Washington Post columnist David Broder sees one way for Barack Obama to demonstrate leadership after the midterms–push for war with Iran. Lest one be accused of misrepresenting his argument, this is what he wrote in his October 31 column, which starts out talking about the how a president can influence the economy: What else might affect the economy? The answer is obvious, but its implications are frightening. War and peace influence the economy. Look back at FDR and the Great Depression. What finally resolved that economic crisis? World War II. Here is where Obama is likely to prevail. With strong [...]
Jan
14
2010
MSNBC Goes to a Suspect Source on Iranian Scientist's Killing
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Various forces have been accused of being behind the January 12 killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Massoud Ali Mohammadi–including the Iranian government, the Iranian opposition, the United States and Israel. To sort through this murky subject, MSNBC (1/12/10) turned to Democratic congressmember Jane Harman, who confidently told Andrea Mitchell: I think the logic here is that the Iranian government or some group associated with them took this guy out. I mean, it's a sign of desperation to start killing your own nuclear scientists. So who is Harman, that we should trust her sense of what the "logic" behind Middle East [...]
Oct
01
2009
'Top Things You Think You Know About Iran That Are Not True'
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As negotiations begin in Geneva between Iran, Germany and the U.N. Security Council permanent members, Juan Cole debunks the prevailing myths about Iran. Myths that could not endure if U.S. news outlets took journalism seriously and challenged U.S. officialdom on Iran.
Jul
25
2009
Lessons From 'the Abyss of Yesterday's News'
Realizing that "by now, talk of the Iranian elections will have traversed into the abyss of yesterdayâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s news," Warehouse magazine contributing writer Mohsen al Attar (7/10/09) still thinks "the events narrate a highly educational tale about the role of media in present-day society": Few would question the media machine's efficiency. Once a major media outlet decides to run with a story–as was done with the Iranian election protests–there is little to arrest its circulation or to challenge the implications the particular telling makes. Of the Iranians and non-Iranians supporting the protests–and they are numerous in Canada alone–an important distinction can [...]
Jun
30
2009
A Look at Iranian Voting Turns Up Bad News for U.S. Democracy
Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research had one of the most informative pieces I've seen on the Iranian election, published on WashingtonPost.com (6/26/09). Weisbrot examines the actual Iranian vote-counting procedures, and concludes that in Iran, "large-scale fraud is extremely difficult, if not impossible, without creating an extensive trail of evidence." Since votes are supposed to be counted at individual polling places in the presence of 14-18 witnesses, Weisbrot points out that "if this election was stolen, there must be tens of thousands of witnesses–or perhaps hundreds of thousands–to the theft. Yet there are no media accounts [...]
Jun
29
2009
'Catch Phrase' vs. Reality in Iran
Knowing how much "we reporters love a catch phrase," Iran writer Reese Erlich (ZNet, 6/28/09) wants you to know that, despite "Twitter being all a flutter in the west," current reporting is "highly misleading" in that "Iran is not undergoing a Twitter Revolution. The term simultaneously mischaracterizes and trivializes the important mass movement developing in Iran." After tracing the concept's origins back to self-obsessed Western media–"desperate to find ways to show the large demonstrations…reporters were getting most of their information from Tweets and YouTube video clips"–Erlich gives us the reality of the situation: First of all the vast majority of [...]
Jun
29
2009
Mexico Electoral Fraud 'in the Dust of History' at NYT
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Veteran independent Mexico reporter John Ross (CounterPunch.com, 6/28/09) wants to know which countries come to mind when thinking about "a stolen election by an entrenched regime," "demands for a recount to which election officials respond by offering to recount just 10 percent of the vote," or even "a regime-controlled media that exalts the incumbent's victory and demonizes the loser"? Are you thinking "Iran 2009? Yes!" or "Mexico 2006? Yes and no." Toward showing that "the stealing of the Mexican presidential election by the right-wing oligarchy stirred little indignation anywhere outside of Mexico," Ross finds that "a comparison of coverage extended [...]
Jun
18
2009
Their Election Fraud versus Ours
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Robert Parry of Consortium News (6/15/09) gives hearing to a "strong case" to "undercut the widespread media assumption" of electoral fraud in Iran. But, true or not, "the rush to the 'fraud' judgment among much of the U.S. news media is shaping the political realities" and posing that "Ahmadinejad's 'theft' of the election proves that hardliners in Israel and neoconservatives in the United States were right all along about the impossibility of dealing rationally with Iran"–the predictable upshot being "that force is the only option to employ against Iran." Parry also is "curious to see U.S. news organizations care suddenly [...]
Jun
03
2009
U.S. Media Complicit in U.S. Intimidation of Media
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Discussing (5/31/09) the "story on the two U.S. journalists detained in North Korea," NPR Check's Mytwords states clearly that it "deserves coverage, as did some coverage of [Roxana] Saberi's arrest in Iran (though not the wall to wall attention given by NPR)." But a reader's link to the L.A. Times' May 24 "article on another irregular (illegal?) detention of a journalist" sheds light on a glaring double standard: In this case the journalist was seized by U.S. forces and its allies. The reader noted the lack of NPR coverage on the abduction/detention of Ibrahim Jassam, complaining that NPR has voiced [...]
May
26
2009
Press Freedom 'Lip Service' vs. 'de Facto U.S. Policy'
By 6 Comments
Reporting that "the Obama administration has recently paid a lot of lip service to freedom of the press, particularly around the case of Iranian-American journalist Roxanna Saberi, who was released May 11 from an Iranian prison," Jeremy Scahill asks (Rebel Reports, 5/26/09) the simple question, "If Iran Freed Roxanna Saberi, Why Won't the U.S. Release Journalist Ibrahim Jassam?" Part of the answer might lie in a media environment heeding former Col. Ralph Peters' recent "essay for a leading neocon group calling for future U.S. military attacks on media outlets and journalists" along with "censorship" and "news blackouts." Of course, Scahill [...]
May
22
2009
The Iranian Threat to Eastern Crete
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The New York Times had a story yesterday (5/21/09) about the test of an Iranian missile "that was capable of striking Israel and parts of Western Europe." This was an important point in the article–reporters David E. Sanger and Nazila Fathi included it in their lead paragraph, and later listed it among "three technologies necessary to field an effective nuclear weapon": "The second is developing a missile capable of reaching Israel and parts of Western Europe, and now the country has several likely candidates." The article reported that the range of the missile is "believed to be more than 1,200 [...]
