Friday, February 16, 2007

The Umpteenth Time


Haven't we heard this before?

Look how much disinformation NPR packs into its top-of-the-hour news bulletin on Morning Edition today. Nora Raum tells us, "Gates says Iranian paramilitaries are supplying Shiite insurgents in Iraq with weapons, including advanced roadside bombs. But the secretary couldn’t say whether the Iranian government was directly complicit. "

Then Guy Raz fleshes it out, "Gates acknowledged that the American public has shown skepticism over the latest batch of allegations linking Iran to terror groups in Iraq, but he also insisted the evidence is strong." After a brief quote from Gates, Raz continues, "Military intelligence officials accuse the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps of providing weapons to anti-US militias in Iraq. Asked whether the accusation is a sign of things to come, an exhausted Gates said, [voice of Gates] 'For the umpteenth time, we are not looking for an excuse to go to war with Iran. We are not planning a war with Iran.' "

Raz then ends the report without mentioning that what Gates said is a well documented lie. Various reports (this for example) have established that the US has been planning a war with Iran. Even the sickening, oft-stated "all options are on the table" is an admission that planning is occurring.

The story here is the justifiable skepticism of "the American public" [though not of National Public Radio] and the misinformation being spread by the Pentagon and the Bush administration. Sadly, for the umpteenth time, NPR simply serves as a rebroadcaster of these unsubstantiated claims. NPR would do well to take a cue from KSFR of Santa Fe which is refusing to serve as a disseminator of information based on "unnamed US officials."

(BTW, the graphic is a shot from the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some place you can donate with good conscience:
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003545357
Again, sorry about the long link. From the commentor:
War On War Off | 02.16.07 - 9:02 am at Eschaton

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the previous comment, I hadn't tread the entire article.

Unknown said...

Gates' statements are just what one would expect from an individual who "... had a major role in the politicization of intelligence on the Soviet Union, Central America and Southwest Asia. During his testimony, Mr. Gates, known for his outstanding memory, testified 33 times that he did not have any recollection of the facts of Iran-contra."
http://www.ciponline.org/nationalsecurity/news/articles/goodman111006.htm

NPR doesn't seem to have much to say about that.

Unknown said...

Argh! Here's the multi-line version of the link:
http://www.ciponline.org/nationalsecurity/
news/articles/goodman111006.htm

Vleeptron Dude said...

right right i am never going to listen to npr again, it's Fox/Murdoch /CNN/Clear Channel/Sinclair only for this boyo. i demand only Truth!

jeez i can't believe how comparatively ethically depraved npr is

uhhh guy ... did npr run over your kitten in the driveway or something?