The details are somewhat murky, but we know the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is heavily involved in counternarcotics in Honduras. A shooting incident last Friday reportedly left four innocent people dead–including two pregnant women. Questions are being raised about whether they were shot by DEA agents who were apparently going after a boat carrying drug smugglers.
The story has become a scandal in Honduras, as the New York Times reports today (5/18/12)
Residents of the isolated Mosquito Coast of Honduras have burned down government buildings and are demanding that American drug agents leave the area immediately
With a story like this, evidently the Times thinks it can get important information from–what a surprise–unnamed U.S. officials:
While acknowledging that the circumstances of a middle-of-the-night firefight are murky, an American official briefed on the matter cast doubt on the local account.
What follows is a long, detailed account of what the United States says happened–which, for whatever reason, a named government official cannot say. And, according to the official, the whole town where the shooting happened is suspicious:
The official also expressed doubts that villagers would be out fishing in the middle of the night, near where helicopters had landed an hour or so earlier. The official added that the large number of people seen in surveillance video unloading the plane showed that many members of the impoverished community of Ahuas were involved in drug trafficking.
“There is nothing in the local village that was unknown, a surprise or a mystery about this,” the official said. “What happened was that, for the first time in the history of Ahuas, Honduran law enforcement interfered with narcotics smuggling.
The Washington Post has a similar take (5/18/12):
U.S. officials said Thursday that at least “several” DEA agents had served as advisers during the raid but that the American officers, while armed for self-defense, did not fire their weapons.
The U.S. officials, representing law enforcement agencies, and diplomats who have been briefed on the mission also cast doubt on the allegations that innocent people were killed during the 2 a.m. mission, though they said an investigation is ongoing. The U.S. officials said it was not unusual for local authorities to work with smugglers and also said they wondered why innocent civilians would be on the water in the middle of the night.
Both papers, remember, have rules about when people should be granted anonymity. In both cases it would seem the papers think that readers deserve to know why a source must remain anonymous. The Post and Times don’t bother to make any such case in either story on Honduras, leaving readers with the impression that these people who were killed were probably up to no good. That’s a pretty remarkable thing to say; it’s a lot easier to say when a newspaper will let you say it without naming you.
So, are employees at the Times and Post eligible for gummint pay and benefits?
It seems only fair, as their employers are engaged in the facilitation of both foreign and domestic policy, and thus are figuratively on the government payroll.
Why not take the logical step?
Speaking of doing shady things in the middle of the night, the U.S. military has a very long record of being up to no good in Central and South America. I wouldn’t take anything they say at face value.
America’s human rights’ record in Central America dating back to Ronald Reagan matches Israel’s with the Palestinians. Neither Israel nor the United States cares about the human rights of foreigners or American citizens, for that matter, if we take into consideration drone missions against them. Where is our Fourth Amendment–due process? Drones are such a wonderful toy: antiseptic, no fingerprints, and no American casualties but with an acceptable euphemism: collateral damage! Fascism is acceptable now that we practice it.
“U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is heavily involved in counternarcotics in Honduras.” – No they’re not. They’re heavily involved in narcotics trafficking (to help finance their governments black ops) and are trying to eliminate the local competition.
This reminds me of all those dead “insurgents” in our many theaters of war. A “spokesman” says 16 insurgents got killed, and that really, they had it coming, with all their sneaking around and all. Really? No children or pregnant women or farmers or stable-boys? Of course, there were (are) all those wedding parties we’ve blown up. (Here’s General Stanley McChrystal, a guy who knows about this stuff: “We’ve shot an amazing number of people and killed a number and, to my knowledge, none has proven to have been a real threat to the force.”) There were “suspicious” gatherings in town; don’t those folks know that our boys get nervous and hopped-up when the locals try doing something like that? There’s no point on our part in trying to understand their culture–they need to stay inside and report any suspicious activity. That’s probably what happened in Honduras. The locals actually think they get to do what they want, like go out at night and fish or go visit someone. They don’t understand that we’re trying to help them, and it’s simply unfortunate that someone got their brains blown out by our lads, who, by day as by night, are keepin’ us free. So, the lying and skulking around in the “background” will continue, courtesy of our sycophantic press. (There’s money in it, too: check out the other thread here and his magnificence, Colin Powell, whose new book of not-very-well-constructed-lies will bring him millions.)
This story is so typical of the mainstream media in that it simply parrots the official line. No independent sources. No interviews of any of the Hondurans in this village. Ad hominem characterization of the locals. Disgusting!
I wonder how much of the Planes Cargo was not “narcotics” so that the surreptitious activity was little more than the locals trying to grab some materials, like food and medicine before Our Government approved black market got a hold of it.
And people don’t fish at night? Since when? More than once I can recall heading out in the middle of the night to go fishing, because not all fish come up during the day.
More than likely the locals hadn’t paid their ‘protection’ money to the DEA via the local law enforcement group and so they had to be shown what happens ‘when you do pay for your protection’.
Instead of judging me and one story try to keep paying attention to the story as it unfolds. Here is my NYT dispatch from where the attack happened – I was the first journalist to talk to the victims and counter the spin you all are criticizing. Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/world/americas/from-honduras-conflicting-tales-of-a-shootout.html?_r=1&ref=world
Mr. Cave, you failed to explain why you granted anonymity to the government official who spoon-fed you what you yourself are calling “spin.” Moreover, why didn’t you wait until you had both sides of the story instead of rushing to publish an article full of government spin? You know very well that many readers will only read the original article and not the follow-ups (particularly when the original story includes assurances from an anonymous government source that there’s no way Americans were involved and the villagers are all criminals anyway). You could have simply said it was unclear what transpired and waited until you had a more balanced picture of what may have occurred. Instead, you let your cowardly, unnamed source frame the narrative from the outset. Shame on you.
Thanks for actually coming here and responding, Mr. Cave, but I’m afraid Midas Goldberg is right–why did this official get anonymity? Also, we don’t need to be lectured about “following the story.” You and the Times got “spun” by the official line, which, as it turns out, was our government lying about what happened.
The sanctimony here is groovy but did you bother to read Cave’s piece? He got to this remote village and wrote a riveting piece, first hand, that directly challenges the U.S. govt ‘s account? I am all for being as explicit as possible about sourcing but would you have slept better if it had said because of govt policy on talking to reporters or whatever?
Groovy? Nice try at hipster ironic humor, Mr. Powell, but did you read the original FAIR piece? I did indeed read Mr. Cave’s piece; it was good, so? Your last two sentences are complete jibberish–if what you’re asking is will I feel better if the Times and other papers would simply acknowledge that a government “spokesman” might be wrong, yes, I will feel better. You know what? If the Times would just name these cretins who shamelessly lie about the motives of folks we just murdered, the self-serving lying and covering up would lessen, or at least these people who so blithely dismiss death and destruction would think twice before impugning the character of the innocent and recently deceased.
“Instead of judging me and one story try to keep paying attention to the story as it unfolds. Here is my NYT dispatch from where the attack happened – I was the first journalist to talk to the victims and counter the spin you all are criticizing.” Here is the blah blah blah.
Why don’t you grow a pair and report the truth…then back it up by reporting the TRUTH;
Take your “Here is my NYT dispatch”, wake up and actually report what’s going on—as YOU see it—not your corporate masters……
God bless
Is it just me or do you notice that these stories here on FAIR (and the related contributions of her readers) are not very likely to fall on the side of the US version of any given story ?It is almost as if there is a strong bias to blame America first.
It’s just you, dude. As we now know, the US “official spokesman” very likely lied and otherwise made shit up. As usual–whether it’s a blown up wedding party, or folks shot dead whilst sleeping–the US lays some of the old ultra-violence on some people, and then contemptuously denies it, or claims that the folks over there are always up to no good.
Tim that may well be in this case.We don’t yet know.I still think there is a jump to the conclusion that once again it is our fault.At least on this sight.