Truth, delayed, again I had to laugh. Arts & Le…
Truth, delayed, again
I had to laugh. Arts & Letters Daily linked to an obscure story on the BBC News site. I thought �this story is too obscure for them to pick up on� but they did! Amazing. Why? Well, it dismisses stories of child mortality rates in Iraq. Odd that they�ve never linked to one discussing it before. Again, truth is delayed until it can be dismissed by those with a bigoted, philistine agenda.
We are constantly given anecdotes detailing how awful Saddam is, yet the same reporters never look into how he has remained in power. As Pilger has detailed, though never on ALD, Saddam was helped by the �Allies� in putting down a rebellion AFTER the Gulf War. The US wanted him strong enough to control his people, and the Kurds - whom he gassed during our time on his side - but weak enough not to threaten Kuwait again. Now, they want him out, so once again they�re playing the �defeat the monster� card.
For a more rational approach to the facts, try Medialens� response. They quote Hans von Sponeck, who ran the UN’s oil for food programme in Iraq. He has reacted with surprise and regret over Sweeney’s report. See also Scott Ritter’s article; the former chief UN weapons inspector to Iraq suggests Iraqi accusations about the inspection team might not have been as hysterical as the Western media portayed it, and reveals the real reason why Bush is keen to avoid further inspections. Of course, you won’t get a sniff of it at ALD. I had to laugh, but I didn�t.
I remember a businessman asking Thatcher to put more effort into opposing Saddam after he hanged the British journalist Farzad Bazoft, for “spying”. This was before the invasion of Kuwait. She told him to stop making a fuss as it threatened British business interests in the region. Indeed, newspapers ran stories to smear the hanged journalist so the British people wouldn’t feel so bad about it. No doubt ALD would have gleefully repeated these stories. The Allies response to the invasion was, of course, motivated only by human rights issues.
Apologies for banging on about this, but the barrage of distortion from the mainstream requires response, albeit token. How would they feel, being based in New York, for others to run stories with questions like “yeah, what about those dead financiers?” when it turned out the figure wasn’t as high as initially feared? Full of distaste? Yes, but they can say “Yeah what about those dead babies” without shame. Actually, you’d think they’d be horrified: a shortage of sweatshop labour for US corporations in ten years!
Other SpikeMagazine.com posts of interest:
- Mother of all Ironies John Sweeney�s BBC docume…
- Using democracy
- Farzad Bazoft
- Dreyfusardism
- This war is bogus
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