By Jim Wittebols
Buffalo, NY – Less than eighteen months ago, the United States suffered the greatest single attack on civilians in our history. In a commentary shortly after that day, I asked the following question: "In one or two decades from now, will we be living in a more just world where there is far less disparity between the wealthy and the poor or will we have provided more fertilizer for terrorism?" In asking this question, I honestly thought it might take many years before we would see the kind of international breakdown that now looms over the entire world as a result of the arrogant and ignorant posturing by the Bush Administration. I was wrong, Bush has promised a permanent state of war and now we are about to get it.
And of course the nation's news media are rather happy to be going along for the ride on this coming war---ratings will go up, careers will be made and books will be written by the men and women who will dutifully report what their Pentagon masters feed them. After all, can we expect no less given their performance over the last few weeks? Consider the following:
In the aftermath of the Powell presentation at the UN, a number of reports from alternative sources in this country and the mainstream press in Europe have debunked a great deal of his evidence, whether its about mobile labs, sites already searched by the inspectors or the outright plagiarism of a graduate student paper which has been employed as "intelligence."
Locally, Western New Yorkers have yet to hear about the startling revelations made by the Center for Public Integrity. Last week, they reported about Ashcroft's Justice Department preparing a second PATRIOT act which would further violate then rights of Americans to free association and free speech. Once again the Administration which proclaims we need a war to preserve our freedoms is instead actively engaged in thwarting basic freedoms essential to democracy. If our local public television affiliate had the decency to carry Bill Moyer's NOW show, we could have seen the interview with Charles Lewis of the Center. Instead of airing the NOW show on Fridays, Channel 17 fulfills the mission of public broadcasting by airing old black and white movies available on a number of cable movie channels.
Last week, journalist Russell Mokhiber challenged Ari Fleisher on Bush's alleged Christianity in the face of criticism by numerous church officials who have condemned a war against Iraq as unjust. Fleischer never had to answer a question about Bush's militarism as contrasted with Jesus' pacifism because other reporters verbally ambushed Mokhiber for daring to ask the question.
Meanwhile, Rumsfeld acts like a bull in a china shop when he goes to Europe, our Frat Boy president is unable to say much more than "it's over," and Powell further embarrassed himself Tuesday by claiming Bin Laden and Hussein are allies when the tape released Tuesday makes a strong case for the opposite.
Despite the media putting the best face on what this Administration is up to, both small town and urban America have been rife with protests against this war which the media have dutifully ignored or underplayed. A major protest effort will take place in New York and around the world this Saturday. Media reports about recent protests have vastly underplayed the large, diverse and vociferous crowds which have expressed their responses to the propaganda being spread by this Administration. This weekend will be another test of the media's subservience to the war crowd.
For those who would take the claims of this administration at face value, I would suggest they review the Gulf of Tonkin non-incident which started our ugly role in Vietnam. I would further suggest they review the fake satellite photographs which had Iraqi soldiers massing at the Saudi border in 1991. The American media are little more than a transmission belt for the disinformation that comes from George and his merry band of warmongers. Get out your hymnals news anchors, its time for "Onward Christian Soldiers."
Dr. JIm Wittebols is a professor of communications studies at Niagara University.