ROCKS ON THE MOUNT

AIRPLANES OF PAIN

MERCENARIES IN THE MAIL

I wish it were an April Fool’s joke but, alas, it was just a recycling of familiar scenes as the Breaking News Brigade took us back to Jerusalem with more pictures of Israeli police charging into a crowd of what were described as rock throwing Palestinian youth. It happened at the Temple Mount, at a Mosque that had been off limits to the Israelis. So here we go again into the tit-for-tat, violence-retaliation/retaliation-violence cycle. In the end, it’s not who is right, but who is left.

Ariel Sharon is threatening again to assassinate Yasser Arafat, although no link to him was established in today’s incident as a bad situation gets worse, with nary a peep of concern yet from the Bush White House. Events like this will just further polarize Arab opinion and stir tensions in an already tense region of the world.

LIMITED MEDIA FRAME

Our TV media always uses an Israeli-Palestinian conflict frame in its reporting, rarely covering opposition within Israel to the hard-line tactics adopted by Mr. Sharon and his “war cabinet”–the military group that really runs things in the Middle East’s “only democracy.” AP reports (but CNN didn’t):

“The route of the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank will harm the country’s security instead of improving it, dozens of reserve military officers, many of them generals, said in a letter Tuesday. The letter, sent to Cabinet ministers, warned that they would be held responsible for the bloodshed that could result from the barrier’s route. The 101 Israeli officers are members of the Council for Peace and Security.”

AN ISRAELI LINK TO THE WAR ON IRAQ?

And speaking of Israel, this just in — a reference to an underreported Israeli connection to the War on Iraq. Note the source — hardly Noam Chomsky or some Hamas militant. Emad Mekay of IPS reports:

“Iraq War Launched to Protect Israel - Bush Adviser

IPS uncovered the remarks by Philip Zelikow, who is now the executive director of the body set up to investigate the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001 — the 9/11 commission — in which he suggests a prime motive for the invasion just over one year ago was to eliminate a threat to Israel, a staunch U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Zelikow’s casting of the attack on Iraq as one launched to protect Israel appears at odds with the public position of President George W. Bush and his administration, which has never overtly drawn the link between its war on the regime of former president Hussein and its concern for Israel’s security.

The administration has instead insisted it launched the war to liberate the Iraqi people, destroy Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and to protect the United States.

Zelikow made his statements about `the unstated threat’ during his tenure on a highly knowledgeable and well-connected body known as the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which reports directly to the president. He served on the board between 2001 and 2003?..”

You will recall that the 9/ll family members demanded that Mr. Zelikow be removed from the Commission because of his ties to the Bush government. He wasn’t. That inquiry continues to make news.

THAT 9/11 “INVESTIGATION” (Sic)

The New York Times is reporting that “The commission said that it was pressing the White House to explain why it had blocked the [Clinton administration]documents?.”

A more explosive confrontation is brewing as Condoleezza Rice prepares to testify. Barry Ritholtz reports on his blog:

“Scot Paltrow is the terrific reporter who writes for that left wing rag, the Wall Street Journal. You may recall he had a hard-hitting piece last Monday, `Government Accounts of 9/11 Reveal Gaps, Inconsistencies.’

?.he puts the nail in the coffin of Condi Rice’s claims that terrorist use of commercial aircraft was unforeseeable:`In the aftermath of those attacks, Bush administration officials have said they received no intelligence warning of such a tactic. “I don’t think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon, that they would try to use an airplane as a missile,” National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said in a May 2002 news briefing.

Yet on several occasions starting in the mid-1990s, U.S. intelligence agencies had passed on information concerning such a possibility, including early plans by al Qaeda officials to use passenger jets as kamikaze weapons, according to records and current and former government officials.’ Paltrow includes a listing of the many warnings the White House received?.”

A NEW WHISTLBLOWER WHISTLES

This view seems to be confirmed by an unlikely source: a former FBI translator. London’s Independent reports:

“Former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds has told The Independent that senior officials knew of al-Qa’ida’s plans to attack the US with aircraft months before the strikes happened

A former translator for the FBI with top-secret security clearance says she has provided information to the panel investigating the 11 September attacks which proves senior officials knew of al-Qa’ida’s plans to attack the US with aircraft months before the strikes happened. She said the claim by the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that there was no such information was `an outrageous lie’?.”

FALLUJAH FOLLOW-UP

The US military vows to pacify Fallujah, and to “hunt down” those responsible for the grisly killing of US private security contractors. “Quite simply, we will respond,” General Kimmitt said. “We are not going to do a pell-mell rush into the city, It’s going to be deliberate. It will be precise and it will be overwhelming. We will not rush in to make things worse. We will plan our way through this and we will re-establish control of that city — and we will pacify that city.”

That military attack will no doubt follow a political statement that the US occupation will get from friendly clergymen in the area. The New York Times reports: “U.S. political officers called a meeting with Falluja’s topclerics who promised to issue a religious edict to condemnthe attack.” The attack on Fallujah will then be cast as simply following up on what Iraqis want.

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

Yesterday I spoke with the Philadelphia Inquirer about the ethics of publishing those pictures we saw of Americans being viciously attacked. Should they have been printed? I argued that we should see them, and that they seem especially horrific to many Americans precisely because so much of the war coverage was sanitized.

The World Socialist website offers another view of these events, offering a context that you rarely see in mainstream media accounts:

“Eleven months after George Bush declared combat in Iraq over, the US military is still confronted with a hostile population and an ongoing guerilla war across the country. American combat casualties in March increased to 35 dead and 291 wounded, up from 16 combat deaths and 147 wounded in February. Five of the military deaths took place yesterday just outside Fallujah, when a convoy was hit by a massive roadside bomb.

The US government and military have stated that the four Americans were contractors working for the private security firm, Blackwater Security, and employed to protect food deliveries in the Fallujah area. No explanation has been given as to why they were so far inside the city. AP cameras filmed a US Department of Defence identification card among the wreckage, giving rise to suspicions that the men may have been American intelligence operatives.

The passions of the crowd reflect the hostility toward the US invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq. In the last week, the American military has intensified the repression of the 500,000 residents of Fallujah. On March 24, the California-based First Marine Division took over control of the area, which has been one of the centers of opposition and armed resistance to the US. The newly arrived troops have been attempting to assert their control using brutal tactics?.”

ARISTIDE TO SUE

BBC reports:

“Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has filed a lawsuit against unnamed French and US officials, accusing them of kidnapping him. Mr Aristide has repeatedly accused the Americans of forcing him into exile. Both the US and France had urged him to stand down. The suit for `threats, death threats, abduction and illegal detention’ was lodged in Paris on Tuesday, by Mr Aristide’s lawyer, Gilbert Collard. Collard said Mr Aristide’s US lawyers would file an identical suit.”

PROGRAM NOTE:

I am told that “Jack Spadaro will be on 60 Minutes this Sunday saying the Bush administration covered up the reasons for a toxic coal slurry spill in Appalachia that ranks among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. According to Spadaro, political appointees in the Department of Labor whitewashed the report that said an energy company that had contributed to the Republican Party was responsible for the 300-million gallon spill?.”
So we’ll only have to wait until Sunday at, oh, 7:30PM to find out.

THIS JUST IN!!! : 90% OF TV CONTENT INDECENT!!!!

The FCC Monitor reports:

“Preliminary data for a report due to Congress January 1 finds that 90% oftelevision programming is `indecent,’ according to regulators’ newdefinition. `Wow, this problem is much worse than we thought,’ said onestaffer. Broadcasters were quick to dispute the findings. `The study isridiculous,’ argued an executive at the American Association of TelevisionPeople. `Most of our programming is crass commercialism and shamelessself-promotion. We’re doing stuff legislators never dreamed of when theywrote indecency laws. And, anyway, you can block some of it with the V-chip.’”

MEDIA MEN VOW REFORMS!!!!!: CAN THIS BE TRUE?!!!!

“Called by Knight Ridder Chairman and CEO P. Anthony “Tony” Ridder, the leaders of the most prominent news corporations operating in the Bay Area gathered this morning to issue a revolutionary declaration of principles for the news their companies produce.

Mr. Ridder, whose company owns the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times, said the volume of revenues generated by Knight-Ridder newspapers is so great, the appropriate profit comparison is with grocery stores, not OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries).

`We should be aiming for 3-5% return on gross revenues, not 22-25%, and plowing the additional tens of millions into our newsrooms,’ Mr. Ridder said. `Wall Street no longer trumps Main Street at Knight-Ridder.’

`No more will we seek out unusually violent and emotional or visual stories that have distracted our viewers from the important events and issues taking place around them and shaping their lives,’ said Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney Corporation, which owns ABC, which owns KGO Channel 7.”

CNN CRITICIZED FOR DODGY DOCUMENT

Spiked asks: “How did an unsigned posting on an internet message board come to be seenas proof of an al-Qaeda plot to bring down the Spanish government?” Brendan O’Neill investigates in Spiked On Line.

YOUR LETTERS:

Kzkulmaczewski mourns Banfield’s departure:

“I read the link to the speech Ms. Banfield gave that she received much criticism for and basically lost her job over. I think she’s a great reporter, so I’m biased from watching her when she was on the local Fox station here in Dallas/Ft. Worth. I read her speech and I thought Wow! She’s right. If I could rely on journalists to give me the whole story, just facts, from both sides I would be riveted to the TV. But then, what do I expect when those that dispense news are Mickey Mouse and a toaster maker. They are interested in only sales, and nothing more.”

I had a chat with Ashleigh Banfield yesterday as she was packing up at NBC for opportunities she wouldn’t discuss. I conveyed my appreciation for the guts she showed in questioning the media coverage of the war and wished her well. Like her or not, she has unfairly been put through the ringer, How many male correspondents have had to cope with all the sniping she’s experienced? — DS

(The speech of Ms. Banfield’s to which he refers and to which we linked yesterday can be found here [via Alternet]).

THE MERCENARIES OF FALLUJAH

Marta writes from LA to ask:

“Question– on your Blog, you discussed that vile incident in Falluja. You called the murdered men “contractors” I’ve read they were mercenaries. Even the local TV mentioned that one was a former Navy Seal from California.Anyway, what’s the scoop on that–civilians or mercenaries?(Naturally, I’m not justifying the murder, but you know that).”

I had a ton of mail from vigilant readers who chided me for not explaining who those Americans were. Fair point! Read on (and refer back to the World Socialist web site report cited above)….

Jan Torchnik writes about the subtle disctinction in terms:

Thanks for doing your blog - it’s the launching point from which I explore the news day and b) did you read this: http://www.thememoryhole.org/memoryblog/archives/000067.html

I don’t know whether it helps to clear up or further obfuscates the identity of the - sometimes 2 and sometimes 4 — “independent contractors”–or “security guards” … or just plain `American civilians.’ Guess it depends on what objective source you read!!”

Damon Taylor adds:

“It threw me off and was a bit disturbing to find out that the four security contractors killed inFalluja were employed by Blackwater. That firm had received a prominent mention in my post onmercenaries just the day before”

http://www.nmazca.com/blog/arch/2004_03_01_archive.htm#108063421230857751

Ed Devitt highlights the distinction we make on our responses to American and Iraqi deaths:

“Let me get this straight–four mercenaries get killed and we as a nation are supposed to be outraged? Isn’t that part of the job description, isn’t that what they signed on for, isn’t that why they get the big bucks, to get shot at? Why have the media forgotten about the THOUSANDS of Iraqi’s whom have been slaughtered so that Halliburton can own the world’s largest gas station? If I wasn’t paying attention to this and someone tried to tell me about, I’d think that they were insane. Of course the real insanity is that the boys in DC think that they can rewrite history.”

Susie Taft writes to clarify:

“Good morning DS, a couple of points about your blog today. First aninaccuracy — you said the Americans in Fallujah were `burned alive,’– thisdoes not appear to be the case. They were killed by gunfire, then theirvehicles were set on fire. This may seem a small point, but it matters,because it leaves the `atrocity’ in this case as abuse of a corpses –something that matters to a lot of people, for some reason, but not veryimportant to the victims who weren’t around to experience it.”

DS Note: Robert Fisk, I am told, reported that some of those killed were burned alive.[

“I think the real revelation here, that I hope at least someone in thecorporate media lie factory will mention, is the presence of thesemercenaries in Iraq, not that some of them were `murdered,’ as Dan Ratherput it. What were those guys doing driving around Fallujah anyway?”

Erin Jonasson is also suspcious about the “contractors’” roles:

“After reading your dissection of the latest American deaths in Iraq, it struck me as strange that you aren’t paying that much attention to the fact that these deaths, along with most of the others in the last few weeks have been amongst “contractors” from several different countries. In fact, it seems that when someone dies in Iraq lately, they are nearly always described as `contractors’ and `civilians,’ but rarely does the description go any further.

It seems to me that these `contractors’ and `civilians’ are almost always in the security business, although it often takes some time before the news media describes them this way, if they ever get to it at all. For instance, when a Canadian and a British man were killed last week even the CBC up in here in Canada referred to them as `contractors’ more times than anything else, although they eventually reported that the Canadian had been a private security guard for General Electric.

My question, which has been brewing since I learned about the high percentage of private security (private army?) that makes up the foreign contingent in Iraq, is this: We see that the Coalition troops are not getting involved in these ?incidents’ and we hear that the troops are pulling back to less hostile positions, so just how much of this war (or whatever they’re calling it now) is being fought by private, profit-minded companies and individuals? And, how long will it be before private security firms begin having a hard time getting new recruits? Perhaps we can even take this further and ask when these private ?soldiers’ will begin asking tough questions about why they are being left to fight ?insurgents’ while the army sits at more comfortable positions?”

A RANGE OF SUBJECTS

Jean Braun on Richard Clarke:

“Can’t resist this comment: Some may think that there is more [indication of] freedomspeech with the appearance of books critical of the president. On theother hand, it has been explained that Clarke’s work was in the hands ofWhite House insiders, and that it was they who chose this moment for itsrelease. One thing it accomplishes is to readjust the debate on 9-11 from `whoreally done it’ to `why didn’t we get al-Qaeda first.’”

Allmans asks:

“Have you heard about this latest example of CNN bowing to the White House? Briefly, The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) ran a series of clips of a 10-year-old fidgeting while sitting behind Bush, who was giving a speech. CNN replayed the clips, crediting Letterman. Then CNN retracts it all after a commercial break, saying the White House called CNN and said that Letterman’s people digitally enhanced the clip to put in the kid. Then CNN reported again that the White House changed their story to say that the kid was present at Bush’s speech, but the kid was not directly behind Bush’s camera shot, as the Letterman clip showed. And Letterman has been up in arms the past couple nights about the White House accusing them of doctoring this tape. What’s the deal?”

Newsday has the story here, while The Washing Post runs a picture of the “young yawner.” The downright funny clip itself is also available via various blogs, including this one.

Dan Beach:

“Your Web Log is always my first read. I am SO glad that I took the time to visit the “Biker in Chernobyl” site. I wastruly moved by this report.It such a stark reminder of the horror and scope of nuclear energy run amok -but it could have been war or chemical overload.I just could not stop thinking that if our War President continues on his path,we may be seeing an essay like this from an American city.I think because of their simplicity, Elena’s photographs touched my soulin a way that the traditional press - with all its baggage - could never do.”

We were impressed too. Here, once again, is the link: http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/.

HEED THE SAGES

Finally, Scott Stewart writes from San Francisco:

“George,`The Burning Bush,’ and his Vulcans may not know the warnings of Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’(1819). Perhaps they didn’t study the humanities at school?”:

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, king of kings,
?Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
?Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
?Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
?The lone and level sands stretch far away.

TOWER OF BABBLE

Sorry I was tad late this morning in posting. I am speaking today at a Columbia University panel on media concentration at Uris Hall. My panel of far more distinguizhed experts jumps off 2 PM. Tomorrow morning, I will be keynoting GEMS, the Global Entertainment and Media Summit at the Park Central Hotel. These events are organized by the unstoppable Steve Zuckerman and draw hundreds of musicians and creative people looking for a way around the corporate stranglehold of the entertainment world. Have a great weekend.

Sorry to those of you who wrote but didn’t make it into the blog. As you can see my words runneth over.

Oh, and, yes, the stories “90% OF TV CONTENT INDECENT!!!!” and “MEDIA MEN VOW REFORMS” were spoofs. One day late, but we saw the grim humor in these satires and couldn’t resist — difficult as it is to discriminate between hard-news and parody in today’s world.

Until next week. To comment, donate, kvetch or imagine a new news world, write: dissector@mediachannel.org