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November 12, 2008
All the Propaganda That's Fit to Print
By: Bernard Chazelle
The New York Times editorial, August 11, 2008:
There is no imaginable excuse for Russia’s invasion of Georgia. The United States and its European allies must tell Mr. Putin in the clearest possible terms that such aggression will not be tolerated.
No imaginable excuse? Russian aggression? Let's see what this blog had to say on the matter.
A Tiny Revolution, August 17, 2008:
Let's be clear about one thing: Russia did not attack; Georgia did. Yes, Russia has been destabilizing a region that, incidentally, wants nothing to do with Georgia [...] But is that an excuse for unleashing a massive, sustained barrage of rockets in the middle of the night on a civilian population?
Three months later, the Times makes a U-turn and adopts the official ATR line.
The New York Times, November 6, 2008:
Georgia’s inexperienced military attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm. Neither Georgia nor its Western allies have as yet provided conclusive evidence that Russia was invading the country [before Georgia's attack].
For the record, Russia has now withdrawn all of its troops from uncontested Georgian territory.
The Independent, November 12, 2008:
The US and UK left the impression that Russia was the guilty party [...] The journalists [including some from the NYT] travelled to the region separately and by different routes. They spoke to different people. But their findings are consistent: Georgia launched an indiscriminate military assault on South Ossetia's main town, Tskhinvali. The hospital was among the buildings attacked; doctors were injured even as they operated [...] What has now transpired, however, is that the US and Britain had no excuse for not knowing how the war began. They were briefed by the OSCE monitors at a very early stage, and those monitors included two highly experienced former British Army officers.
Let's go back to the Times editorial:
Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, foolishly and tragically baited the Russians — or even more foolishly fell into Moscow’s trap — when he sent his army into the separatist enclave of South Ossetia last week.
Indeed, just as Hitler fell into Warsaw's trap when he sent his army into Poland and bin Laden fell into Washington's trap when he sent airplanes into the World Trade Center.
— Bernard Chazelle
Posted at November 12, 2008 10:28 AMI, for one, am shocked by this intrusion of reality on to the pages of the New York Times. Once this sort of thing gets started, where will it end?
And I wonder if Georgia had been a member of NATO, and we had gone to war with Russia over their "aggression", how much longer would it taken for the Times to acknowledge what really happened?
Posted by: SteveB at November 12, 2008 12:40 PMEh, katso, say what you want about Georgia, but they definitely have the best folk music in the world. Cut them some slack.
Posted by: abb1 at November 12, 2008 12:44 PMabb1 Remember the war against Franco?
That's the kind where each of us belongs.
Though he may have won all the battles,
We had all the good songs. Tom Lehrer
Once the mainstream media gets a hold of a story plot, they can't let it go. The NYT spin on the Georgia attack even now is not a surprise.
What interests me more is how come all the mainstream sources in US and UK have immediately jumped on the plot that scary Russia has attacked defenseless Georgia. Is it because the US has been funding and backing Saakashvili? Is it because of the planned oil pipe through Georgia? Or is there something more sinister?
I'm seriously curious, because the Georgia's story has been on the back-burner before this. Would the journalists themselves be prone to this indoctrination, or does this level of partisan reaction require editors to step in?
Posted by: weaselword at November 12, 2008 02:06 PMHere's their version of Lili Marleen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRu2OcYoGq8&feature=related
How many times NYT and others in MSM have to find themselves WRONG about a story before they decide not to toe govt line or work on assumptions instead of with facts? NYT in its editorial of August wants Russia to behave responsibly. Does it feel, it has responsibility to its readers too?
It was rather amazing the way MSM went on bashing Russia while the World Wide Web had any number of stories, indicating otherwise and who was the real culprit. Wonder if the MSM reporters and editors read anything that is on the internet? May be they would learn something different about a story.
There was an excellent aricle in 'The Nation' online.
here
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080818/ames
Posted by: Rupa Shah at November 12, 2008 02:34 PMabb1:
Thanks for the link. BEUTIFUL!
Now, only if they could have cultural exchange instead of missiles and dropping bombs, life would be so much easier and pleasant for the innocent civilians!
Nah, that was an aberration; these guys, like the Italians, are better lovers than warriors. Here's their cute propaganda film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RxgRh4YiFA
They changed the story line when the other guy won the election.
Posted by: An Outhouse at November 12, 2008 03:21 PMabb1:
Well, they have been supported by the USA for a while so they had to learn SOMETHING! from USA tactics, so why not propaganda?
Something not related to this post but about NYT! Wow! Must be real embarassing!
here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/12/new-york-times-spoof
Posted by: Rupa Shah at November 12, 2008 05:04 PMi just found out about the future-times issue. more about it.
re: falling into traps, did we all notice that the "russians of mass destruction" waited until after mccain was announced not-president to tell the world that, yes, of course, they would be pointing missiles at the missile-defense missiles?
Posted by: hapa at November 12, 2008 05:38 PMWhile it is encouraging that the mainstream media are beginning to take a look at what really happened, the U.S. government is still rewarding Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili with billions in unconditional aid — money that will never go to the victims in South Ossetia who were brutalized by the Georgian government's assault.
It is time for the American government and people to find out what Georgia’s U.S. trained and equipped military really did. Even the U.S. State Department now concedes that the Georgian government was wrong to attack South Ossetia, yet this has not resulted in any change in policy.
In addition to the reporting noted above, we have seen new revelations about Saakashvili’s sneak attack on Tskhinvali, the BBC's report on Georgian abuses, Human Rights Watch's disclosure of Georgian use of cluster bombs, and our own growing compilation of eyewitness accounts of Georgian abuses before, during, and after the five-day war.
So why is the American taxpayer still being forced to pay billions to a brutal, reckless autocrat who ordered an indiscriminate attack on civilians?
Sen. Hillary Clinton needs to push her bill S.3567. This bill, which is currently referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee, seeks to examine the causes of the conflict and make recommendations about U.S. policy. The U.S. Senate and the incoming Obama Administration must ensure that the American people get a full and fair hearing on what happened in August.
Posted by: Truth for Ossetia at November 12, 2008 09:36 PM"-and bin Laden fell into Washington's trap when HE SENT AIRPLANES into the World Trade Center."
Excuse me? Que?
Posted by: james at November 12, 2008 11:34 PMIt's not just the US government, btw. I was watching BBC World a few days ago and they had this documentary and it was all about Gori and an apartment building Russians bombed there. I'm not sure I saw the whole thing, but from what I saw there was no context given whatsoever; as if that was an isolated event. So, it's the UK government/media as well.
Posted by: abb1 at November 13, 2008 10:44 AMSaakashvili is just another Somaoza or Pinoche, nothing new in OUR long tradition of puppet dictators. No more shocking than what WE ALWAYS DO. Read the Church Committee Reports, just substitute eastern european names for the spanish ones and U have the whole story. I'm wiling to bet even "Ole Death Squad Negroponti" shows up in Georgia somewhere in the tale. (should have ARRESTED and TRIED Nixon)
Posted by: Mike Meyer at November 13, 2008 12:08 PMWonder if they will ever learn about the horrors and futility of war? Our govt encouraged the govt of Georgia so the responsiblity lies with our govt. Till we have an administration that believes that WAR is not an answer to ANY problem, this ATROCITY called WAR will continue.
here
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/war_in_south_ossetia.html
Posted by: Rupa Shah at November 13, 2008 12:56 PMIndeed, just as Hitler fell into Warsaw's trap when he sent his army into Poland
What? South Ossetia would be analogous to Poland there and England analogous to Russia. Indeed, England declared war and bombed Germany well before Germany bombed England.
