Down the (You) Tubes with Melissa Block

With the scathing review of the mainstream media's role in pimping this sorry war in Iraq, with the Tillman family's condemnation of the US Military's media manipulation of Pat Tillman's death, and with the exposure long ago of the Pentagon's psy-ops program of planting false media stories -- you'd think NPR would take a jaundiced view of the Pentagon rolling out its "unfiltered" YouTube channel.

Guess not. If you look at this LA Times piece on the program from yesterday and compare it to today's commercial for the Pentagon on NPR, it's pretty obvious that this is a scheduled, scripted campaign: same old crap about videos of US soldiers shooting insurgents, inflating soccer balls for Iraqi kids, giving first aid to Iraqis, and carrying bandaged children. Next we'll be hearing about US squads breaking into Iraqis' homes at night to tuck in the little Iraqi children and read them a bedtime story (I'd suggest My Pet Goat.)

And who does Melissa Block talk to to get a critical, expert opinion on this latest propaganda blitz? Why the unbiased, tell-it-like-it-is, Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a spokesperson for the Multi-National Forces in Iraq. Now that's what I call hard-hitting, risky reporting. If it weren't so horribly tragic, it would be funny.