THE DAY THE WAR ENDED

KOPPEL READS THE NAMES

MARINES PULL BACK

QUOTES OF THE DAY: President Bush on appearing before the 911 Commission: (1) “I’m glad I did it. I’m glad I took the time…I enjoyed it.”

(2) “Look, if we had something to hide, we wouldn’t have met with them in the first place. We answered all of their questions.”

QUESTION OF THE DAY (ON FOX NEWS): Why did 911 Commission VIice-Chairman Lee Hamilton and Commission Member Bob Kerrey leave the session midway? Incredibly Hamilton said he had a “prior appointment.”

WHAT THEY SAID: The NY Times reports: “During questioning, the president and vice president said the intelligence they received in 2001 suggested a strike overseas.” President Bush reportedly did all or most of the talking.

ANNIVERSARY

I remember where I was on this day a few lifetimes ago. I was driving home after my morning radio newscast shift, and, what else, listening to the radio. I was in Boston and even as I detested its rip and read format, WEEI was the only all news radio I listened to. Their bulletin sent me into tears. Tears of joy. The dateline was Saigon and the word was that the war in Vietnam was over, and that there was no more light at the end of that tunnel. The metaphor was always screwed up because it was the United States and every President since the end of World War 11 who had brought darkness, war and devastation to that country.

And then in what seemed a second frozen in time, it was no more. The US embassy in Saigon that I had visited in l974was being evacuated as helicopters shuttled US personnel off to waiting aircraft carriers, abandoning panicked Vietnamese people who gave the US their all, expecting to be taken care of. They would soon be forgotten as their country has been.

I had spent ten years covering and caring about Vietnam, day and night, year in, year out. The war invaded my dreams and consumed my passions. And I still do. I just met the Vietnamese delegation to the inauguration I attended in South Africa last Tuesday. They were amused to hear me try to greet them in Vietnamese.

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

But here it is 29 years later, and its deja vu all over again, as the Vietnam parallel is being invoked time and again, as Ted Koppel does a LIFE magazine and names the dead aloud, as statistics become real people and behind each there is a family and children and parents grieving in silence because many of them have been programmed to be good soldiers too. And not speak out.

The media coverage of the war may be shifting in a long overdue more critical direction. First there were the pictures of the dead soldiers being airlifted home, long suppressed by official edict but now out there; and then there were was the 60 Minutes story showing US soldiers torturing and mistreating Iraqis. And now Koppel reads the names of our dead but not those they helped kill as soldiers are trained to do.

The media frame of the war has changed. Media Tenor reports on the basis of monitoring media in six countries: “IRAQ NO LONGER ABOUT IRAQIS BUT ABOUT AMERICANS.” Their findings: “coverage in terms of volume has moved its focus away from Iraq focusing instead on the US role.”

IT IS ALL ABOUT US

In short, it’s now all about us — as if it wasn’t always.

A war originally sold on the grounds of finding WMDS then became about bringing in democracy is now about protecting US soldiers. All about us!

As Ted Koppel does his thing tonight, many ABC viewers won’t get to see it because Sinclair Broadcasting is refusing to carry it — just suppressing the coverage. See the Mediachannel home page for our report on who is behind it and where they stand politically. Nightline insists that the show is a tribute to US service members and defends its editorial freedom to offer the broadcast. Bob Herbert opines today in the NY Times:

“Each death in Iraq reminds us of a lesson never learned from history — that fantasy must genuflect before reality.”

The question is (and always is) why has it taken so long to tell the truth, and when, if ever, will we see the face of the Iraqi dead and hear their stories too? A friend in Dubai sent me pictures of US soldiers terrorizing Iraqi civilians in this war on terror. That’s what the rest of the world is seeing regularly even if we are still living in a media fed cocoon that tends to support the war.

RESISTANCE FORCES RETREAT IN FALLUJA

That’s how the BBC is reporting a pullback by US Marines from the besieged Iraqi city as Iraqis cheer the arrival of one of Saddam’s ex generals wearing his old uniform to command l000 Iraqi soldiers to impose order. The Beeb reports that the so-called insurgents had refused to comply with US military demands Bombs were dropped on the town just yesterday. CNN reports that a similar deal is being negotiated in Najaf, another town encircled by US military forces.

Carol Rosenberg of Knight Ridder newspapers said the Marines main tactic was killer units. “In the past three weeks, two sniper teams attached to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment have shot down 90 people who have strayed into their sights. The two teams are part of the 100 Marine sharpshooters deployed by three battalions around the city. One sniper secreted away in another corner of Fallujah has “26 confirmed kills,” military officers here report.

“Every time we get to kill somebody, he is no longer shooting at the Marines,” said Sgt. Dennis Elchlinger, 31, of Encampment, Wyo., who is one of only 500 scout-snipers in the Marine Corps.”

Ann Scott Tyson t of The Christian Science Monitor reports on the Iraq forces: “Far from limited to a small group of ?dead-enders’ and Saddam ?thugs’ as Pentagon officials claim, the armed opposition to the US occupation in Iraq has reached the point where some experts say it threatens to become a full-fledged nationalist insurgency. Bolstered by former Iraqi military and security personnel, today’s insurgents are at the least conducting increasingly sophisticated coordinated attacks. In addition, they have built networks to recruit fighters, make weapons, and funnel funds from Iraqi businesses and charitable groups, military experts say.”

BACKFIRE

Iraq based journalist Dahr Jamail, of The NewStandard comments on the incidents that fuel outrage at American soldiers:

“The 26 April explosions at a chemical warehouse being raided by the U.S. military constitute yet another example of heavy-handed tactics gone awry. US officials say they had reason to believe the facility was being used to manufacture chemical munitions. Rather than use other means to investigate, such as better human intelligence or a more discreet method of entry, the military used its preferred reconnaissance approach: a cadre of soldiers, armored vehicles and a blowtorch. Troops stormed their way into the facility, with horrendous consequences.”

“The US military reports two soldiers died and fifteen were wounded in two massive explosions that immediately followed troops? attempt to access the building.”

“When I arrived at the scene, a witness told me, ?People were jumping and dancing on the burning Humvees because of the hatred towards the Americans due to their dealings with Iraqis. People were cheering for Falluja.’ Images of the aftermath were broadcast and printed throughout the Western media.”

“In order for Western observers to understand why the deaths of people presented to Western audiences as liberators would be cheered by those supposedly being liberated, the media would need to present the hundreds of raids that result in Iraqi suffering. Monday’s perfume factory calamity was certainly not the first time a military raid in occupied Iraq has backfired on the soldiers carrying it out.”

http://blog.newstandardnews.net/iraqdispatches/archives/000286.html

READ THE STORY

THE CBS 60 MINUTES 11 story on abuses of Iraqis by US contractors torturing Iraqis can be read here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/27/60II/main614063.shtml

For more on the so-called “privatized military forces,” see Huck Gutman’s ?Soldiers on Hire,’ published by the Statesman in Calcutta & reprinted by CommonDreams.org:
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0427-03.htm

Part 2
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0428-01.htm

SEE THE IMAGES

CBS News has posted a clip of some US forces in action in Iraq:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60II/main3475.shtml

The Memory Hole offers stills from the CBS piece:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/iraqis_tortured/

KERRY THE VIETNAM VET

Even John Kerry, he who would be President, is stressing how alike he and President Bush is on the issue, Ruth Conniff writes in the Progressive:

“In his April 18 appearance on Meet the Press, Kerry distanced himself from his younger, anti-war incarnation. Host Tim Russert showed a clip of the young Kerry in uniform, just back from Vietnam, telling of the atrocities he and his fellow soldiers had taken part in, and saying that the United States had engaged in war crimes in Vietnam. ?Atrocities?’ Russert asked Kerry. The candidate squirmed and tried a stiff joke, making light of his own earnest image in that early video footage: ?Where did all that dark hair go, Tim? That’s a big question for me,’ he said, chuckling awkwardly. He went on to say that his description of burning villages and machine-gunning women and children as ?war crimes’ was ?over the top’ — just the bluster of an angry young man.”

“On other issues of war and peace, Kerry sounded similarly defensive and eager to portray himself as a hawk. He bobbed and weaved and qualified his way out of his eminently sensible statement that the war on terror is not primarily a military endeavor. He reminded Russert that he supported more troops in Iraq and more money for the military budget. He left no daylight at all between the Bush administration’s staunch support of Ariel Sharon’s aggressive policies in the Occupied Territories and his own.”

AL JAZEERA SANITIZING NEWS COVERAGE

Al Jazeera is under enormous US lobbying to tone down its coverage. David Miller sends along this internal memo that is only suggestive of the external pressaure:
From: mernissia
To: all
Subject: Violence in the News

“It is clear that scenes of extreme violence are filling our news bulletins. Many people are upset, not least Mr Ahmed Sheikh, the Editor-in-Chief.

“violence that is true to life is regarded as desensitising viewers, although some might argue that its use may serve a moral or a social point. Therefore, consideration should be given to the suitability of scenes of violence in the news.”

“shots containing excessive violence should be avoided altogether. It is always necessary to step back and think about their impact on viewers at home watching them with their young children.”

“The volume of harrowing and distressing material from Iraq has been dominating ours news bulletins, and it is often not well handled. I think a balance should be struck between the demands of truth and the danger of desensitising people!”

Aziz El Mernissi

“KUWAIT By A Staff Reporter:”

“Al-Jazeera journalists are being told by their own editor to censor reports filed from Iraq, the Kuwait Times can reveal. An internal memo sent to staff at the Arabic television network says that ?shots containing excessive violence should be avoided altogether’. This call for censorship must come as a huge blow to Al-Jazeera’s reputation as the world’s most honest and fearless news organisation?.”

“Such statements would appear to contradict Al-Jazeera’s own description of itself. The company’s English-language website boasts that ?free from the shackles of censorship and government control, Al-Jazeera has offered its audiences in the Arab world much needed freedom of thought, independence, and room for debate’.”

“Journalists within the Arabic news organisation are known to be unhappy with the current regime. One reporter who has friends working for Al-Jazeera told the Kuwait Times, ?I feel they are being horribly betrayed by elements within the TV company who are more interested in cosying-up to the Bush administration than maintaining the high journalistic standards that we hold so dear.’”

AL COLONIALISM

University Park, Pa. — Corporate Hollywood, led by international multimedia conglomerates such as Viacom, Time Warner and Disney, not only dominates moviemaking worldwide, a process accelerated in the 1980s, but also employs a colonialism-style of storytelling that may aggravate cultural relations, says a Penn State historian.

“Beginning in the 1980s — the era of President Ronald Reagan, a former actor who led the conservative political movement — the storylines of Hollywood movies have reflected not the contemporary social commentary of Seventies movies, but a glossy, Americanized Protestant work ethic theme,” says Christopher J. Jordan, assistant professor of communications and author of the recent book, “Movies and the Reagan Presidency: Success and Ethics” (Praeger, 2003).

“The stories stress that only hard work produces success with the hidden message that poverty, instead of being a societal problem, results from laziness and incompetence,” Jordan notes. “Such movies include blockbuster action films that inadvertently but often blatantly advertise the growing gap between the poor and wealth in the world, not to mention the United States.”

“To appeal to many audiences in different countries, most movie storylines are now simplified to emphasize action and spectacle over character development, ignoring or trivializing complex issues, he adds.”?

http://live.psu.edu/story/6586

YOUR LETTERS: SOUTH AFRICA, NOT NIRVANA

Lee Ferrell has another view of South Africa:

“My wife has returned to SA for a time to bury her father. She has been ?hijacked’ twice in 2 mos in J’burg. Crime has increased dramatically and more police have gone without pay, she says, so they seldom work. She also notes that the black township communities are seething because the ANC has not kept its promises.”

“Many are also outraged at the Mbeki connections with big Corporate players. He courts CEO’s and the money pours in…; but the ?people’ see very little of it. The big University in J’burg just found that all aid for poor students is being cut by the ANC, beneath the ?radar’ of the news.”

“The S. Africans I knew when there did not want a nation of malls and fast food. They wanted what Mandela promised. The ANC has not followed through. They even arrested opposition party people as they exited buses to vote in many townships (including Soweto) 3 weeks ago.”

“Given what I’ve learned about the ANC, I would hope you would use your influence, if any, to ask some tough questions of Pres. Mbeki. No one else seems to be doing it.”

new South Africa even if some feedback suggests that my article yesterday was perceived as negative. Not at all. Personally, I am not alone in feeling that I would rather have a Thabo Mbeki as president than a GWB. I have learned a lot from South Africa including that old dictum by another African revolutionary I met, Amilcar Cabral, to “claim no easy victories.”

South Africa is struggling against powerful forces in the world that do not wish it well. I do. It’s easy to sit in NY and cheerlead or criticize. I wanted to see for myself and that’s why I went. The spirit of the people was infectious as I reported; their culture inspiring, and their willingness to debate the way forward impressive.

I feel one has to offer an honest and rounded picture of the flaws and achievements. I think that leads to more people respecting South Africa with a better understanding of the obstacles it is facing and overcoming. Yes there is crime rooted in poverty and the legacy of apartheid. And yes, bad things happen but they do in every society especially our own. My suggestion to one and all: visit South Africa and see what it is like. Talk to people there. Read about what they have been though and where they are going. You will be impressed by its struggle, beauty and example.

Danny Cassidy, poetizes:

The falluja paradigm: no way in no way out.

kerry paradigm:no way win if no way out.”

NNA quotes someone, maybe Riverbend saying “?I hate American foreign policy and its constant meddling in the region?I hate American tanks in Baghdad and American soldiers on our streets and in our homes on occasion?why does that mean that I hate America and Americans? Are tanks, troops and violence the only face of America? If the Pentagon, Department of Defense and Condi are ?America,’ then yes — I hate America.’”

“Me too!”

“I don’t see how the left (the non-Right) CAN vote for Kerry; reason suggests that there aren’t any “election cycles” left to go, that this is not political business-as-usual, that it IS, really-truly, fascism.”

“For all the tough talk from the Resident, one wonders — remembering the media treatment of the two snipers’ run, one man and one kid — how “the U.S.” will weather the first “terrorist” suicide-bomber, or whatever, in Coronado, or Cleveland, or wherever?.”

“Anyway, your reader’s right that your commentary is the best. (And info clearing house the best digest.) Lois Lane Awards all around?”

Randy Berry writes: “I would really like to know how to let Americans know that their Rights and Freedoms have stolen and the Bill of Rights made a piece of useless paper. I have talked to many many people about this; some want to argue, most say that is impossible, and the rest just don’t believe it, only about 1 out of every 100 people realize what has really happened. The damn media in this country hasn’t said a damn thing about it. Are they scared of the unelected? For he damn sure wasn’t elected. Where is the press, why aren’t they putting the truth to the people? What in the hell has come over this country?”

BUSY WEEKEND

I will be speaking at the relaunch of a new edition of Greg Palast’s book “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy” on Sunday at 4PM at the Great Hall at Cooper Union, the very place that A Lincoln appeared back in pre-civil war days?.CBS News is coming in for an interview for possible use on weekend news?And I was interviewed about Nightline’s program tonight by a leading newspaper in Japan?all signs of the respect enjoyed by Mediachannel.org?My new film in process, WMD, has now been invited to two film festivals?The big problem that remains: finding funding to complete it.

Have a great weekend. Tomorow is May Day, once the worke’s holiday. I am sure that will be marked around the world if not in the US. I await your comments on the news and this dissection. Write: dissector@mediachannel.org