An Empire of Lies: The CIA and the Western Media

[JohnyCanuck]

Last week the Guardian, Britain’s main liberal newspaper, ran an exclusive report on the belated confessions of an Iraqi exile, Rafeed al-Janabi, codenamed “Curveball” by the CIA. Eight years ago, Janabi played a key behind-the-scenes role — if an inadvertent one — in making possible the US invasion of Iraq. His testimony bolstered claims by the Bush administration that Iraq’s president, Saddam Hussein, had developed an advanced programme producing weapons of mass destruction.

snip

With Curveball’s admission in mind, as well as these other facts from the story, we can draw some obvious conclusions — conclusions confirmed by subsequent developments.

Lacking both grounds in international law and the backing of major allies, the Bush administration desperately needed Janabi’s story about WMD, however discredited it was, to justify its military plans for Iraq. The White House did not interview Curveball because they knew his account of Saddam’s WMD programme was made up. His story would unravel under scrutiny; better to leave Washington with the option of “plausible deniability”.

Nonetheless, Janabi’s falsified account was vitally useful: for much of the American public, it added a veneer of credibility to the implausible case that Saddam was a danger to the world; it helped fortify wavering allies facing their own doubting publics; and it brought on board Colin Powell, a former general seen as the main voice of reason in the administration.

In other words, Bush’s White House used Curveball to breathe life into its mythological story about Saddam’s threat to world peace.

So how did the Guardian, a bastion of liberal journalism, present its exclusive on the most controversial episode in recent American foreign policy?

Here is its headline: “How US was duped by Iraqi fantasist looking to topple Saddam”.

http://www.revoltoftheplebs.com/categories/news-analysis/an-empire-of-lies-the-cia-and-the-western-media/

[JohnyCanuck]

1. Another snip from the article

The imperial elites’ success depends to a large extent on a shared belief among the western public both that “we” need them to secure our livelihoods and security and that at the same time we are really their masters. Some of the necessary illusions perpetuated by the transnational elites include:

● That we elect governments whose job is to restrain the corporations;
● That we, in particular, and the global workforce in general are the chief beneficiaries of the corporations’ wealth creation;
● That the corporations and the ideology that underpins them, global capitalism, are the only hope for freedom;
● That consumption is not only an expression of our freedom but also a major source of our happiness;
● That economic growth can be maintained indefinitely and at no long-term cost to the health of the planet;
● And that there are groups, called terrorists, who want to destroy this benevolent system of wealth creation and personal improvement.

These assumptions, however fanciful they may appear when subjected to scrutiny, are the ideological bedrock on which the narratives of our societies in the West are constructed and from which ultimately our sense of identity derives. This ideological system appears to us — and I am using “we” and “us” to refer to western publics only — to describe the natural order.

The job of sanctifying these assumptions — and ensuring they are not scrutinised — falls to our mainstream media. Western corporations own the media, and their advertising makes the industry profitable. In this sense, the media cannot fulfil the function of watchdog of power, because in fact it is power. It is the power of the globalised elite to control and limit the ideological and imaginative horizons of the media’s readers and viewers. It does so to ensure that imperial interests, which are synonymous with those of the corporations, are not threatened. (my emphasis /JC)

[EFerrari]

2. Marking to read. Thanks.

:kick:

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[SpiralHawk]

4. "Sneer." - xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)

[SpiralHawk]

5. "Scowl." - xSS Condi 'Torqemada' Rice (R)

[Catherina]

6. The US goes out of its way to get duped into doing what it was planning all along. Rec'd

[SpiralHawk]

7. There's your classique Republicon Family Amorals

Any old damn diaper-clad thing to start up your Oil Profits Crusade...

[Distant Observer]

8. If Western interest are involved, you must assume Western press manipulation: CIA John Stockwell

Huge budgets are devoted to key "imformation" objectives.

I spent some time with former CIA agent John Stockwel during one of his visit to Stanford a while back,
and I have never since taken Western media slant regarding any Western conflict at face value since - so pervasive is the infiltration and public media agenda-setting activity of the security agencies.

[malaise]

9. K & R

In a few years we'll hear how we were duped by another plant - this time in Libya.
I believe very little that they say.