Iraq War Media Sham: It's Happening Again

Norman Solomon reports:

"The lead-up to the invasion of Iraq has become notorious in the annals of American journalism. Even many reporters, editors and commentators who fueled the drive to war in 2002 and early 2003 now acknowledge that major media routinely tossed real journalism out the window in favor of boosting war.
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But it's happening again.
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The current media travesty is a drumbeat for the idea that the US war effort must keep going. And again, in its news coverage, the New York Times is a bellwether for the latest media parade to the cadence of the warfare state."

Also See:

• War on Iraq: Iraq Study Group Offers No Real Plan for Withdrawal:

  If we were to follow the recommendations of James Baker's Iraq Study Group, we'd be embedded in Iraq for at least another three to five years.

• McGovern and Polk | A Blueprint for Leaving Iraq Now

  "Staying in Iraq is not an option," write George S. McGovern and William R. Polk. "Many Americans who were among the most eager to invade Iraq now urge that we find a way out. These Americans include not only civilian 'strategists' and other 'hawks,' but also senior military commanders and, perhaps most fervently, combat soldiers."

• News Analysis: Will Bush Change on Iraq?

  The debate that will engulf Washington and much of the country this week centers on a question that lurks at the intersection of war strategy and the personality of the commander in chief: after three and a half years, is President Bush ready to abandon his declaration that American forces cannot begin to leave Iraq until the Iraqis demonstrate that they are capable of defending themselves? ...

• Rethinking Terrorism: A Jewish American Crosses into Hezbollah Territory:

  "One journalist spends 10 days in Lebanon, sipping coffee and talking politics with members of Hezbollah, the Islamic militant group Americans have branded as terrorists."

• Panel Faults U.S.-Trained Afghan Police:

  Five years after the fall of the Taliban, a joint report by the Pentagon and the State Department has found that the American-trained police force in Afghanistan is largely incapable of carrying out routine law enforcement work, and that managers of the $1.1 billion training program cannot say how many officers are actually on duty or where thousands of trucks and other equipment issued to police units have gone....

• Afghans Losing Faith in Nation's Path, Poll Shows

  Afghans have lost a considerable amount of confidence in the direction of their country over the past two years, according to an extensive nationwide survey released Wednesday.

• Haaretz reports:

  There will be a war next summer. The atmosphere in the Israel Defense Forces in the past month has been very pessimistic. The latest rounds in the campaigns on both fronts, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, have left too many issues undecided, too many potential detonators that could cause a new conflagration. The army's conclusion from this is that a war in the near future is a reasonable possibility. As Amir Oren reported in Haaretz several weeks ago, the IDF's operative assumption is that during the coming summer months, a war will break out against Hezbollah and perhaps against Syria as well....

• Israel Official: Strike on Iran Possible:

  The deputy defense minister suggested ... that Israel might be forced to launch a military strike against Iran's disputed nuclear program - the clearest statement yet of such a possibility from a high-ranking official....

• Mubarak Warns Against Hanging Saddam:

  CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Egypt's president came out strongly against hanging Saddam Hussein, saying ... that it could make Iraq explode into more violence....

• Americans Issue a Populist, Anti-War Mandate :: 2006 Post-Election Poll Results:

  Fired! Voters took a good look at Bush's one party rule in Washington and fired Republicans in Tuesday's midterm elections. But they did much more than that. Before the pundits muddy the results with talk of the new more "conservative" Democratic legislators, it's worth looking at what voters said.
  
  Check out new 2006 post-election poll results to see the extent of the populist, anti-war mandate that voters issued in Tuesday's midterm elections.
  
  The Campaign for America's Future 2006 post-election poll -- conducted in partnership with Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research -- revealed the following:
  
  The primary issue for voters was the War in Iraq. Voters want a change and they expect Democrats to move directly to push to bring the troops out.
  
  The second issue of concern was jobs and the economy. Voters are seeking legislators who will put government on their side, challenge entrenched corporate lobbies and policies, and put forth an economics that works for working people -- from fair trade policies, to investment in education, to action on affordable health care.
  
  The 2006 election marks the end of a conservative era, and the end of Bush's one-party misrule in Washington. Now the struggle begins for how best to deliver what the voters have asked for.

• MotherJones.com | Hints on Why Bush Chose Robert Gates as the New SecDef

  To examine Rumsfeld's replacement, Mother Jones finds a Texas Monthly story on Robert Gates, who currently serves as president of Texas A&M. Gates was key in A&M's rebranding; is the Iraq War next?

• Poll: Iraqis back attacks on U.S. troops

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