Corruption and the Media
http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/20349.htm
The major media's lack of interest in this enormous scandal is telling. As is their lack of interest in the 20 tons of nerve gas trucked into Jordan by Iraqi al-Qaeda members from Syria, and the likelihood that it was moved to Syria from Iraq just prior to our invasion.
The connecting theme: The UN oil-for-payoffs mess is ignored because it seems to explain the stonewalling of France and Russia at the UN when we were trying to assemble the coalition against Saddam Hussein. But the media has already written that story, and their version blames the ' go-it-alone rush-to-war unilateralism' of the Neo-con Bushies. The nerve gas story gets no play because the media has already written that one, too, and their version has the Bush Administration systematically misleading everyone about Iraqi WMD that didn't exist. (We did find lots of Iraqi nerve gas antidote stockpiled for Saddam's troops, however. Hmmm.)
I doubt that the treatment of these stories will change, at least until after the election. It's the same old agenda, as when the NYT assigned 40 (!) reporters to the Enron scandal; but once it became clear that there was no way to tie it to Bush or Cheney, the whole thing quickly became a non-story.
This week's New Yorker cover is an oil derrick gushing blood. This, I guess, is what passes for nuanced political comment on the Upper West Side. The only thing missing is Bush and Cheney dancing gleefully in the downpour.
We had a major success yesterday in Iraq, our troops taking back the Governor's Office in Najaf from al-Badr's thugs, in the process killing 40 of them without any serious casualties on our side. It's the best sign yet that his whole operation is falling apart. On the CBS News, the operation was brushed off without details and in passing, functioning only to make this transition to a video report of a minor car bombing in the capital: "And there was no peace today in Baghdad, either." I sometimes wonder if Dan Rather is on a simul-feed to al-Jazeera.
The major media's lack of interest in this enormous scandal is telling. As is their lack of interest in the 20 tons of nerve gas trucked into Jordan by Iraqi al-Qaeda members from Syria, and the likelihood that it was moved to Syria from Iraq just prior to our invasion.
The connecting theme: The UN oil-for-payoffs mess is ignored because it seems to explain the stonewalling of France and Russia at the UN when we were trying to assemble the coalition against Saddam Hussein. But the media has already written that story, and their version blames the ' go-it-alone rush-to-war unilateralism' of the Neo-con Bushies. The nerve gas story gets no play because the media has already written that one, too, and their version has the Bush Administration systematically misleading everyone about Iraqi WMD that didn't exist. (We did find lots of Iraqi nerve gas antidote stockpiled for Saddam's troops, however. Hmmm.)
I doubt that the treatment of these stories will change, at least until after the election. It's the same old agenda, as when the NYT assigned 40 (!) reporters to the Enron scandal; but once it became clear that there was no way to tie it to Bush or Cheney, the whole thing quickly became a non-story.
This week's New Yorker cover is an oil derrick gushing blood. This, I guess, is what passes for nuanced political comment on the Upper West Side. The only thing missing is Bush and Cheney dancing gleefully in the downpour.
We had a major success yesterday in Iraq, our troops taking back the Governor's Office in Najaf from al-Badr's thugs, in the process killing 40 of them without any serious casualties on our side. It's the best sign yet that his whole operation is falling apart. On the CBS News, the operation was brushed off without details and in passing, functioning only to make this transition to a video report of a minor car bombing in the capital: "And there was no peace today in Baghdad, either." I sometimes wonder if Dan Rather is on a simul-feed to al-Jazeera.
posted by Byron | Friday, May 07, 2004
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