As if tensions between the United States and Iran weren't high enough, here's PBS NewsHour anchor Margaret Warner (1/9/12):
The Iranian government insists that its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy purposes only, an assertion disputed by the U.S. and its allies. On CBS yesterday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta repeated international demands that Iran stop enriching uranium.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LEON PANETTA: But we know that they're trying to develop a nuclear capability, and that's what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us. They need to know that, if they take that step, that they're going to get stopped.
The way that's presented you'd think that the United States has evidence that Iran is pursuing a weapon. Leon Panetta's soundbite is from his appearance on Face The Nation on Sunday. But the NewsHour removed one key phrase; right before Panetta says, "But we know," he said this:
Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No.
So Panetta's statement–that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon–is being used to argue that the United States disputes Iran's long-standing contention that it not building a nuclear weapon.
About Peter Hart
[...] "PBS's Dishonest Iran Edit", FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), January 10, 2012┩ [...]
[...] omitted were the preceding words: â┚¬Ã…“Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No . . .â┚¬Ã‚ [â┚¬Ã…“PBS\'s Dishonest Iran Editâ┚¬Ã‚Â, FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), Jan. 10, [...]
michael e: Brent they [the inspectors] were kicked out of Iraq.
Sorry, but that's one of the great enduring lies of our time. The Washington Post, which has spent the first years of this century as a vehicle for the neo-cons' war propaganda and therefore cannot be accused of coddling Saddam Hussein, reported in one of those one-day wonders back in January 1999 (the ninth, iirc) that Clinton had ordered the inspectors withdrawn; the press had exposed some of them as CIA agents in disguise as inspectors, who were apparently taking notes on appropriate targets for the upcoming bombing, and Saddam refused to cooperate further, at which point Clinton ordered them out. Given your unbelievable level of ignorance about the Mideast and our policies there, indicating a blind acceptance of whatever the presstitute media [thanks to Paul Craig Roberts for the succinct construction) chooses to pipeline to you, I'm not surprised you also have no knowledge of the background of the U.S. – Iraqi relations of the last couple of decades.
[...] "PBS's Dishonest Iran Edit", FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), January 10, [...]
[...] "PBS's Dishonest Iran Edit", FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), January 10, 2012┩ [...]
[...] “PBS’s Dishonest Iran Edit”, FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), January 10, 2012 [...]
[...] "PBS's DisÂhonÂest Iran Edit", FAIR (FairÂness and AcÂcuÂracy in ReÂportÂing), JanÂuÂary 10, 2012┩ [...]
[...] Foreign Policy joined FAIR in calling out PBS's NewsHour in their misleading edit of a clip in which Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stated that Iran is not trying to develop a [...]
[...] Policy joined Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting in challenging PBS's NewsHour in their misleading edit of a clip in which Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stated that Iran was not trying to develop a [...]
[...] Their Lying Religion – Peter Hart, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Jan 1, 2012 – PBS's Dishonest Iran Edit — Peter Hart, Fair and Accuracy in Reporting Sept 20, 2011 – How Did Atkins Die? The [...]
[...] have been questions about the NewsHour's Iran reporting before (FAIR Blog, 1/10/12). On January 9 the broadcast reported that Iran's denial that it is pursuing a nuclear weapon [...]
[...] Panetta was subjected to a similarly deceptive edit by PBS NewsHour. What is it about this [...]
[...] the "threat posed by Iran's nuclear program," and told viewers at the end of a Margaret Warner report that "Margaret's next story looks at the debate in Israel over how to deal with [...]
[...] NewsHour correspondent Margaret Warner (1/30/13) had the same strange notion of [...]
[...] the January 22 broadcast of the PBS NewsHour, correspondent Margaret Warner reported on the outcome of the Israeli elections. It told the same story as most other reports on [...]
[...] samples: here, here, and [...]
[...] PBS edited this footage, I’ve just learned: they took the words “Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No.” out of Mr. Panetta’s statement, leaving the words, “But we know that they’re trying to develop a nuclear capability, and that’s what concerns us.” Extraordinarily dishonest of PBS. [...]