Thursday, May 06, 2004
The Abu Ghurayb scandal continues | Chalabi cons the neocons | Disney's b-tch move | The impending trainwreck of Athens 2004
At the most basic level of justice, people are no longer disappearing into political prisons, torture chambers, and mass graves -- because the former dictator is in prison, himself. -- George W. Bush, Presidential Radio Address. (May 1, 2004)Meanwhile, the scandals around Abu Ghurayb scandal are piling up so fast, I can't even keep up to date but hit Google news to learn more about how:
Because we acted, torture chambers are closed. -- George W. Bush, Remarks at a Pancake Breakfast, Lucas County, Ohio Recreation Center, Maumee, Ohio (May 4th, 2004)
- The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers and Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld haven't yet read the 53 page Taguba report detailing the military prison abuse originally published back in February! (New York Times | MSNBC)
- How perhaps as many as twenty-five prisoners have died while being held by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan with at least two suspected of having been murdered. (Reuters)
- Civilian contractors may have been responsible for much of the abuse under the direction of US military intelligence.
- Iraqi detainees are telling of other abuses at American-run centers besides just Abu Ghurayb. (Newsweek)
- CBS News delayed reporting for two weeks about U.S. soldiers' alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners, following a personal request from Gen. Myers. (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
Forgive me for not providing links for every point or if I've missed anything major, but I think you get the idea. As bad as the Iraq occupation (I can't even continue calling it a war at this point) has gone so far, it's only going to get worse from here on out. The Abu Ghurayb scandal has just about assured that Bush's neocon-inspired Iraq foreign policy strategy now has virtually zero chance of succeeding and the US is probably more at risk for attacks by anti-US Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists than at the time of the 9/11 attacks.
Meanwhile, Bush went on Arab TV yesterday to answer questions about the scandal but declined to offer any apologies. On top of that, he only granted interviews to Al Hurra, a United States government-sponsored satellite network based in Virgina that sends its signal throughout the Middle East, and Al-Arabiya, based in Dubai and viewed as the most sympathetic to America of all the Arabic news networks, but not with Al-Jazeera, probably the widest-viewed network in the Arab world or with Al-Iraqia the most-watched network in Iraq. WTF? Hasn't Team Bush figured out that the time to try and manipulate the media here or in Iraq and beyond has long since passed? (Washington Post)
I guess not:
The head of a US-funded Iraqi newspaper quit and said yesterday he was taking almost his entire staff with him because of American interference in the publication.from "Head of US-funded Newspaper Quits." (The Boston Globe)
In a front-page editorial of the Al-Sabah newspaper, editor-in-chief Ismail Zayer said he and his staff were "celebrating the end of a nightmare we have suffered from for months. . . . We want independence. They [the Americans] refuse."
And speaking of manipulating the media, or more accurately, corporate censorship, Disney pulls a serious b-tch move on Michael Moore:
The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing a new documentary by Michael Moore that harshly criticizes President Bush, executives at both Disney and Miramax said Tuesday.from "Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush." (New York Times)
The film, "Fahrenheit 911," links Mr. Bush and prominent Saudis — including the family of Osama bin Laden — and criticizes Mr. Bush's actions before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Disney came under heavy criticism from conservatives last May after the disclosure that Miramax had agreed to finance the film when Icon Productions, Mel Gibson's company, backed out.
Mr. Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, said Michael D. Eisner, Disney's chief executive, asked him last spring to pull out of the deal with Miramax. Mr. Emanuel said Mr. Eisner expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr. Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor.
"Michael Eisner asked me not to sell this movie to Harvey Weinstein; that doesn't mean I listened to him," Mr. Emanuel said. "He definitely indicated there were tax incentives he was getting for the Disney corporation and that's why he didn't want me to sell it to Miramax. He didn't want a Disney company involved."
But here's a media source that looks like it can be trusted and might be worth blogrolling, bookmarking or reading regularly though: Media Matters for America.
Related:
- New Internet Site Turns Critical Eyes and Ears to the Conservative Media. (New York Times)
Iran's President Mohammad Khatami, left, greets Ahmad Chalabi in Tehran in December 2003.
Dippin' back to Iraq for a hot minute though, here's more on the man who is largely responsible for talking Bush and the neocons into what is quickly shaping up to be the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern American history:
The hawks who launched the Iraq war believed the deal-making exile when he promised to build a secular democracy with close ties to Israel. Now the Israel deal is dead, he's cozying up to Iran -- and his patrons look like they're on the way out. Click for full story. (site reg req'd)from "How Ahmed Chalabi conned the neocons." (Salon.com) If the jail torture story isn't enough, maybe this Chalabi story might be the tipping point leading to Bush's downfall in November (since impeachment is out of the question from a strictly numbers point of view).
But Bush is like Alfred E. Neuman as he seems to say: "What, me worry?" So Iraq's a mess and half the country hates you. Just keep praying: Rick Perlstein on "The Divine Calm of George W. Bush." (Village Voice)
And not to make light of an extremely serious and tragic situation, but I don't know what's worse: these Iraq-related scandals or the fact that, with just about 100 days to go until the Summer Olympics begin, Athens is nowhere close to being ready? They're still building the frickin' main stadium and now getting bombed as well, WTF? (Chicago Sun-Times | Guardian UK)
And finally, getting off Iraq completely, what's going in Cuba? Sh!t seems real sexy there right now and I don't mean that in a good way either.... (San Francisco Chronicle)
