Iraq
-
Total power drives you totally mad by Willliam Bowles
17 July 2007 One tends to think of those who rule as being ruthlessly logical in their application of power; after all, maintenance of the status quo should surely be one of their major objectives? But their loss of legitimacy, obvious to all except the most myopic and self-delusional points to something quite fundamental taking… Continue reading
-
In His Master’s Voice – The BBC’s Mark Urban does a hatchet job on Media Lens By William Bowles
4 June 2007 I don’t know how many readers follow the exchanges between the BBC and other mainstream media outlets and Medialens (there are number of them archived here in the Media section of the site but please do pay a visit to their site). There’s no doubt that ML perform a valuable service by… Continue reading
-
Media Lens: Illegal, Immoral, Unwinnable – A British Army Oofficer Replies to Mark Urban
1 June 2007 — Media Lens Yesterday, in response to our latest Media Alert, ‘Newsnight Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban Responds,’ we received a further reply from Mark Urban. Urban argued that our analysis “is put together by you sitting at home, sifting current events through a dense filter of ideology”. In particular, he lampooned our… Continue reading
-
Media Lens: Newsnight Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban Responds
31 May 2007 — Media Lens On May 22, we published a Media Alert, ‘The Surge – Here To Help,’ analysing a May 14 BBC report from Iraq by Newsnight’s diplomatic editor Mark Urban. (See: www.medialens.org/alerts/07/070522_the_surge_here.php) We had previously written to Urban on May 15: Continue reading
-
Media Lens: The Surge – Here to Help
On the May 14 edition of Newsnight, the BBC’s Mark Urban reported from Iraq that the US troop “surge” was an attempt to “turn the tide of violence” in Baghdad. Urban did not mean it was an attempt to turn the tide of violence in America’s favour and against its enemies – the media essentially… Continue reading
-
From ‘al-Qu’eda’ to ‘Abductions’-the deceptions continue By William Bowles
17 May 2007 It’s ages since I’ve dumped on my favourite newspaper, the Independent for its ‘news’ coverage but I broke down and bought the damn thing because of what I found on the front page this week. Under the head of “An American Nightmare” (15/5/07) we read that US troops have been “kidnapped” by… Continue reading
-
Media Lens: Newsnight Editor Responds On The Nicholas Burns Interview
26 April 2007 — Media Lens On April 17, we published our Media Alert, ‘The BBC’s Gavin Esler Interviews US Undersecretary Of State Nicholas Burns’ (www.medialens.org/alerts/07/070417_the_bbcs_gavin.php) We noted how Esler had completely failed to challenge Burns on the catastrophe afflicting Iraq, despite damning reports just published by the Red Cross and the United Nations High… Continue reading
-
Media Lens: The BBC’s Gavin Esler Interviews Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns
Who would guess from media reporting that Iraq is being convulsed by a human cataclysm? And who would guess that this catastrophe is the result of American and British criminality? Continue reading
-
So what gives? By William Bowles
12 March 2007 ‘[We come not as] conquerors or enemies, but as liberators.’ — Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude, Commander in Chief of British forces in Iraq, after entering Baghdad in March 1917. According to the best estimates, the dozen years of sanctions following Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait led to something like one million deaths… Continue reading
-
Beware of gringos bearing ‘gifts’ By William Bowles
“Staying the course”, the battle cry of the republic. Then comes the Iraq Study Group and predictably all the headlines parrot the news bites about a war ‘lost’ and a ‘change of course’. But is it a change of course or the same wolf dressed up as a dove creeping in through the back door… Continue reading
-
Leaving the scene of the crime? By William Bowles
The Independent’s front page head for Wednesday 25 October proclaimed loudly “We’re out of here” purportedly the words of General George Casey, the US’s head military honcho in Iraq. Of course the devil lives in the small print as any reading ‘between the lines’ reveals. And in any case, Casey’s comments are designed precisely to… Continue reading
-
Media Lens: Burying the Insurgency in Iraq
Since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the BBC, like the media more generally, has consistently attempted to delegitimise armed opposition to Britain and America’s illegal occupation of Iraq. Continue reading
-
Media Lens: The Value of Blood – Sovereignty Shattered By Brute Force
It is astonishing to reflect, for example, that our mass media system is not in fact state-controlled. Who could guess from the unvarying support of our media corporations for mass violence committed by our government and its allies? From their eager demonisation of leaders and countries labelled ‘enemies’ of the state? From their consistent indifference… Continue reading
-
Why I believe David Kelly’s death may have been murder by Dan Newling MP
David Kelly did not commit suicide and may have been the victim of a murder and subsequent coverup, according to a campaigning MP. Norman Baker has spent six months investigating the death of the Government weapons expert, found dead in an Oxfordshire wood three years ago. Continue reading
-
Connecting the dots by William Bowles
One has to ask the question why the media feels it necessary to ridicule the idea of a conspiracy, especially a government-inspired one. Could it be because it’s just too close to home? Continue reading
-
Media Lens: A Superb Demolition – Part 2
23 June 2006 — Media Lens The Observer’s Foreign Affairs Editor Peter Beaumont Reviews Noam Chomsky’s Failed States Beaumont continues of Chomsky: “In attempting to create a consistent argument for America as murderous bully, going back to the Seminole Wars, he edits out anything that could be put on the other side of the balance… Continue reading
-
Media Lens: The BBC’s John Simpson Responds – Again
14 June 2006 — Media Lens On June 9, we published a Media Alert: ‘An Exchange With BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson.’ (www.medialens.org/alerts/06/060609_an_exchange_with.php) This alert generated some of the most interesting and insightful letters we’ve ever received from readers. On June 13, we received the following response from John Simpson: Continue reading
-
al-somebody or other By William Bowles
According to reports, the new leader of ‘al-Qu’eda in Iraq’ is Abu Hamza al Muhajir. Apparently a website statement signed by al Qaeda said its council had unanimously agreed on Sheikh Abu Hamza al Muhajir to succeed al Zarqawi. Continue reading
-
Pulling corpses out of the hat By William Bowles
There can be no doubt that the ‘death’ of ‘Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’ is part of a carefully planned disinformation campaign designed to divert attention away from the slaughter of Haditha (and elsewhere), a campaign that the corporate and state media have gleefully participated in. Indeed, ‘al-Zarqawi’ is itself a psy-ops programme in its own right,… Continue reading
-
Media Lens: An Exchange With BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson
9 June 2006 — Media Lens On June 6, we sent the following email to the BBC’s Baghdad Correspondent Andrew North, World Affairs Editor John Simpson and Director of News Helen Boaden: Who would guess from your reports and commentary tonight (BBC1, Ten O’Clock News) that the US-UK ‘coalition’ had anything to do with the… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 