April 30, 2005

Yes, Sgrena's car was speeding, but can satellite images really show that?

Ok, since The Jawa Report has been Sgrena debunking central since, well, since way before debunking Giuliana Sgrena became a popular sport, I'm all on board with the CBS report that vindicates what American soldiers have been saying all along--Sgrena's car was speeding.

But, I have this lingering feeling that the alleged satellite images that CBS claims proves the U.S. version of the story are bogus.

Why? Well, because in order to calculate speed the satellite would have needed to take two seperate still images of the car's route within seconds of each other. That's how you measure speed. Speed = Distance x Time. In order to measure distance you need a start and a finish point.

That, or you're telling me that the CIA is now using live-image streaming from their satellites. And if the latter is the case then that satellite just happened to be broadcasting images of a road on the outskirts of Baghdad? At the very moment when Sgrena's car is speeding toward a checkpoint?

I'm sorry, this is just way too far-fetched to believe. As noted here at least umpteen bajillion times, Giuliana Sgrena is a serial liar who's sole purpose in life is to discredit the United States and who will do anything or say anything to that end.

Here's the story:

A US satellite reportedly recorded a checkpoint shooting in Iraq last month, enabling investigators to reconstruct how fast a car carrying a top Italian intelligence official and a freed hostage was traveling when US troops opened fire.

CBS, citing Pentagon officials, said the satellite recording enabled investigators to reconstruct the event without having to rely on the eyewitness accounts....

It said the soldiers manning the checkpoint first spotted the Italian car when it was 137 yards (meters) away. By the time they opened fire and brought the car to a halt, it was 46 yards (meters) away. CBS said that happened in less than three seconds, which meant the car had to be going over 60 miles an hour.

CBS said Italian investigators refused to accept that the Americans were justified in shooting so quickly, arguing among other things that the checkpoint was not properly marked.

Again, I hate to be the one to point out the obvious that the satellite image claim seems dubious--especially since if such evidence would back up the claim I've been making since day one--but we all are very aware of just how sloppy CBS reporting really is.

Again, if someone has some better info on the capabilities of satellites, I'd love to hear from them. And by info, I don't mean 'I saw this JAG episode once where....'

I'm actually quite shocked that Captain Ed isn't questioning this story or the voice of moderation himself, Joe Gandalman. Look, I just don't want us all piling on to what very well may be a bogus story. Maybe CBS is being overzealous in disproving their bias in the same way they were overzealous in 'proving' that Bush was AWOL.

UPDATE: Charles 'Smack those bitches at CBS down' Johnson doesn't even question this report. Are all of us letting our wishful thinking get the best of us? The report could be true, I'd just like someone elses word besides CBS on this.

UPDATE II: Say Anything, Hyscience too.

UPDATE III: And Betsy's Page, Pirate King, Cracker Barrel Philosopher, Dangerous Dan, Vista on Current Events, The Knock Down Rule and others.

UPDATE IV 5/02: TRADERROB takes up the arguement here and does a good job rebutting me.

But here's something important, I think. I recieved an e-mail from USAF Intelligence Officer who has been on the job for 19 years, so I take it he knows what he's talking about. I'll leave his name out of the post since the e-mail he sent is from a .mil address and says 'Classified' in the signature. The crux of it is that I am right to be skeptical about the satellite claim, however, it may be that CBS simply inferred that the images were from a satellite and misreported that info.

He says, "The most obvious source of data on how fast a vehicle was moving would be a JSTARS using their Moving Target Indicator (MTI) radar. I don't know for a fact if they're still in the area but they were at the start of the war and I'd be willing to bet that they're still there. Piece of cake for them to record an entire mission and later analyze this type of thing."

He also sends a link to a site which explains how JSTARS and Global Hawk actually do give real time data. Pretty cool stuff. So, maybe we do have the goods on Sgrena and the data is their to prove it. more...

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April 26, 2005

Soldiers Cleared, Sgrena Reacts, Italian Left Cries Murder on Senate Floor

The final report on the shooting of Giuliana Sgrena's car and the killing of Nicola Calipari has cleared U.S. soldiers of wrongdoing. There is little new here, as news of the report had been leaked out before. But liar and propagandist Giuliana Sgrena is not a happyy camper. But because Italians have bought her version of the story hook, line, and sinker, it looks like she may get her wish after all: the total withdrawal of U.S. troops. And the Italian Left is up in arms, with the Communists (Sgrena's party) actually using the Italian Senate floor to call Calipari's death a deliberate murder.

CNN:

A U.S. military investigation has cleared American troops of any wrongdoing in the shooting death last month of an Italian security agent in Baghdad, according to a senior Pentagon official.

The agent's death strained relations between the United States and Italy, two stalwart allies in the Iraq war.

The U.S. soldiers involved will face no disciplinary actions, the Pentagon official said Monday....

The investigators' report also said there appears to have been no attempted coordination on the part of the Italians to clear the U.S. checkpoint, the official said....

Italian media reported that while Italian officials participated in the U.S. investigation, it is unclear whether they would endorse the report. News reports in Italy also said officials there do not agree with the findings.

If the Italians don't endorse the report, its credibility would likely be hurt in Italy.

Italian magistrates are conducting their own unilateral investigation into the shootings and are being given access to the car that carried Calipari and Sgrena in hopes of determining how the soldiers fired on it.

Check out Sgrena's reaction. And yes, she should be charged with purgery. Times Online:
An Italian journalist rescued from hostage-takers in Iraq last month has reacted angrily to a US military investigation absolving American soldiers of responsibility for killing the man who rescued her...

In a front page editorial in her left-wing daily Il Manifesto, Sgrena called on Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, to respond what she called a "slap in the face for the Italian Government".

Sgrena, a veteran war correspondent who was held hostage for a month in Iraq, wrote: "After the apologies comes the slap in the face."

She said that the Americans had not listened to either her testimony or that of another Italian agent, even though, she said, both had given the same evidence without discussing what had happened.

"Obviously, our two testimonies given to the American commission were useless. Or will I be charged with perjury?" questioned the journalist.

"The greatest disappointment would be if our authorities were to accept this insult without reacting."...

The Americans have offered to release the report, but Italy is blocking its publication while the Government works out its response....

It comes a very bad time for Signor Berlusconi, just when he's reforming his Government after disastrous losses in regional election," Owen said.

"It will also increase pressure on him to withdraw Italian troops as soon as possible."

Meanwhile the Italian political left is using the report to their advantage. Of course the report is unacceptable to them. Nothing short of Bush=Hitler would satisfy the left-wing nutjobs of Europe. Reuters:
Italian opposition parties branded a report that cleared U.S. soldiers of blame for the killing of an Italian agent in Iraq an insult on Tuesday and urged the government to press for a fuller investigation....

Giuseppe Fioroni, a leader of the opposition centre-left Margherita party, urged the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to demand full cooperation from the U.S. authorities to determine who was responsible for Calipari's killing.

"A one-sided conclusion absolving anyone of blame that the Italian side does not accept is an insult to the truth and to the memory of Nicola Calipari apart from being a serious act of arrogance towards Italy," Fioroni said in a statement.

Gigi Malabarba, of the Communist Refoundation Party, alleged in a speech in the Italian Senate that the U.S. ambassador in Iraq at the time, John Negroponte, wanted Calipari killed for negotiating with hostage-takers. He admitted he had no proof.

Greens member of parliament Laura Cima called the findings "a big slap in the face for the Italian government" and said it should press for the truth "if it can find any pride at all".

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April 23, 2005

Al Jazeera Reporter on Trial for Terrorism

I had read several articles on the ongoing terror trials in Spain, but somehow the fact that one of the indicted terrorist is also a reporter for al Jazeera eluded me.

Gulf Times:

The defendants include Tayseer Alouni, a reporter for Arab TV channel Al Jazeera who interviewed bin Laden shortly after the attacks on New York and Washington.

Prosecutors accuse him of carrying money intended for Al Qaeda members during visits he made to Afghanistan for his journalistic work. Alouni says he is innocent.

Now check this out. He was under house arrest. House-freaking-arrest! Too harsh? Ok, lets let him out for good measure. Gulf Times:
Al Jazeera reporter Tayseer Alouni was temporarily released from house arrest on the first day of a high-profile terrorism trial here yesterday.

Alouni will testify before the court on May 11 to defend himself against charges of belonging to Al Qaeda.

He had been shifted from prison to house arrest on March 17 on medical reasons.

“I am innocent. Whatever the outcome of the trial, I will maintain that until death,” Alouni said.

“The judge’s case always refers to circumstantial evidence, evidence taken from telephone calls in Arabic which were badly translated and even more badly interpreted by the police.”

Yeah, and by 'kill the Zionist Crusador infidels' he really meant 'let's have ice-cream'.

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April 20, 2005

Iranian Bloggers Need Help

Stefania, an Italian blogger over at Free Thoughts, e-mails me this urgent request from the pro-democracy Iranian group, the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran ( SMCCDI ). It looks like they need some money to keep up their website, Daneshjoo and Iran Students, up and running. Dig deep if you can. more...

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A Socialist in the Senate?

Jim Jefford (I-VT) has announced his retirement from the world's most deliberative body. It looks like the only self-proclaimed socialist in the House, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is going to run for his seat. Just what America needs, a guy in the Senate who thinks the Democratic party is too far to the right.

Scared Monkeys has more.

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Man Arrested for Spitting on Jane Fonda

Wait, did you say arrested? Shouldn't that read given a medal?

Filthy Allah e-mails this story Local6:

Police said they arrested a man for spitting on two-time Academy Award-winning actress Jana Fonda during a book-signing stop in Kansas City Tuesday night.
Notice how the paper sets the story up by making Fonda out to be a sympathetic character? This is what Chomsky's Propaganda Theory calls 'Framing' and 'Selection'. Factually the story, so far, is correct. Nevertheless it is biased.
At about 9 p.m., police said, a man who had been waiting in line for about 90 minutes, passed a book to Fonda and then spit a large amount of tobacco juice into her face.

They said the man then ran away and was taken into custody by off-duty officers, who were providing security for the event.

Fonda declined to prosecute the man.

How utterly magnanimous of Fonda. Of course, the city doesn't need Fonda's permission to prosecute the man. So he'll wind up in the pokey for a brief stint or pay a fine.

Ok, so in order to be fair, after the story is already framed, they throw this in the last paragraph:

In 1972, Fonda was photographed sitting in a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft tank. About her involvement in the Vietnam War, Fonda has apologized for her anti-aircraft tank photo. She has called it an incredible lapse in judgment.
A lapse in jugement? Right. As I've said a hundred times before, traitors rarely think their acts of treason are really that bad.

PS-As I've said, busy morning. More posts to follow later.

UPDATE: Malkin not amused.

UPDATE II: I'm with Bill Quick and Kim du Toit on this one.

Right Nation makes this important contribution:

Smith avrebbe meritato una medaglia
Indeed.

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April 16, 2005

NY Times: Are they just lazy?

Our good friend Keith Taylor is guest blogging for Dean Esmay, and he's on fire! He takes on the NY Times here. Granted, taking on the NY Times these days isn't the most difficult task, but scroll down to the three photos he posts. They're worth it.

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April 13, 2005

60 Minutes Interviews Lying Journalist Giuliana Sgrena (ironic)

60 Minutes will interview lying communist Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena. Do you think they'll do a better job than NPR's Sylvia Poggioli? Maybe:

Days before the Pentagon is expected to release the results of its investigation into what happened at the checkpoint, Sgrena tells Correspondent Scott Pelley that shortly after her release by insurgents, American soldiers in Baghdad opened fire on her car without any warning.
No warning? What kind of warning was she expecting at night speeding a long a road which has had more than its fair share of terrorist attacks?
contrary to claims by the U.S. Army, her car was not warned by hand signals, arm signals, flashing white lights or warning shots.
How exactly would she know if there were arm or hand signals sitting from the back seat of the car, on a dark night, as they rounded a corner? Further, Sgrena says in one (of the many contradictory) version of the story:
The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired between 300 and 400 bullets at if from an armoured vehicle.
So the U.S. shone a light at the car before they started firing? You mean maybe they were trying to get you to slow down! And then started to fire at the vehicle 300-400 times.

Either the U.S. doesn't train it's soldiers well enough or they were firing warning shots!!! You lying scumbag.

You can see images of Sgrena's car here. You be the judge.

But what about Sgrena's later lie claim that the vehicle was fired on from behind? Wouldn't that explain why the photos show little damage to the car? All the damage is on the back side?

Remember, Sgrena claims she was fired on from an armoured vehicle, a 'tank' she called it in earlier interviews. If this is true, and who can tell what is truth and what is fiction coming out of that woman's mouth, that would mean the bullets probably came from a .30 caliber mounted gun.

Now look at the bullet hole in the front windshield. That is not an exit hole, it is an entrance hole. In the front. Unless maybe we're arming our soldiers with .22s?

Let's hope CBS calls Sgrena what she is: a propagandist and political opportunist whose lies constitute a blood libel against the U.S.

The online article is actually pretty promising and responds to much of Sgrena's lies. Pray that the TV version does as well.

Hat tip to Charles Johnson who is equally skeptical of CBS.

UPDATE: OpiniPundit gives his take on the interview. He was not impressed. more...

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Pop Quiz: Which Religion Escapes the Ire of Marxist States?

Wait, wait, I know this one. It's the Mennonites, right? Right.

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April 12, 2005

Three Terrorists Indicted, U.S. Financial Buildings Targetted

The three suspects are Dhiren Barot (aka, Esa al-Hindi ), Nadeem Tarmohamed, and Quaisar Shaffi.

UPDATE: Evan Kohlmann has more on Esa al-Hindi:

Eisa al-Hindi (a.k.a. Dhiran Barot) is the same extremist leader who wrote the infamous jihad text, The Army of Madinah in Kashmir. According to that book, Barot was born in the U.K. as a Hindu, but later converted to Islam and fought alongside Muslim militants in Kashmir. After graduating on and working as a combat trainer at a mujahideen terror camp in Afghanistan, al-Hindi moved to southern Thailand in 1998 and married a local woman there. In his book, Barot argues that the use by the mujahideen of "'stealthy' modern day war stratagems, which are commonly used by the western world to bring others to their knees... could be long overdue." Barot highlights several desirable "war strategems" in particular, including "Economical warfare", "Drug warfare", "Germ warfare", and "Chemical warfare."
Evan has a translation of parts of that book available for download here. Pretty scary stuff.

Guardian:

Three men have been indicted on charges they plotted to attack financial institutions in New York, New Jersey and Washington.

A four-count indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses Dhiran Barot, Nadeem Tarmohammed and Qaisar Shaffi of scouting the New York Stock Exchange and Citicorp Building in New York, the Prudential Building in Newark, N.J., and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in the District of Columbia.

more...

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Censorship In a State of War

The Confederate Yankee and I have been going back and forth over whether or not Kevin Sites is a 'traitor' or not. Mostly for his benefit I repost my earlier discussion on censorship in a time of war. This post was originally written after the Abu Ghraib pictures were released and after Nick Berg had been beheaded.

Some of you might be shocked to learn that Rusty Shackleford, Libertarian, actually advocates censorship. I do. But only in the context of war and only in the context of speech directly related to the war effort.

Read the rest. It's a little academic, but if you don't mind a lot of references to Locke and Hobbes, I hope you find it readable if not completely outrageous. more...

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April 11, 2005

Kevin Sites, Traitor, Gets Journalism Ethics Award

Kevin Sites has his ethics. He put his 'journalistic ethics' above patriotic duty by releasing a video of an American soldier killing an Iraqi who was playing dead.

The proper thing to do would have been to turn the video over to the military authorities for investigation. Had the military never done an investigation, then perhaps Sites should have let this one out of the bag.

This video served as a great propaganda tool for our enemies. Terrorists don't need a Joseph Goebbels as long as they have traitors like Kevin Sites.

From the ever partisan Editor and Publisher:

Kevin Sites, a freelance photojournalist for NBC, will be awarded the 2005 Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism on May 12 for his decision-making process after he witnessed and taped a U.S. Marine killing an unarmed Iraqi man in a mosque.

Sites decided to share the tape with the military, then he worked with NBC to create a "well-nuanced story that aired 48 hours after the incident," according to the Payne announcement. Since he was working as a pool photojournalist at the time, Sites shared the tape with the other news organizations in the pool.

Hat tip: Avenu B. Alum.

Update: I just noticed something. When Editor and Publisher quoted one of my posts in an article on the Pulitzer fiasco, they didn't drop a link. They simply name my blog and that's it. But for Sites blog they drop a link. Why is that? more...

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April 08, 2005

Washington Times, Like Every One Else, Is Looking At the Wrong Pulitzer Prize Photo

The Washington Times does a half-ass job of questioning the Pulitzer Prize in this editorial. The article raises important questions, but like most of the blogosphere and those in conservative circles, they examine a single photo.

But there were 20 photos in the series. As we have been arguing from the beginning, what is troubling is the totality of the story those photos show. The story those photos tell is of an empowered insurgency, demoralized U.S. troops, and American brutality.

Several of the photos are disgusting, such as the one in question which shows the execution of Iraqi election officials and another which shows the residents of Fallujah celebrating the murder of American civilians as their charred bodies hang from a bridge, but it may be the case that these photos were taken by Iraqi photojournalists who were anonymously tipped off or who just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

We have also noted in the past that the photo in question is not nearly as damning as two others which clearly indicate something like 'embedding' with the isurgency is (or was) going on with AP stringers in Iraq.

Here are the two photos. One of insurgents in Fallujah with ties to Abu Musab al Zarqawi's al Qaeda network firing on U.S. Marines and another of al Sadr's Mahdi Army which was then fighting against U.S. troops. more...

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Jawapalooza, D.C. Day 1: Muslims Rally Against Terrorism

I will be in Washington, D.C. with a group of students from May 14th-22nd. I should make it to the Capital just in time to join the last hour of The Free Muslims Against Terrorism rally. Any one who would like to join me there is welcome. (Hat tip: Dean Esmay)

Also a whole bunch of us will be getting together some time that week. E-mail me and let me know if you want to get together for some grub or whatever and what is the best time for you.

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CBS News Reporter Arrested for Working with Insurgents in Iraq, Shot

OpiniPundit is watching CNN and says a CBS cameraman has been arrested for allegedly working with insurgents. The man, apparently, looks like he has been shot....

Developing.....

Let me clarify my position. If the man was really was 'embedded' with insurgents then he deserves to be under arrest.

This is a war zone, not the floor of the 1976 Republican National Convention. There is no such thing as a neutral observer in a war-zone. If a reporter has any knowledge or contact with insurgent forces then it is both his moral and patriotic duty to turn any helpful information over to our troops.

UPDATE: Ok, this is not a new story. I reported on it several days ago here. Unless, of course, CBS employs an army of stringers with terrorist contacts. That wouldn't exactly shock me, though.......

UPDATE II: It looks like it just takes that long for the MSM to start reporting stuff like this. Same incident. What is new information is that the man has been arrested. Good.

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Hi, I'm the Anti-Reynolds

One of the reasons that I hate Glenn Reynolds so much is that he ignores me. Vanity? Absolutely. I understand he gets a bajillion e-mails a day asking for links, but he shouldn't ignore my e-mails.

So I have vowed never to ignore an e-mail or a bleg for a link. If you have a link you want put up, just e-mail me. Immediate traffic may not be so great as an Instalance but think Google and residual traffic. In that spirit, I present the following links:

Terrorist Bombers Get Probation for Targetting Jews in Germany. Hmmm, makes sense....

Hard Left strategery on stopping the war: Make Iraq look like Vietnam.

GM Spanks LA Times. Spanking costs extra.

Jane Fonda, still traitor.

The impeccable logic of Cousin Ollie.

Cookie Monster to Give up Sweets? That's kind of like pimps giving up hoes.

Yeah, I know. I'm like a one man Alliance.......

More entries from Rusty's stalkers. I don't have e-mail access right now. For some reason, gmail won't work at home. That's why I'm after the big blog money. Ultimately, I'd like to be able to afford a new laptop and DSL. Right now I'm pimping the blog on my 5 year old Sony VAIO and dial up. Oh, in rural Red State America 'dial-up' means an on again off again 28k connection. So help a brotha out and check out my advertisors!

Hector Vex is sticking to the man by giving away free music!

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April 07, 2005

Pulitzer Judge (update: NOT) Embedded With North Vietnamese

Think this photo is bad?

baughman.jpg

I got my ass fact checked!!!

It turns out the photos in question were not taken by Baughman, instead, this is from a book reviewed by Baughman. So, where was the confusion? Google. I did a Google image search and the bulk of photos that came back for 'J. Ross Baughman' were these.

My apologies. One of the advantages this site has that we can try to repair the damage, right here, in the text of the original post. As opposed to, say, footnote on page A2.

But from that review we learn of Baughman's 'nuanced' vision of war and the media's role in it:

It is these pictures of Jane Fonda or Fidel Castro squired around by smiling NVA, or else the captured, wounded and dead ARVN or U.S. troops that will boil the blood of many American viewers. For them, it will still be too soon to see such pictures.

"The trick here is see beyond the propaganda of the pictures into a different culture," writes Pulitzer-Prize-winning photo critic Henry Allen in the foreword.

Right, let's look beyond acts of treason which demoralized our troops.
Given enough time and distance, old warriors can't help but want to know their enemies better. The anger and fear of battle mature into a clear-eyed, grudging respect, no matter which side happened to win that day long ago.
See how nuance works? You mature to respect your enemy.

What Baughman dismisses in this article is the role of media images in demoralizing troops and support for those troops back home.

He suggests, in his review, that the reason the Vietnamese won that war was that they were simply more prepared to persevere.

Indeed.

But why were Americans not willing to persevere? Why were Americans not willing to commit to total war against North Vietnam, as they had in WWII? Why were we not willing to fight the war to win?

Certainly, the images brought to the American public by the media played some part. In WWII the media played the role of cheerleader. Helping to keep morale up both at home and with the troops. From the time of Vietnam forward, however, the media played no such role.

The next time we go to war the American public must realize this simple fact: the American media does not really care if our side wins.

They do not necessarily wish us to lose, they do not necessarily want our soldiers to die, but they also could care less if we win. It seems to me that the greatest sacrifice one can ask of a fellow citizen is to die in war. If the state can legitimately ask a fellow citizen to do this, then certainly it can ask the media to refrain from publishing photos which might demoralize our troops.

Oh, it gets worse. Much worse. It turns out J. Ross Baughman, one of the judges of the Pulitzer also was embedded with the North Vietnamese. He wanted to show, you know, the 'other side of the war'. You know, the side that was busy killing Baughman's friends from back home.

baughman_vetnam.jpg
Photo above takes you to a few more images of the Vietnam war as seen through the eyes of an American working with the North Vietnamese in order to humanize their efforts of killing Americans toward their final goal of communist oppression.

On a related note, did you know that as a boy Ho Chi Minh is reported to have a pet dog and was a keen outdoorsman?

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Oh, THAT Biased Media

John_Kerry_Shotgun.jpg

Click photo above. Related. More. And again.

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April 06, 2005

Noam Chomsky Was Right, There is a Media Bias

When you sit right behind the 10 yard line, pretty much every play seems like it's on the other side of the field. Hence, when Noam Chomsky, who is far-left of even the farthest left Democrats (he calls himself an anarcho-syndicalist), says the Mainstream Media (MSM) is 'right-wing', he is really using the term to describe any one in favor of capitalism. To Noam Chomsky, Ted Kennedy is a raving right-wing lunatic. Ok, maybe not raving, but right-wing nonetheless.

It is therefore surprisig to most people that I am a big fan of Noam Chomsky & Edward S. Herman's General Propaganda Model as put forth their book Manufacturing Consent.

While Chomsky and Herman's theory was developed to show how corporations control the media for their own anti-democratic purposes, the same theory can also be used to explain all sorts of media biases. Cassandra (via Emperor Misha) has an interesting post on the subject, and does a great job in classifying media bias once it has hapened, but it lacks a theoretical causal underpinning.

When attempting to explain liberal media bias the Propaganda Model does not need any grand conspiracy as the causal mechanism. Instead, it relies on the every day mundane activities of the hiring and editorial process.

Further, the advent of blogging may eventually make this theory arcane. As media voices diversify, the number of actors responsible for making decisions increases. Bias becomes less a concern because the diversity of thes voices are all over the ideological spectrum.

Here are the main causal points of the Propaganda Model, in nutshell:

more...

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The Pulitzer and Terrorist Embeds

Yesterday, a stringer for CBS News was shot by U.S. troops in Fallujah. Steve S. has the report here. So, why was the man shot at? Yahoo News:

The U.S. military said in a statement from Mosul released at the Pentagon that U.S. soldiers had been involved in an engagement with at least one suspected insurgent who was "waving an AK-47 (assault rifle) and inciting a crowd of civilians."

During the incident, "an individual that appeared to have a weapon who was standing near the insurgent was shot and injured. This individual turned out to be a reporter who was pointing a video camera," the military statement said.

Let's get a few facts straight. The individual shot at here may not have been embedded like AP photographers were. He may have just come across this scene after it began.

Maybe.

Paul at Wizbang makes the case and Rathergate note that it is quite possible that the AP stringer who shot this photo just happened upon the scene. Granted.

However, while most of the blogosphere is up in arms against that photo, the really troubling photo is this one.

bilal_hussein_photo_fallujah.jpg

This photo has no other explanation than that of the AP photographer being privy to the highest ranks of the insurgency. The photo was taken in Fallujah, where the 'resistance' was led by two well known terrorist groups, al Qaeda in Iraq and The Army of Ansar al-Sunna, and their salafist sympathizers of the Fallujah Mujahidin Shura Council--the religious leaders of the city that instituted a Taliban-like rule when the U.S. withdrew from the city.

As we noted when that photo was first taken, these 'insurgents' are in clear violation of the Geneva Convention because they wear no identifiable uniform. The photo also appears to be staged. All the evidence seems to suggest that the AP photographer, Bilal Hussein, had access to terrorist forces and was 'embedded' with them in every sense of the word.

Here is one more photo taken by the AP and which helped them win the Pulitzer. This time, the reporter is clearly embedded with Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army at a time when they were fighting U.S. troops. Note, again, the absence of identifiable uniforms. The dove on the fighters shoulder is just the icing on the cake.

mahdi_army_pulitzer.jpg

While it may be argued that the murder witnessed by an AP photographer in Iraq was not staged for his benefit, clearly the above photos were. The Pulitzer Prize was, in fact, given to an organization that has information, ties, and serves the propaganda purposes of terrorists.

Aiding the enemy in a time of war is treason. The AP, an American non-profit organization, is guilty of that crime.

Posted by: Rusty at 08:58 AM | Comments (40) | Add Comment
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