[ This follows-up the May story about the New York Times’ admission of failure. –BL ] 12 August 2004 | DemocracyNow! The Washington Post published today a major 3,000 word front-page story examining how the paper downplayed critics of the Iraq war before the U.S. attacked lat year. Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks revealed how in October 2002 editors killed a piece of his titled “Doubts” that outlined how many senior Pentagon officials were reluctant about plans to attack Iraq. Ricks also added “The paper was not front-paging stuff. Administration assertions were on the front page. Things that challenged the administration were […]
Daily Archives: August 12, 2004
9 posts
U.S. Risks Alienating Millions Across Muslim World with Major Attack on Holy City of Najaf excerpted from 12 August 2004 | DemocracyNow! (and other DN! stories of the day) Thousands of U.S. troops have launched a major attack on the Iraqi city of Najaf, one of the holiest cities in the Muslim world. Shortly after dawn, U.S. tanks moved into the city center to block off roads to the holy Imam Ali Shrine, where the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali, is buried.
11 August 2004 | DemocracyNow! The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has issued a new reporting criticizing Israel’s decision to bar Palestinians from traveling on 41 roads in the West Bank. The report reads “By unlawfully discriminating against Palestinians based on their national origin, the Forbidden Roads Regime is reminiscent of the apartheid system that existed in South Africa.”
EU Says Darfur Not Genocide 10 August 2004 | DemocracyNow! Keywords: Darfur genocide Following the lead of the Bush administration, the European Union said yesterday that it does not consider the widespread violence in Sudan to be genocide. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana did say that “it is clear there is widespread, silent and slow killing and village burning of a fairly large scale. There are considerable doubts as to the willingness of Sudan’s government to assume its duty to protect its civilian population against attacks.” Solana cited unwillingness to send a significant military force, saying the EU and […]
9 August 2004 | DemocracyNow! If the country’s billionaires could select the president, Bloomberg News is reporting President Bush would easily win. According to Bloomberg, nearly four times as many billionaires have contributed to Bush’s candidacy than to Kerry’s. Bush has received donations from a total of 131 billionaires including Bill Gates of Microsoft. John Kerry has received the backing of 31 billionaires. Donald Trump was one of six billionaires to give to both campaigns.
August 10, 2004 | GregPalast.com by Greg Palast Hugo Chávez drives George Bush crazy. Maybe it’s jealousy: Unlike Mr. Bush, Chavez, in Venezuela, won his Presidency by a majority of the vote. Or maybe it’s the oil. Venezuela sits atop a reserve rivaling Iraq’s. And Hugo thinks the US and British oil companies that pump the crude ought to pay more than a 16% royalty to his nation for the stuff. Hey, sixteen percent isn’t even acceptable as a tip at a New York diner. Whatever it is, OUR President has decided that THEIR president has to go. This is […]
Fury over Pentagon cell that briefed White House on Iraq’s ‘imaginary’ al-Qaeda links 11 July 2004 | The Telegraph [London] by Julian Coman in Washington A Senior Pentagon policy maker created an unofficial “Iraqi intelligence cell” in the summer of 2002 to circumvent the CIA and secretly brief the White House on links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa’eda, according to the Senate intelligence committee. The allegations about Douglas Feith, the number three at the Department of Defence, are made in a supplementary annexe of the committee’s review of the intelligence leading to war in Iraq, released on Friday. According to […]
August 10, 2004 | Associated Press by GEORGE JAHN VIENNA, Austria – New findings by the U.N. atomic agency appear to strengthen Iran’s claim it has not enriched uranium domestically and weaken U.S. arguments that the country is hiding a nuclear weapons program, diplomats said Tuesday. The diplomats, who are familiar with Iran’s nuclear dossier, told The Associated Press that the International Atomic Energy Agency has established that at least some enriched particles found in Iran originated in Pakistan.
[ The Bush Administration is coordinating efforts to “heighten … awareness and preparedness” during September — presumably timed to rekindle fear so as to prevent clear thinking during the election season. –BL ] National Preparedness Month-September 2004 11 August 2004 | Office of Emergency Management Throughout September 2004, the US Department of Homeland Security, American Red Cross, American Prepared Campaign, the National Association of Broadcasters, the US Department of Education and other partners, will host a series of events to highlight the importance of citizen emergency preparedness. During National Preparedness Month, coalition partners will promote the basic steps all Americans can […]