------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the March 6, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
NEWS DIRECT FROM THE PENATAGON-ON EVERY CHANNEL By Gary Wilson In early February, with great fanfare, a group of U.S. reporters was put through a "boot camp" in preparation for a war on Iraq. These reporters are to be sent in with the troops invading Iraq. This is supposed to give the impression that the real news will be reported during any invasion of Iraq. No notice should be taken that the news media itself will be 100 percent censored--either directly by the Pentagon or through the self-censorship that the big media conglomerates impose on most reporting in the U.S. In fact, the media have been the primary promoters of the war, acting as publicity agents for the Bush administration and its war plans. Television news has ''acted as if the decision to invade Iraq has already been made, and have in effect seen it as their job to prepare the American public for the coming war,'' New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote on Feb. 18. ''Some media outlets--operating in an environment in which anyone who questions the administration's foreign policy is accused of being unpatriotic--have taken it as their assignment to sell the war...'' If you want to know what reporting from Iraq will be like, all you have to do is look at the reporting on the war in Afghanistan. Remember that war? It's hardly a blip on the TV screen anymore. There are no more reminders of what is actually going on there. But the reality is that a bloody U.S. war of conquest is continuing right now in Afghanistan. There is no end in sight. Civilians are being bombed and shot at every day by U.S. soldiers as the Pentagon attempts to impose a U.S.-made dictatorship on the people of Afghanistan. You may not know that because you haven't seen it in the U.S. media. >From the beginning of that war, there has been almost no reporting from Afghanistan. What little there was went through pre-censorship by the Pentagon. In fact, the Pentagon made sure that it didn't get reported. According to New York Times reporter Chris Hedges, Wash ington Post correspondent Doug Struck attempted "to investigate civilian casualties in Afghanistan by the U.S. military. He was made to lie down with a gun pointed to his head." (Editor & Publisher, Feb. 26) Needless to say, there were few reports on civilian casualties in Afghan istan as the result of the U.S. invasion. Want to know what is happening now in Afghanistan? Jane's (www.janes.com) in London is a research and information agency that is an arm of the military-industrial complex. Not a news agency, Jane's is an insider's news service that reports frankly to its war merchant readership. Subscriptions to its services can cost thousands of dollars a year. It is not meant for the general public and its information is rarely if ever heard on the mass communications networks. Here's what London-based Jane's Terrorism & Security Monitor reported on Feb. 24: "U.S. forces have used tactics that are offensive to Afghans. They treated every Afghan with suspicion as if he was a member of Al-Qaeda; they entered houses without permission; they body- searched women--a taboo in the Muslim world, especially in Afghanistan; and they bombed innocent civilians and arrested and mistreated people, all because of mistaken identity or misinformation. They did not show sensitivity to Afghan culture. "Perhaps the most serious tactical error was the restoration of warlords in Afghanistan," the report continues. It concludes, "U.S. forces brought the war lords back, arming, financing and guiding them back to their lost thrones. Worse yet, they even created some new ones, the so-called 'American warlords.'" That's a picture of an imperialist occupation army. It's the reality, but not what is seen in most of the U.S. media. This and much worse is in store for the people of Iraq, but you won't see it on CNN or Fox News. To find out what is really happening, people across the U.S. are turning more and more to the independent, anti-war media that can be found on the Internet. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
