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IsaacHunt
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Registered: 05/27/05
Posts: 176
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Smoking Gun Memo
#4479308 - 07/31/05 11:53 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Smoking Gun Memo? Iraq Bombshell Goes Mostly Unreported in US Media
Journalists typically condemn attempts to force their colleagues to disclose anonymous sources, saying that subpoenaing reporters will discourage efforts to expose government wrongdoing. But such warnings seem like mere self-congratulation when clear evidence of wrongdoing emerges, with no anonymous sources required-- and major news outlets virtually ignore it.
A leaked document that appeared in a British newspaper offered clear new evidence that U.S. intelligence was shaped to support the drive for war. Though the information rocked British Prime Minister Tony Blair's re-election campaign when it was revealed, it has received little attention in the U.S. press.
The document, first revealed by the London Times (5/1/05), was the minutes of a July 23, 2002 meeting in Blair's office with the prime minister's close advisors. The meeting was held to discuss Bush administration policy on Iraq, and the likelihood that Britain would support a U.S. invasion of Iraq. "It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided," the minutes state.
The minutes also recount a visit to Washington by Richard Dearlove, the head of the British intelligence service MI6: "There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
That last sentence is striking, to say the least, suggesting that the policy of invading Iraq was determining what the Bush administration was presenting as "facts" derived from intelligence. But it has provoked little media follow-up in the United States. The most widely circulated story in the mainstream press came from the Knight Ridder wire service (5/6/05), which quoted an anonymous U.S. official saying the memo was "an absolutely accurate description of what transpired" during Dearlove's meetings in Washington.
Few other outlets have pursued the leaked memo's key charge that the "facts were being fixed around the policy." The New York Times (5/2/05) offered a passing mention, and the Charleston (W.V.) Gazette (5/5/05) wrote an editorial about the memo and the Iraq War. A columnist for the Cox News Service (5/8/05) also mentioned the memo, as did Molly Ivins (WorkingForChange.com, 5/10/05). Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler (5/8/05) noted that Post readers had complained about the lack of reporting on the memo, but offered no explanation for why the paper virtually ignored the story.
In a brief segment on hot topics in the blogosphere (5/6/05), CNN correspondent Jackie Schechner reported that the memo was receiving attention on various websites, where bloggers were "wondering why it's not getting more coverage in the U.S. media." But acknowledging the lack of coverage hasn't prompted much CNN coverage; the network mentioned the memo in two earlier stories regarding its impact on Blair's political campaign (5/1/05, 5/2/05), and on May 7, a short CNN item reported that 90 Congressional Democrats sent a letter to the White House about the memo-- but neglected to mention the possible manipulation of intelligence that was mentioned in the memo and the Democrats' letter.
Salon columnist Joe Conason posed this question about the story:
"Are Americans so jaded about the deceptions perpetrated by our own government to lead us into war in Iraq that we are no longer interested in fresh and damning evidence of those lies? Or are the editors and producers who oversee the American news industry simply too timid to report that proof on the evening broadcasts and front pages?"
As far as the media are concerned, the answer to Conason's second question would seem to be yes. A May 8 New York Times news article asserted that "critics who accused the Bush administration of improperly using political influence to shape intelligence assessments have, for the most part, failed to make the charge stick." It's hard for charges to stick when major media are determined to ignore the evidence behind them.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2511
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: IsaacHunt]
#4480049 - 08/01/05 04:29 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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> Or are the editors and producers who oversee the American news industry simply too timid to report that proof on the evening broadcasts and front pages?
It is easy to find the answer to this question, simply ask "where is the money?". There is a lot of money to be made reporting on a war. Look what CNN was able to do with Desert Storm in Iraq in the early 1990's. Journalism is no longer about unbiased reporting, it is about making money, pure and simple. The more messed up the media can keep things, the more horrors there are to report, and the more money they will make.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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GazzBut
Refraction
Registered: 10/15/02
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: Seuss]
#4480180 - 08/01/05 05:54 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Are you saying that the US media failed to report information that could have made it harder for the US to go to war because they didnt want to miss out a potential payday??
-------------------- Always Smi2le
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: GazzBut]
#4480203 - 08/01/05 06:09 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Are you saying that the US media failed to report information that could have made it harder for the US to go to war because they didnt want to miss out a potential payday?
Absolutely, no doubt in my mind what-so-ever. (I have been wrong from time to time, but I don't think I am in this case.)
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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GazzBut
Refraction
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: Seuss]
#4480210 - 08/01/05 06:14 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Dont buy it myself. Surely exposing Bush and Co as liars would generate a pretty hefty payday in itself?
-------------------- Always Smi2le
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: GazzBut]
#4480252 - 08/01/05 07:37 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Surely exposing Bush and Co as liars would generate a pretty hefty payday in itself?
Gotta think long term... what is more profitable... eight plus years of war or a few months of Bush lied. Granted, nothing like this is as simple as a single cause, but I think money in this case is the biggest of the many causes.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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GazzBut
Refraction
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: Seuss]
#4480316 - 08/01/05 08:27 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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How are wars so profitable to the media anyway?
-------------------- Always Smi2le
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: GazzBut]
#4480350 - 08/01/05 08:54 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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> How are wars so profitable to the media anyway?
I suppose for the same reason that people flock to watch a burning building... human nature?
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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GazzBut
Refraction
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: Seuss]
#4484158 - 08/02/05 02:08 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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So its simply that they can increase advertising revenue when they are running their 24hr rolling war tripe?
Yeah I suppose that makes some kind of sick,twisted,depraved and fucked up sense!
-------------------- Always Smi2le
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TheCow
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: Seuss]
#4484218 - 08/02/05 02:38 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Seuss said:
Quote:
Surely exposing Bush and Co as liars would generate a pretty hefty payday in itself?
Gotta think long term... what is more profitable... eight plus years of war or a few months of Bush lied. Granted, nothing like this is as simple as a single cause, but I think money in this case is the biggest of the many causes.
Im sorry I just dont buy that argument. Isnt this the nation that was captivated for a while by the runaway bride and terri shiavo. Id say the media doesnt necessarily have a vested interest in the war as much as you imply they do. Sure they are based off of ratings and the war could serve to have one great topic that people will want to see on the news. But I think that they could put anything shiny and flashing on the news, and those same people would watch it. Wed have a lot more runaway brides, or more about terrorism, or afghanistan. I think the news networks how like cattle we are.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: TheCow]
#4485248 - 08/02/05 12:24 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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> Isnt this the nation that was captivated for a while by the runaway bride and terri shiavo. Id say the media
Yes, but they only get these types of stories every few months and they need something constant, such as a nice war, to drop back to when there are no other "big stories" to push.
> I think the news networks how like cattle we are.
More like sheep, but I certainly agree with you on this.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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lonestar2004
Live to party,work to affordit.
Registered: 10/03/04
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: IsaacHunt]
#4485523 - 08/02/05 01:31 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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do you have a copy of this "Smoking Gun Memo?"
or is this like a Dan Rather "document"
-------------------- America's debt problem is a "sign of leadership failure" We have "reckless fiscal policies" America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better Barack Obama
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zappaisgod
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I think he's referring to the Downing Street memo
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lonestar2004
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Re: Smoking Gun Memo [Re: zappaisgod]
#4485656 - 08/02/05 02:02 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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oh yea.......thats the memo John Kerry was going to present to congress and get George Bush impeached!
but now the moon bats have moved on to the impeachment of Karl Rove.
-------------------- America's debt problem is a "sign of leadership failure" We have "reckless fiscal policies" America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better Barack Obama
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zappaisgod
horrid asshole
Registered: 02/11/04
Posts: 81,741
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"Impeachment of Karl Rove" Fucking hilarious.
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