10 April 2011 By Stephen
Lendman According to media scholar/critic
Robert McChesney, today's corporate journalism is
co-opted, corrupted, gutted, and virtually worthless
as a source of real news, information and analysis. As a result, a free and open
society is at risk because fiction substitutes for
fact. News is carefully managed. Dissent is
marginalized, and supporting wealth and power
interests replace full disclosure and accurate
reporting. No wonder imperial wars are called
liberating one. Civil liberties are suppressed for our
own good, and patriotism means going along with
lawless governments. America's under both parties
certainly qualifies. A previous article explained that
for many decades, The Times has been America's closest
equivalent to an official ministry of information and
propaganda, masquerading as real news, commentary,
analysis and opinion. Its long history reveals a record
of suppressing truth, supporting powerful interests,
backing corporate predators, and endorsing imperial
wars, no matter how much killing, destruction, and
human misery they cause, let alone why they're waged.
In Times logic, America's are
legitimate, liberating and just when, in fact, they're
lawless, brutal, exploitive wealth and power grabs,
intolerant of democratic values, including at home. As a result, an April 7 editorial
headlined, "Keeping Ahead of Qaddafi" doesn't
surprise, saying: America should use A-10 Warthogs
to attack tanks and armor and AC-130 gunships to
escalate killing on the ground, explaining they "can
fly slow enough and low enough" to destroy targets
better than "highflying supersonic French and British
jets." American ones as well still participating. In fact, AFRICOM's General Carter
Ham, commanding the Libyan war, not NATO, said these
and other strike aircraft are deployed and available
to provide close air-ground support. Recent bad
weather and threats from Gaddafi's mobile
surface-to-air missiles restricted their use so far,
he explained. Claiming this will avoid civilian
casualties, Times reasoning ignores the historic
record that democratic and authoritarian governments
willfully kill large numbers of civilians
strategically to win wars at all cost, especially
imperial ones to colonize conquered foes, control
their resources, and exploit their people ruthlessly
for profit. During and since WW II alone,
America killed millions of mostly civilian Japanese,
Germans, Italians, Koreans, Southeast Asians, Central
Americans, Africans, Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, and
now Libyans. In fact, its rules of engagement
(ROE) stress one strategy only - win without
restraint. All targets are fair game to defeat
adversaries. In other words, civilian lives are of no
consequence, and at times become strategic targets. "Wars are messy business," said
The Times, a disdainful comment mindless of the cost
as long as not to Americans, at least not enough to
make headlines. To remove Gaddafi and control the
entire Mediterranean Basin, expect a future Times
editorial to endorse ground troops, suggested by
General Ham before a Senate Armed Services Committee
hearing. Asked if deploying them was
planned, he said: "I suspect there might be some
consideration of that. My personal view at this point
would be that that's probably not the ideal
circumstance, again for the regional reaction that
having American boots on the ground would entail." Unmentioned was UN Resolution
1973 prohibiting their use, besides Obama and Defense
Secretary Gates repeatedly saying no ground forces
will be used. Nonetheless, credible information
revealed that US and UK Special forces, as well as CIA
and MI 6 intelligence operatives have been there for
weeks or months as well as Egyptian commandos, arming
and training so-called rebels. They include elements of popular
resistance, Gaddafi defectors (perhaps bribed and/or
intimidated to switch sides), and violent Libyan
Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) insurgents, the same or
latter day ones who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan
and Americans in Iraq, ideologically allied with Al
Qaeda (in fact, a CIA creation). In December 2004, the US State
Department designated LIFG a Foreign Terrorist
Organization (FTO), accusing its members of being
allied with "Usama bin Ladin and believed to be part
of al-Qaida's leadership and structure or active in
the international terrorist network." In August 2007, the State
Department said "Libyans associated with the LIFG are
part of the broader international terrorist movement.
The LIFG is one of the groups believed to have planned
the Casablanca suicide bombings in May 2003....The
LIFG constitutes a serious threat to US interests and
personnel." The State Department also said
they were responsible for a 1996 failed Gaddafi
assassination attempt, and during the 1990s clashed
with Libyan security forces. They're not people readers would
invite to dinner or want in their neighborhood, let
alone running their country. Quite the opposite. In three decades, they shifted
from US allies to enemies to again allies, and perhaps
enemies ahead when their usefulness ends, and they're
abandoned or used short-term repressively to solidify
control. Not freedom fighters or democrats, they're,
in fact, cutthroat killers used by America
exploitively to win at all costs for imperial, not
liberating reasons. Numerous previous articles explained the grave danger from Japan's nuclear disaster, accessed in chronological order at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Nonetheless, since the March 11 earthquake/tsunami caused it, Times reports and editorials supported the notion that damage is contained and Americans face no threat when, in fact, quite the opposite is true. Its April 8 editorial continued the subterfuge headlined, "How Much of a Threat? saying: "People in Japan and in this country are rightly concerned. But, as of now, potential health risks appear to be limited in Japan and virtually nonexistent in the United States." False and Times management knows it, willfully lying to readers to support a dangerous technology and nuclear proliferation previous articles called ticking time bombs, assuring inevitable new Fukushimas or worse. Japan's disaster will persist for months or years. Two distinguished nuclear experts, Marion Fulk and Chris Busby, publicly said northern Japan (one-third of the country) is uninhabitable and should be evacuated. Moreover, Europe and North America are affected. Sampled San Francisco rainwater showed Iodine-131 readings 181 times normal. Measures up to that level also showed up in Idaho, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. It's also showing up in milk, but not in Times reports, suppressing vital information everyone needs to know. Instead, The Times said: "Top officials from American health agencies said this week that Americans are in no danger from trace amounts of radiation being detected in this country's air, water or food supplies." According to Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC - one of many US corporate controlled agencies): "There is no threat to health in the US from radiation from Japan," when, in fact, the threat is real and increasing the longer the crisis persists. A Final Comment Times reporters and management represent wealth and power, willfully lying to suppress vital information detrimental to their interests, no matter the harm to readers who rely on journalism for truth. Unfailingly, the "paper of record" won't provide it, nor does the entire corporate media establishment and other sources, co-opted by dubious funding to buy their cooperation, selling their souls and honor for a buck.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/. Comments 💬 التعليقات |
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