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Date Posted: 02:58:55 05/06/03 Tue
Author: Alie
Subject: Unembedded news and other peculiarities

So Dubya declared the main combat in Iraq was over. For once I hope he's right but I doubt it. The frequency of people killed per day has certainly decreased, but the killing and dying will go on, that's for sure. What Dubya explicitely did not declare was the end of the war because this would require by international law (not that he had a lot of consideration for it) that prisoners of war have to be released and sent home. But as Dubya needs them to tell him where those elusive WMDs are that won't happen anytime soon.

Language can be reveiling, and particularly so when it tries to hide something. Sunday I heard some new (at least for me) Bushspeak: EPOW. An EPOW is an enemy prisoner of war. Huh?? Aren't POWs usually enemies, even without the extra E? Does the E mean there are POWs that are not enemies? Maybe all those people of Arab and Asian origin who are detained by Ashcroft's order without any legal protection? Or is it another crooked logic I just don't get? EPOWs are not POWs so we can keep them in a cage until they rot? Like enemy combattants?

While the combat has come to an end, the coalition of the killing, in particular the US occupation forces still do not meet their obligation to provide clean water and health care or security for the population. There is a huge cloud of wonderful words and promises, but reality is different. Several humanitarian aid NGOs complain that the US army doesn't let them in. Iraq has not been liberated, it was appropriated by the Bush mob. My opinion may not be popular, but I really hope the UN will keep up the sanctions against, or better, in favor of Iraq because this is the only way the Iraqi people benefit from the oil sales and not the neocon mob and their cronies. The rules for the sanctions should be easily adaptable to the current needs of the country.

BTW, did Chalabi's vita make their way into the US mainstream media? He's a big-time embezzler and cheated countless people when he bankrupted the bank he ran in Jordan. Small wonder that the neocon mob are so fond of him, he fits right in with the family.

Yesterday I heard a few minutes of the radio broadcast that Iraq will be treated to in the future. It was exactly the excited and point- and contentless babble I know from US radio and tv, without the ads though. Some US reporter gushed that US journalism is the best of the world and that's what Iraq will get now. Sorry friends, while I agree that Iraq will get it now, US journalism being the best of the world is world class bullshit. Or at least, the kind of journalism Iraq will be treated to is definitely not the small remainder of US journalism that still earns this name.

Does anybody remember when I said a while ago that I wouldn't be overly surprised if the rescue of Jessica Lynch was just another propaganda stunt? Well, it was. She was a prisoner at some point in the story, and she was lucky to survive, no doubt. Also, she is not responsible for the fudged story. She was "rescued" in plain daylight with night view devices (or however these infrared thingies are called) from an ordinary (not even military) hospital where she was treated for her injuries. Beats me that the rescue squad obviously had their own cameranman with them. They certainly would not have invited one of the embedded journalists to this dangerous rescue action? There are also stories that some of the scenes to be broadcasted on US tv were repeated because they were not convincing enough the first time. I didn't find prove for this last tidbit, but the rest was in the Washington Post (April 15, 2003). I'll see if I can find a copy somewhere because, stupidly, I didn't save it the moment I found it. Now it's available in the pay archives only and I won't pay for more prove about how corrupted the Bushites and their top brass in the military are. They show it for free, every single day.

Here is one of the more scaring quotes I recently found (form the Critic story below):
"In fact, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that Americans were happy with Iraq war coverage, though many wanted less news coverage of anti-war activism and fewer TV appearances by former military officers."

Well, normally I'd say these US Americans deserve Bush as their president and may they be happy with him. But as he doesn't destroy the USA only, he must be stopped at any legal price (impeachment, a life sentence, and using their money to repair at least a little of the damage they've done would be a good point to start). I'm pretty sure though he will not be chased from office in 2004, voter lists and the complete election procedure are all rigged already, and this time not only in Florida (info to follow soon).

But not all is bad. Yesterday I counted the links to alternative/indy/unembedded media I collected over the last weeks, and there were close to 300 of them. Many are US media, many are indeed among the world's best. If somebody is interested I can clean up my list and post or email it.

What's following is a somewhat eclectic collection of stories, some news and some more in-depth analyses which start appearing now that the hectic war coverage is gone. I also included some articles that complement Lance's post about this christian secret society some days ago.

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