New Yorker directs a faithful recreation of their l964 production of The Brig (Filmed by the Living’s late co-founder and uber actor Julian Beck).
In the age of Gitmo, the Brig is an important corrective to those who thing the United States military only abuses foreigners in its detention facilities. No, they started out torturing Americans – as many prisons continue to do in the United States of Incarceration – as this two hour non-stop depiction of what life was like for US Marines in a jail in Japan in l957. The Internet Movie Data Base carries this description:
Marine prisoners are awakened and put through work details for the course of a single day, submitting in the course of it to extremely harsh and shocking physical and mental degradation and abuse.
Yes, but with little dialogue and two hours of non-stop “action” in which sadistic guards turn prisoners into “maggots” The Brig gives us the kind of feel for whats going on everyday in brigs and secret prisons worldwide, a reality that TV rarely conveys and, hence, the power drama to penetrate truth.
I begin this blog at April’s end because the news is often so repetitive and predicatablle as political rituals and military disasters continue to dominate. So much so that the ONION takes aim at what it calls “the blah, blah, etc. etc.
Middle East Conflict Intensifies As Blah Blah Blah, Etc. Etc.
MIDDLE EAST – With the Iraq war in its fifth year, the war in Afghanistan in its sixth, and conflict between Israel and the rest of the region continuing unabated for more than half a century, intelligence sources are warning that a new wave of violence in the Middle East may soon blah blah blah, etc. etc., you know the rest.
Those of us who don’t know the rest can read about it in the weekend newpspapers.
First the NY Times
Rebuilt Iraq Projects Found Crumbling
“Inspectors found that in a sampling of eight projects declared successes by the U.S., seven were no longer operating as designed.” (of course, the newspaper of record says the Iraqis share part of the blame without reminding its readers that the country is under occupation.
And then, for “balance” of course, there’s positive story – or at least it looks positive with its headline and page one placement, until you read more:
Uneasy Alliance Is Taming One Insurgent Bastion
Sunni leaders have united with U.S. and Iraqi forces in Anbar “Province, heartland of the Sunni resistance.
After an upbeat impression is conveyed, you read on:
“Yet for all the indications of a heartening turnaround in Anbar, the situation, as it appeared during more than a week spent with American troops in Ramadi and Falluja in early April, is at best uneasy and fragile.
Municipal services remain a wreck; local governments, while reviving, are still barely functioning; and years of fighting have damaged much of Ramadi.
Translation: The situation sucks.
Over at the Washington Post, Tom Ricks continues to speak truth about power if not to it since no one in power seems to read or listen.
WP: SUNDAY HEADLINE: WAR CALLED RISKIER THAN VIETNAM
Military Experts Fretful Over Long-Term Consequences
Deferential words like “fretful” soften the critique, here it is:
President Bush recently said that “there’s a lot of differences” between the current war in Iraq and the Vietnam War.
As fighting in Iraq enters its fifth year, an increasing number of experts in foreign policy and national strategy are arguing that the biggest difference may be that the Iraq war will inflict greater damage to U.S. interests than Vietnam did.
“In terms of the consequences of failure, the stakes are much bigger than Vietnam,” said former defense secretary William S. Cohen. “The geopolitical consequences are . . . potentially global in scope.”
About 17 times as many U.S. troops died in the Vietnam War — the longest war in U.S. history — as have been lost in Iraq, the nation’s third-longest war. Also, despite widespread public dissatisfaction with the Iraq war, the debate over it has not convulsed American society to the extent seen during the Vietnam conflict. However, Vietnam does not have oil and is not in the middle of a region crucial to the global economy and festering with terrorism, experts say, leading many of them to conclude that the long-term effects of the Iraq war will be worse for the United States.
“It makes Vietnam look like a cakewalk,” said retired Air Force Gen. Charles F. Wald, a veteran of the Vietnam War. The domino theory that nations across Southeast Asia would go communist was not fulfilled, he noted, but with Iraq, “worst-case scenarios are the most likely thing to happen.”
Iraq is worse than Vietnam “in so many ways,” agreed Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., a retired Army officer and author of one of the most respected studies of the U.S. military’s failure in Vietnam….”
On the War at Home, The Post reports: Most Katrina Aid From Overseas Went Unclaimed
Now those articles are in the press. But here’s a story on GI SPECIAL that isn’t. It is an email from an Iraq soldier whose name has been exercised to protect him from, retaliation. It features a picture of a smiling U.S. soldier and a smiling Iraqi. The Iraqi is holding up a sign in English that he clearly cannot read – ha ha.
[Sign says: "I fuck sheep when I'm not busy mortaring the base."]
This photo arrived [xxxxxxx] last week.
I do not know any of the details about this photo, such as where and when it was taken, who the Marine is or his unit, etc., although I am fairly certain it was taken very recently here in Iraq. What is sad and sickening is that most, but not all, Marines around here find this to be humorous.
If we are truly here to “liberate” our “friends”, the Iraqi people, we would not find humor in mocking them this way.
This is only one photo, but the message speaks volumes.
We do not really give a rat’s ass about these people.
Members of the military who speak about the “good” we are doing out here are not seeing the bigger picture.
There is nothing “good” about our occupation of Iraq.
It is my opinion that they are just as delusional about this debacle as is the current occupant and his band of neo-cons.
Incidentally, I now have difficulty accessing www.militaryproject.org from my [xxxxxx] network.
I am not certain yet if it is a bandwidth issue, or if it might be getting filtered out somewhere along the way.
[XXXXXX]
DAHR JAMAIL: ONE UNEXPLODED BOMB PERSON
IRAN AND US TO MEET AT REGIONAL CONFERENCE, REPORTS NY TIMES
Iran to Attend Regional Talks on Iraq Strife
The announcement sets the stage for the first cabinet-level meeting between Iran and the U.S. since the end of 2004.
Read Iran’s Rejected 2003 proposal to The US
MASSACRES IN MOGAGISHU
WSWS’s Bill Van Auken:
“The brutal military siege against the Somali capital of Mogadishu constitutes a war crime for which the US government bears the principal responsibility.
While the mass media in the US itself has largely averted its eyes from the carnage, Ethiopian military units, backed and advised by Washington, have unleashed an intense bombardment of Mogadishu’s crowded and impoverished urban neighborhoods, killing and wounding thousands and turning hundreds of thousands more into homeless refugees.
This latest round of fighting has pitted the US-backed Ethiopian forces and, in a lesser role, forces loyal to the so-called Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of former warlord Abdullahi Yusuf against supporters of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which had administered the city and much of southern Somalia before the US-backed Ethiopian invasion last December. The siege follows a similar Ethiopian offensive against Mogadishu three weeks ago in which more than 1,000 people were killed, the great majority of them are civilians.
Long-range artillery, tanks and helicopter gunships have conducted ceaseless and indiscriminate shelling of the city for nearly a week and a half. Much of the capital lies in ruins, while hospitals, schools and housing have not been spared.
Since we have been focusing on war, here’s one you don’t read about, the economic war. It is an essay by Carolyn Baker featuring a book written by Michael Hudson, one of the lead experts interviewed in my film IN DEBT WE TRUST:
She writes: “As an historian, I believe that in order to fully appreciate the current tyranny of centralized financial systems, it is necessary to understand how they evolved within the past six decades.”
See the whole Post / →
AMERICAN IDOL RATINGS TRUMP DEM CANDIDATE DEBATE
April 30th, 2007 - by: danny
AMERICAN IDOL CONTESTANTS TEN TIMES MORE POPULAR THAN DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – A two-hour competition/fundraiser “American Idol” was the
night’s top show in all key demographics, putting Fox atop the ratings heap for another night. “Idol” averaged 26.4 million viewers and a 10 rating/26 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, = according to preliminary data released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research. It rose from 21.6 million viewers at 8 p.m. to a peak of 30.2 million at 9:30 p.m.
MEDIA WEEK – Although the Iowa caucus won’t be held for another seven months and change, Thursday night’s Democratic presidential debate drew huge ratings numbers for MSNBC, as 2.26 million total viewers and 806,000 adults 25-54 Tuesday.
LYN DAVIDSON: THE NEW VILLAIN IN HOLLYWOOD
HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT AVOIDS ACCOUNTABILITY
DEBT AND ECO CRISIS WATCH
THE number of Scots going bust has hit an all-time high, shock new figures reveal today.
Almost 300 people a week are being declared insolvent as banks and loan companies get tough on struggling customers.
The figures show that 3860 Scots hit financial meltdown during the first quarter of 2007 – 59 every working day – after running up massive debts on credit cards and other loans.
The figures have soared by nearly a quarter on the same 13-week period the previous year, and are at their highest level ever for a single quarter in Scotland.
Baby boomers going bankrupt at faster rate>
How high will the Dow go? 15,000? 20,000? – All the World’s a Bubble
Companies are buying back their own shares at a record rate
See the whole Post / →
Devastating Letters to George Tenet and Rudy Giuliani
April 30th, 2007 - by: danny
LETTERS OF INTEREST
Did you see ex-CIA Director George Tenet pumping his book on 60 Minutes? Scott Pelley was tough with him but he still came off more as a martyr than a criminal with mealey mouthed distinctions between facts, truth and intelligence “estimates.” What a web they weave when first they practice to deceive. He was shocked to be dumped by political game playing and dirty tricks. What world do these guys live in. They do it but don’t expect it to be done to them.
David Swanson sends along a letter from intelligence alumni who make some demands on Tenet which he is unlikely to have the courage to do:
We write to you on the occasion of the release of your book, At the Center of the Storm. You are on the record complaining about the “damage to your reputation”. In our view the damage to your reputation is inconsequential compared to the harm your actions have caused for the U.S. soldiers engaged in combat in Iraq and the national security of the United States. We believe you have a moral obligation to return the Medal of Freedom you received from President George Bush. We also call for you to dedicate a significant percentage of the royalties from your book to the U.S. soldiers and their families who have been killed and wounded in Iraq.
GARY HART WRITES TO RUDY GIULIANI
Dear Mayor Giuliani: Since you have based your presidential campaign almost exclusively on your reaction to terrorist attacks on New York City, and since you have recently accused Democrats of being on the defense against terrorism and therefore guilty of inviting more casualties, I have one question for you: Where were you on terrorism between January 31, 2001, and September 11th?
The first date was when the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century issued its final report warning, as did its previous reports, of the danger of terrorist attacks on America. The George W. Bush administration did nothing about these warnings and we lost 3,000 American lives. What did you do during those critical eight months? Where were you? Were you on the defensive, or were you even paying attention?
Before you qualify to criticize Democrats, Mr. Giuliani, you must account for your preparation of your city for these clearly predicted attacks. Tell us, please, what steps you took to make your city safer. Until you do, then I strongly suggest you should keep your mouth shut about Democrats and terrorism. You have not qualified to criticize others, let alone be president of the United States.
Gary Hart
(co-chair, U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century)
Why does the press and the Dems let Rudy get away with all of his phony 911 claims and threats?
READ: NAOMI WOLF ON THE ROAD TO FASCISM
GREG PALAST ON THE WILL TO INVESTIGATE
ROBERT FISK – FROM A LECTURE AT UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT (Daily Star)
Fisk, who lived and reported in Lebanon throughout the Civil War, has for many years worked in the region as a correspondent for Britain’s Independent newspaper. He is also the author of the widely read “Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War,” among other titles.
In a spirited style that kept the audience laughing, Fisk lampooned Western journalists for their lack of historical perspective when reporting from the Middle East.
“I asked myself, how do our journalists go to war without history books?” he said.
In order to drive home his point about how poorly journalists had covered the Iraq war and how ignorant of history they had been, Fisk retold the story of the failed 1917-1920 British occupation of the country in a way that mirrored the current track of the United States there. The US excursion has been a “fingerprint parallel of history,” he said.
Again pointing a finger at Western journalists, Fisk ran through articles from The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, noting that although the incidents reported in the articles took place in Iraq, the only sources cited were US officials.
Fisk discussed journalists’ tendency to illustrate division in the Middle East, such as divisions between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds in Iraq, by using maps. He then noted that journalists rarely dare to show such disunity within their own countries, noting that a US paper would never run maps of the racial divisions in Washington.
THE FORWARD: ON JEWS (INCLUDING ME) AT THE ALJAZEERA CONFERENCE
Doha, Qatar – Some participants at the third-annual forum of the Arab satellite network Al Jazeera were sorry they didn’t bring matzo with them – had they known how many fellow Jews were attending the media conference, they would have made a Passover Seder.
“We could have used the hotel wine to fill our cups,” Mark LeVine said only half-jokingly. A professor of Middle East studies at University of California in Irvine, LeVine was one of several Jewish participants who attended the invitation-only conference in Doha, organized by Al Jazeera.
Ethan Zuckerman,(OF GLOBAL VOICES ONLINE) whose wife is a Reform rabbi, said that he had originally planned to hold a Seder in Doha. “I told my wife, and she wrote me a two-page Haggadah,” he said, shortly after speaking on a panel on Internet and the media. “But I didn’t bring the matzo.”
The Jewish participants were by no means relegated to the sidelines.
New Yorker correspondent Seymour Hersh gave the keynote address; LeVine and International Herald Tribune executive editor Michael Oreskes were panelists, and David Marash, the Washington bureau anchor of Al Jazeera English, logged a stint as a moderator.
The relatively high number of Jewish academics, journalists and media experts who attended the event stood in stark contrast to the view in some circles that the network is anti-Jewish and anti-Western. Some critics have gone so far to brand it “Osama Bin-Laden’s TV Network,” a name which Al Jazeera executives say comes from the Bush administration and conservative American television commentators.
The general atmosphere at the event was open and friendly among Arab and Western participants. “If there is any antisemitism lurking around here, it hasn’t been directed at me,” said Danny Schechter in a heavy New York accent. “They make a distinction between U.S. or Israeli policy and religion.”
Schechter, vice president of Globalvision, a documentary film production company, said that he attended the event because “in the post-9/11 world it is imperative to understand what people think and this forum provides the opportunity to mingle, discuss and even to get into arguments.”
Like many other participants, his main criticisms were that few women participated and panel discussions were not engaging enough. Indeed, whether dressed in sharp suits and ties or starched white floor-length dishdashas and white head coverings, the well-heeled forum panelists mostly agreed with each other. If anything, it appeared that some of the Al Jazeera moderators were avoiding conflict.
During breaks between panels, however, there was plenty of chatter in the elegantly appointed lobby outside the conference hall, where participants shmoozed over hors d’oeuvres, and journalists and academics feverishly networked.
“To be here with the media makers and icons of the Western world as they converge with those of the Arab world is really inspiring,” said Nora Friedman, as she sat around a round table where she shared a buffet lunch with a number of American and Arab journalists. A 28-year-old producer at Pacifica Radio in Berkeley, Calif., a left-wing radio network that tends to be fiercely critical of American foreign policy, Friedman said that the forum was “building a bridge between the Western and Arab media and confronting the prejudices in the so-called ‘War on Terror.’”
“There is no problem with Jews here,” said Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of the London-based Arabic-daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, a regular commentator on Middle East affairs who opposes American support for Israel as long as it occupies Palestinian territory.
There were no Israeli correspondents there but AlJazeera is available on TV in Israel but not yet in the USA, except by subcription or on YouTube.
BLOGGER DICK MACK HONORS YR NEWS DISSECTOR
(There) comes a responsibility for me to share with you the five blogs that make me think. I give you the five (5) blogs to which I award the Thinking Blogger Award.
Danny Schechter The News Dissector – Danny was the news guy on the old WBCN-FM during my teenage years. He was the ultimate radio newsman who helped form my ability to analyze the news and see past the headlines.
I want to thank the Academy and all my readers whose letters I welcome.
NEW MINI SITE ON FORECLOSURES – FEATURING MY FILM PODCAST
Help me spread the URL around….
IT IS ONIONESQUE: SOMETHING IS HAPPENING IN HAITI
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About Danny Schechter
Danny Schechter is an Emmy award winning journalist, television producer and independent filmmaker who also writes, blogs and speaks about media issues.
His latest film is PLUNDER The Crime Of Our Time.
Mr. Schechter is NOT the Godfather of Soul.
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