COURT SLAPS FCC DOWN

LIGHT AT END OF TUNNEL (?)

MICHAEL MOORE’S MOVIETIME

The calendar has rolled around to June 25, the anniversary of the official start of the Korean war, with just two days to my birthday and five to the so-called hand over in Iraq. But before we return to the carnage and daily body count, let’s take a break and consider some good news for a change.

Here’s Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy to tell you about it. Yesterday he writes an Appeals Court "delivered a judgment that almost everyone but FCC Chair Michael Powell and his two GOP colleagues knew was coming: That the FCC decision on media ownership on June 2, 2003, was fatally flawed."

THE POWELL DOCTRINE

Under Powell, the FCC embarked on a “rush to judgment” that promoted dangerous deregulation of the nation’s media ownership rules. The GOP majority was so convinced by its ideological perspectives that it failed to conduct public hearings (except one) and to engage in serious independent scholarship and analysis.

To be honest, there is a striking and disturbing parallel between the Powell’s FCC fixation that the nation’s newspaper, broadcast, and network television was so diverse that ownership safeguards could be jettisoned, and the Administration’s Iraq policy that also appears to have been shaped by preconception–not facts.

The review ordered today by the Court provides the country with a new opportunity to debate and review more seriously the policies that determine how the First Amendment should best serve the public and the press. This time, millions of Americans will be closely watching how the country’s media lobbyists, including the four TV networks, and the Commissioners create an agenda that addresses this issue in a way our democracy deserves.

have a full wrap up on the decision and what it means. But bear in mind, these rules do not extend to cable. There consolidation continues - and globally.

This just in from today’s Financial Times: "MTV looks to further expand its European presence after it buys German rival Viva Media." Note those antiseptic words: "EXPAND ITS PRESENCE."

"THE AUDIENCE IS ROARING"

Meanwhile. The two FCC commissioners of the Democratic persuasion have been in Portland holding hearings. Wendy Meremark reports that she has been hearing: "the audience roaring and applauding blows against the commission." She continues:

My favorite segment was from a panelist of media representatives, (politicians and public also had access). The panelist from KBOO itself spoke of their listener-supported non-commercial station being almost sued out of business for one f— word in one rap song aired long before Janet Jackson stupidboobity. Cost KBOO over a year and $70K in legal fees to be found innocent. The panelist said the obscenity regulation was ridiculous and partisan the way it’s used, and it wasn’t used on two local morning commercial goofball air personalities who played the Nick Berg audio and spoofed on it, but they were suspended by their station. Where was the FCC the panelist said.

But she missed that another station that same morning aired that same audio tape, but on the rightwing talk station by Lars “Liars” Larson, KXL 750 AM owned by Paul Allen, Mr. Co-Microsoft. So the FCC still has a chance to act to regulate him. I’ll probably call in to KBOO in the morning (M-F, 7:30am-9: is KBOO’s TalkRadio) and serve them ‘Liars.’ He’s so bad.

IBERATION

In Iraq, the meaning of recent events seems clear. June 30 2004 is beginning to feel like April 30 1975, the day that the ‘light’ in the Vietnam tunnel finally went out. We marked it as the "fall of Saigon." THEY marked it as "the liberation of Vietnam." Back then, the Vietnamese offensive escalated quickly. That seems to be happening again. The coverage of these two wars has been different as Janet Reitman reports in Rolling Stone:

When I arrive in Baghdad in April, most American journalists are holed up in their rooms, reporting the war by remote: scanning the wires, working their cell phones, watching broadcasts of Al Jazeera. In many cases, they’ve been reduced to relying on sources available to anyone with an Internet connection. Editorial writers might like to compare Iraq to Vietnam, but reporters on the ground say there’s no comparison. In Vietnam, journalists rode Hondas to the front. In Iraq, they rarely venture into the streets. When they do, they hide behind the smoked windows of their armored vehicles, called “hard cars.” At least nine Western journalists have been killed since the occupation began, not because they are reporters but simply because they are Westerners. Fear has become an accepted part of life in Baghdad, as inevitable as military.

UPRISING TIME?

On the ground, there was more fighting in Fallujah and a growing uprising. That’s how Al Jazeera saw it:

“Iraqi cities ablaze ahead of US handover: At least 90 people have died in a wave of brazen attacks targeting mainly Iraqi security personnel across the occupied country in the run-in to the US handover of limited authority."

The BBC put the number of dead at 100 but also reported that Moqtada al-Sadr declared a unilateral truce in the Sadr City: “‘For the sake of the public interest and considering the sensitive situation the oppressed Iraqi people are under, the Central Mehdi Army Command announces a halt to military operations within Sadr City,’ the militia said in a statement. It was unclear which group, if any, co-ordinated Thursday’s attacks Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said the authorities had expected such an escalation in the run-up to the coalition’s 30 June handover power to an Iraqi interim government … ‘We are going to defeat them and we are going to crush them,’ he vowed."

The shadowy resistance movement is coming out of the closet and is vowing to "liberate" Baghdad. The US government had advised terms like "Operation Iraqi Liberation" because the initials are "OIL." But their opponents are using THE L word.

LIBERATION TALK AGAIN

Alix de la Grange of Asia Times reports: "On the eve of the so-called transfer of sovereignty to the new Iraqi caretaker government on June 30, former Saddam Hussein generals turned members of the elite of the Iraqi resistance movement have abandoned their clandestine positions for a while to explain their version of events and talk about their plans. According to these Ba’ath officials, ‘the big battle’ in Iraq is yet to take place.

"The Americans have prepared the war, we have prepared the post-war. And the transfer of power on June 30 will not change anything regarding our objectives. This new provisional government appointed by the Americans has no legitimacy in our eyes. They are nothing but puppets.”

Why have these former officers waited so long to come out of their closets? “Because today we are sure we’re going to win.”

THE GHOSTS OF PINOCHET

To fight back the US is importing more mercenaries from places like Chile. Louis Nevaer reports for Pacific News Service:

If Jos頍iguel Pizarro has his way, he will recruit 30,000 Chileans as mercenaries to protect American companies under Pentagon contract to rebuild Iraq. And undoubtedly, within those ranks will be former members of death squads that tortured and murdered civilians when dictatorships ruled in Latin America.

“There is no comparison with what they can earn in the active military or working in civilian jobs, and what we offer,” Jos頍iguel Pizarro, Chile’s leading recruiter for international security firms, says. “This is an opportunity that few in Chile can afford to pass up.”

As democratic governments were voted into office throughout Latin America in the 1990s, Latin militaries were downsized. Thousands of military officers lost their jobs. “This is a way of continuing our military careers,” Carlos Wamgnet, 30, explained in a phone interview from Kuwait while awaiting his assignment in Iraq. “In civilian life in Chile I was making $1,800 a month. Here I can earn a year’s pay in six weeks. It’s worth the risks.”

s Insider: "S. Korean airline unions refuse to transport army troops to Iraq."

WAS THERE A DEAL?

South Africa’s News 24 reports:

Saddam, US had pre-war deal

Moscow - Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein cut a deal with the United States before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov said in an interview published on Thursday.

“There was an understanding with the Americans, as paradoxical as it may seem,” Primakov told the Russian daily Gazeta in a lengthy interview.

“Why weren’t the bridges of the Tigris blown up when the American tanks approached Baghdad? Why weren’t Iraqi aviation and tanks used, and where are they now?” asked Primakov, a former head of the Russian secret service and a specialist in Arab affairs who was formerly on good terms with Saddam.

“Why was there an immediate ceasefire? Why was there practically no resistance a year ago?” he added. ?

“They showed two soldiers with guns with palm trees in the background near the hole (where Saddam was reportedly hiding). At that time of year, date palms are never in bloom,” he said.

“Finally, any man can tell you that such a long beard (as Saddam had when he was reportedly caught) could not grow in seven months,” he said.

“All evidence suggests that Saddam surrendered earlier and the story of the hole was invented later,” he said.

THEY ARE CURSED

Back in the "homeland" the Vice President had a bit of a meltdown yesterday or so reports CNN.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Typically a break from partisan warfare, this year’s Senate class photo turned smiles into snarls as Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly used a profanity toward one senior Democrat, sources said. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who was on the receiving end of Cheney’s ire, confirmed that the Vice President used profanity during Tuesday’s class photo.

A spokesman for Cheney confirmed there was a “frank exchange of views. ? Cheney, who as president of the Senate was present for the picture day, turned to Leahy and scolded the senator over his recent criticism of the vice president for Halliburton’s alleged war profiteering.

Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton, and Democrats have suggested that while serving in the Bush administration he helped win lucrative contracts for his former firm, including a no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq. Cheney’s office has said repeatedly that the vice president has no role in government contracting and has severed all financial ties with came George Bush’s running mate. ?

Responding to Cheney’s comment, Leahy reminded him of an earlier statement the vice president had made about him. Cheney then replied with profanity. Leahy would not comment on the specifics of the story Thursday, but did confirm that Cheney used profanity. “I think he was just having a bad day,” said Leahy, “and I was kind of shocked to hear that kind of language on the floor.”

M DAY AT THE MOVIES

Today is M Day - Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 opens nationwide. Already, Fahrenheit 9/11 sets single day ticket sales record in New York. (Please see the Mediachannel front page for a more thoughtful assessment of Michael Moore’s achievement.) The other night Campell Brown, who is filling in on MSNBC’s Hardball, asked how the Bush administration "is reacting to the 9/11 film, which is, you know, banning their staffs from going to see it or anybody…"

The movie is getting cheers and some wierd jeers. Pop reviewer Rex Reed says it "leaves no turn unstoned. There are multitudes of shattering, seminal moments in his brilliant Bush-whacking documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 , that reveal more about the cynicism, greed and ineptitude in the U.S. government than you will ever learn from any sound bite on the right-wing late-night cable-channel blabfests.”

On some other side of the spectrum, Armomd White writes in New York Press: "Film of the Fascist Liberal: Michael Moore mistakes image for message, panders, gloats."

Meanwhile, even further right, News Max was in a titter about a new tract capitalizing on Mooremania: ‘Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man’ a polemic published by Moore’s own publisher, A Rupert Murdoch company. The site explains: "Apparently, more than a few people want to take revenge on Michael Moore and the timing couldn’t be better … "A few people?” Now, who could that be?

YOUR LETTERS: WHY? WHY?

Bradley Laing asks: "Why did the court reverse the FCC ruling, and keep the current cap on media ownership of braodcasting outlets? Did the judges read the newspapers and notice the violent reaction against media concentration last year? … "IS THE public rejecting the free market doctrines of that advocated the media concentration of the 1990s?"

Jackie Newberry writes from, Houston: "Story after story today of questioning Moore’s accuracy of the film. That’s fine. However, where is the same focus of the right wing blather all day every day over the radio and TV. I don’t see the difference. Just listen to Rush for 15 minutes.It would be nice to have some fair and balanced perspective."

FROM VANCOUVER, CANADA:

Carolyn Taplin in Vancouer comments first on my words: "Headless Body Found In Topless Bar.”

O.K., it was a little sick but it is humor that keeps most of us from rushing out to buy automatic weapons and maps of Washington, D.C. I hate to admit this but I watched that video of Nick Berg being beheaded. I really was curious to see if it was faked. As I couldn’t bear the screaming I had to turn the sound off. I did notice something odd though, besides the orange jumpsuit. As they held him down to start,,,errr, cutting, his body didn’t move. They weren’t sitting on him or anything and I think if I were about to have something this horrible happen to me I’d be fighting for my life. Kicking, flailing about. But he just kind of lay there, passively..

So, what I was really writing about was a very weird story on the CBC website ( cbc.ca ) about Canada’s own ” Al Qaeda Family “. The Khadrs, Canadian citizens originally from Afghanistan, are known here as The Al Qaeda Family. According to the story one of the young sons was arrested overseas and taken to Guantanamo Bay where he was imprisoned but then began secretly working for the CIA. When he no longer wanted to inform for them he was dumped somewhere in the Middle East. Now, this story started to surface last fall when the young man began encountering problems getting back into Canada. At first, he claimed he was not a terrorist. Then, this past March his mother and sisters went on national television here ( the CBC- The National ) to admit that they were all part of an Al Qaeda family who had once lived in a compound with Osama Bin Laden.

Then the young man came forward again and admitted that yes, he had been trained in Afghanistan but he wasn’t into it anymore. Then, two months ago, the fourteen year old younger brother, who last fall was shot in the spine during a shoot-out with American forces in Afghanistan wherein their father was killed, was brought to Canada for surgery to repair his ruined spine. He was allowed to return to Canada because he was a citizen and our government felt they could not deny medical treatment to a Canadian citizen. Is this bizarre or what?

The part that really got me though was the fact that none of this ever made it to American news outlets. As usual, the CIA has denied any involvement, but what made me suspicious was the almost purposeful lack of reporting on this story in the U.S. I mean, no offense, but your government takes every opportunity to point the finger at Canada for something and you would think that this story would rate as at least interesting to them. Some of the family members still live in Toronto, including the young man sent to Guantanamo. With all of their talk and fears and alerts about terrorists not one story about a known terrorist family living right next door?

If you check out the CBC website you can type in “Al Qaeda Family” in the search box and it will bring up numerous articles and video about them. Really, you have to laugh, Danny. Only in Canada. Thanks again for all of your great info and analysis.

ejoins us after a long absence from the blog. He lives in Istanbul, Turkey:

The Sy Hersh article about northern Iraq was, of course, all over the press here. But the rumor that Israel is heavily involved in northern Iraq has been in the air “around here” for months. I first heard that Israel was deeply involved with the Kurds in December (I believe I wrote an email to you that concerned that and the November bombings here in Istanbul). The other problem is that the US is now essentially using the PKK/Kongra-GEL (Kongra-Gel is the PKK’s latest incarnation) as a proxy army to pressure Iran, Syria, and Turkey.

It has been fashionable for Western human rights activists to back the PKK, but I suggest they lose that quick. The US and Israel have run out of allies in Iraq so they are turning to the last possible ones, i.e. the Kurds, and even groups such as the PKK who are on the US’ “terror” organizations list. Since early 2003 the US has repeatedly told the Turkish government that they would “take action” against the PKK/Kongra-GEL, but absolutely nothing has materialized except for a dramatic rise in violence in SE Turkey since January of 2003. The US is also known (denied by the US’ Ankara consulate, of course) to have been involved in negotiations with the PKK since the summer of 2002.

The US controls all of northern Iraq (several weeks ago some US soldiers accompanied by peshmergas got into an argument with some Turkish soldiers on the TURKISH side of the Turkish-Iraq border) and yet the PKK is able to move freely and even hold press conferences. Now how does that happen if you are, according to the State Department, a “terror” group and you exist on a relatively small territory that is completely controlled by the US military?

What the US and Israeli governments are doing in northern Iraq is a time bomb, comparable to what happened in Afghanistan in the 80s. They have lost their minds.

A. Elder of Country Energy, NSW Australia writes: "What is wrong with us that we can still have enough moral sense to instantly recoil with horror and rightly condemn as barbaric the decapitation of innocent and not so innocent american and korean civilians - but can accept with equanimity the blowing to pieces of 20 innocent iraqi civilians in retaliation, saying to ourselves they probably deserved it!"

MINDING THE PARROT

Lee Ferrrl: "Retired General Tommy Franks said a while back that a “military martial law” would become a probable necessity if there were another terrorist event in the U.S. I have been noting for while that some sort of event would occur, orchestrated by the NSA, perpetrated by the DOD in tandem with the CIA, shortly before the election. They have done it before and will do it again. American lives mean nothing to them if the statist dream is in jeopardy. Remember that airliner that mysteriously strayed into Soviet Air Space in 1986? It was found to be _purposely_ directed off course to photograph ground activities in Kamchatka. The congressional inquiry had to note that the intelligence agencies have been using commercial planes for years. John le Carre’ noted the same thing (”Why is anyone surprised…?). I had a close friend who worked on that inquiry committee. I kept his apartment for him, kept the parrot company. He came home very scared, for the future …"

LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER

I am off to Boston later today. I will be on WRKO Radio Saturday at 7PM with Dan Kennedy of the Boston Phoenix. It has been a while since I was on the Boston airaves. Anna Pizzarro shows a preview of WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception tomorrow night at Webster Hall in New York at a We The People function. It feels like the years are turning like some NYC subway turnstile. At least down below, I know where I am going. Up here, you are never sure. Happy Birthday to me, and to you and to all. Back Monday, if the site is up and the blood is flowing. Write: dissector@mediachannel.org