MEDIA ROOTS –  When visiting the Republican National Committee’s home page, one will find it stated that the RNC is “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”  However, on the party’s Facebook page, a photo of volunteers phone-banking for Mitt Romney was uploaded last week.  There is absolutely no reference to the Ron Paul campaign when the party’s national convention is to be held next month in Tampa to determine the party’s official endorsement.

Last Friday, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow discussed the myth that Mitt Romney is already the official nominee for the Republican National Committee.  Maddow quoted RNC rule 40(b) which explains that “each candidate for nomination … shall demonstrate the support of a plurality of the delegates from each of five (5) or more states ….” Dr. Paul has already received the overwhelming support from Republican delegates in Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, and Louisiana going into next Saturday’s Nebraska State Convention where 23 at-large delegates will be selected to go to Tampa.

Additionally, according to RNC rule 30, the national committee does not recognize a state’s binding of delegates such as the case in Nevada and Massachusetts.  Last February, the Paul campaign was able to secure 22 out of the 28 delegates in Nevada that are currently bound by the state’s committee rules to vote for Mitt Romney.  In an unprecedented move in Mitt Romney’s home state of Massachusetts, the RNC state committee stripped seventeen delegates of their credentials because they refused to sign an affidavit promising they would back Mitt Romney at the RNC.  The former governor has 38 bound delegates during the first round of voting in Tampa but has zero bound delegates should there be a second round of voting.

Litigation is already under way when a group unaffiliated with the Paul campaign–referred to as Lawyers for Ron Paul–filed suit against the Republican National Committee last month in California’s 9^th Circuit Court after reports of electoral fraud and intimidation continue to surface around the country.

Oskar Mosco

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Austin Petersen of Freedom Works and RT’s Abby Martin discuss the intimidation against Ron Paul delegates.

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Lawyers for Ron Paul describe the civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court on behalf of American voters.

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Photo provided by Flickr user DonkeyHotey.

MEDIA ROOTS – According to neoconservative Robert Kagan, the USA has been involved in military conflict abroad 70 percent of the time since the end of the Cold War.  Many times, these foreign wars need to be “sold” to the U.S. public in order to galvanize the populace against a common enemy (e.g. Noriega ’89, Saddam ’91, Bin Laden ’01, and Saddam ’03).  This “selling” of war comes in the form of deliberate deception and manipulation by Executive authorities and Pentagon officials.  The Pentagon’s vast resources, propaganda apparatuses, media links, and international ties are crucial in fomenting public support for military aggression.

If we, as a society, want to progress beyond such militancy and avoid future wars of aggression, it is crucial to recognize manipulation of public opinion when it occurs.  The 28 minute CBC documentary To Sell A War details precisely the elaborate lengths to which the Pentagon and Executive Branch will go in order to rally the public for war.  As you will see, nothing is off limits.  

Christian Sorensen for Media Roots

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Documentary: To Sell a War

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Photo by Flickr user US Army

MEDIA ROOTS — A pair of Internet archivists have uploaded Part Four of US corporate media print publications from the immediate days and weeks following 9/11.  The duo plans to post more multiple full issues of Time and Newsweek as well as other timely magazines that are filled with propaganda.  This issue of US News is from just three days after the attacks—September 14th, 2001. 

Following 9/11, news media accelerated at an amazing rate, and most companies soon adopted Internet versions of their paper or magazines.  Before this was commonplace, many interesting pieces of information printed about that day most likely were never reprinted again–due to either misinformation or abandonment by the propagandists.  As we know, many government narratives and unfounded claims about 9/11 were re-printed without any journalistic investigation.  Also worth noting is how candid some of the reporting is, where journalists admit to things like ‘patriotic bias’ clouding their ability to do actual journalism. 

Part Four, War and We Must Win, gives us a look at a US News magazine published just days after the attacks.  The issue includes an in depth explanation of how each tower collapsed.  Since no steel framed building in has ever collapsed from fire or falling debris in history before, it’s peculiar that there was already such an astonishingly quick narrative set in stone.  The final and most ominous page of the magazine has an article with the headline War, and We Must Win, by Michael Barone.  It encourages the taking out of dictators in the Arab world including the likes of Iran, Iraq and Libya.  It even features a picture of Saddam Hussein.  We hope that these archivists continue this fascinating project, it could uncover aspects of the ‘War on Terror’ that most journalists and researchers have completely forgotten about.  Above all, it reveals the extent of the conditioning the American people were subjected to immediately after the traumatization of this nation. 

They have put the issue up in PDF Format, which can be downloaded here with an update to this article as well as a slideshow (see below). 

Check out previous installments, Part One: The Terrorism Survival Guide, Part Two: How Scared Should You Be?, or Part Three: Afghanistan War Run Up.

Robbie Martin for Media Roots

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Note:  The slideshow of the full US News issue looks best at full screen by clicking the box in the right corner.  Click play to start.  Click the pause button to stop the slideshow from progressing automatically on the right corner.

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MEDIA ROOTS — The two-tiered American justice system is in full effect as felonious political actors advocate and promote the Iranian terrorist group Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) in order to pursue US hegemony in the region.  

In 2010, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case Holder v. Humanitarian Law that providing material support in coordination with a designated foreign terrorist organization is a felony punishable by 15 years in prison.  If you or I took money from the MEK to advocate lifting the terrorist designation, how long do you think it would take to be hooded, shackled and indefinitely detained under the National Defense Authorization Act?  

Abby Martin of Media Roots and RT reports on the current efforts to convince the State Department to de-list MEK as a foreign terrorist organization.

Abby Martin – State Department Lobbies Terrorists for RT

A wave of American leaders have illegally lined up to get their slice of the MEK bankroll for speaking on their behalf.  Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton said, “Why would we not want to put the weight and power of this country behind an organization that we know stands for the same principles we stand for, and that is the best-organized, best-led organization to take on the current Iranian regime?”  Louis Freeh, former Director of the FBI stated that “MEK is leading the fight for freedom in Iran. Just as our military forces fight for freedom on the battlefields, you fight in a more difficult and much more dangerous place.”  

The end-game of all this bought and paid for rhetoric is a writ entered on June 1, 2012 to the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. asking Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State to review the designation of MEK as a foreign terrorist organizations within four months or by default the designation will be removed.

These naïve politicos with imperialist illusions of Iranian regime change want to jump in bed with the MEK who vocally supported the U.S. embassy takeover in Tehran in 1979 and vehemently called for the execution of diplomats in 1981.  The very same MEK that attempted to kidnap US Ambassador Douglas MacArthur in 1971, wounded Air force General Harold Price in 1972, assassinated US Army Comptroller Louis Lee Hawkins in 1973, assassinated US Air Force officers Paul Shaffer and Jack Turner and assassinated American employees William Cottrell, Donald Smith and Robert Krongard in 1976.  The very same group that hijacked a plane in 1971 and bombed and killed 70 members of the Iranian parliament including Chief Justice Mohammad Beheshti, the second highest ranking official in Iran at the time.  MEK also reportedly celebrated the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as helped carry out the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists last year.

American justice calls on the following Americans to surrender and submit to interrogation so it can be determined what degree of material support they provided officially designated terrorists: Tom Ridge, Wesley Clark, Michael Mukasey, Frances Townshend, James Jones, Peter Pace, Hugh Shelton, Louis Freeh, Michael Hayden, Anthony Zinni, Rudi Giuliani, Howard Dean, Andy Card, Bill Richardson, Lee Hamilton, John Bolton and all other Americans that feel they can operate above the law.  All money received for speaking engagements should be returned, resignations should be tendered and pleas should be entered.

The arrogant criminal hypocrisy is absolutely surreal as American politicos subvert the draconian laws they perpetrate upon the rest of America.  Swift sanctions are necessary to ensure the general public that all Americans live under one set of laws. So far the defenses offered by these haughty elitists are their right to free speech, which is specifically limited by the Holder Supreme Court case.  Their argument is that the MEK will make a fine marionette for American imposed regime change in Iran.  But Americans don’t want war or regime change in Iran—America wants representatives with common sense and ethics to be focused on this country.  Let the Iranian people determine their own leadership and destiny.

Chris Martin for Media Roots

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SALON –We now have an extraordinary situation that reveals the impunity with which political elites commit the most egregious crimes, as well as the special privileges to which they explicitly believe they — and they alone — are entitled. That a large bipartisan cast of Washington officials got caught being paid substantial sums of money by an Iranian dissident group that is legally designated by the U.S. Government as a Terrorist organization, and then meeting with and advocating on behalf of that Terrorist group, is very significant for several reasons. New developments over the last week make it all the more telling. Just behold the truly amazing set of facts that have arisen:

In June, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 6-3 ruling in the case of Holder v. Humanitarian Law. In that case, the Court upheld the Obama DOJ’s very broad interpretation of the statute that criminalizes the providing of “material support” to groups formally designated by the State Department as Terrorist organizations. The five-judge conservative bloc (along with Justice Stevens) held that pure political speech could be permissibly criminalized as “material support for Terrorism” consistent with the First Amendment if the “advocacy [is] performed in coordination with, or at the direction of, a foreign terrorist organization” (emphasis added). In other words, pure political advocacy in support of a designated Terrorist group could be prosecuted as a felony — punishable with 15 years in prison — if the advocacy is coordinated with that group.

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Photo Iran flag wikicommons

MEDIA ROOTS – One in five women in the U.S. Armed Forces is sexually assaulted, but most do not report these despicable acts.  Two weeks ago, U.S. Air Force General Edward Rice held a press conference regarding allegations of sexual assault at Lackland Air Force Base, where all Air Force enlisted trainees undergo Basic Military Training (BMT).  After listening to General Rice adroitly muffle concern and dodge responsibility, it is important to clarify precisely how he fails to understanding the trainee mindset, refuses to investigate sexual assault comprehensively, and likely will not hold himself accountable.

General Rice, Commander of Air Education and Training Command (AETC), fails to understand the mindset of enlisted trainees.  When in BMT, one’s overarching priority is to complete training on schedule and with all due haste.  Most often, this requires maintaining a low profile, “blending in,” or avoiding the training instructors’ ire.  Trainees fear any circumstance leading to being “recycled” or “washed back,” which could add weeks to a trainee’s BMT experience.  This fear is one reason why trainees do not speak up.  As disturbing as it sounds, trainees weigh the costs and benefits: speaking up, seeking administrative attention, enduring even more time in BMT, and starting an Air Force career with clerical paperwork vs. bottling up, suppressing sexual incident(s), and perhaps seeking redress later on.  Addressing this reality may involve affording victims all psychological and physical help while simultaneously allowing them to progress in training at their own pace and comfort.

General Rice also needs to focus on another distressing aspect of the trainee mindset, the nuances of which a former Marine drill instructor explains:

“You cannot do anything without requesting permission from your drill instructor…  You are literally in many cases a robot waiting for permission to take a step.  And if you have that relationship which is based on fear and intimidation… if that’s the person you’re asking help from, it becomes a very bizarre scenario…  You are subject to every single order that comes out of that instructor’s mouth.”

While Marine and Air Force basic training environments differ in many respects, the underlying point is clear:  it is incredibly difficult to seek help as a trainee after a sexual assault, due in part to the very nature of the trainee-instructor relationship.  This relationship is vital for training purposes, but impedes justice and administrative recourse in certain circumstances.  General Rice believes an existing system of “comment sheets” and anonymous “comment boxes” provides each Air Force trainee with the outlet they need.  Unfortunately, fear of an extended duration in BMT often stifles trainee recourse to comment sheets.  Rice must examine how to alleviate such a destructive mentality without compromising the caliber of existing Air Force training.

Additionally, General Rice and his fellow senior officers fail to investigate sexual assault across AETC.  Observe Rice’s equivocation:

“I indicated we had 12 instructors that are under investigation…  Nine of those 12 were in one [squadron].  We have a total of nine squadrons, and nine of them came from one squadron.  So in my assessment to this point, it is not an issue of an endemic problem throughout basic military training.  It is more localized, and we are doing a very intensive investigation on that squadron to find out what exactly happened and why.”

General Rice, whose academic credentials boast multiple graduate degrees, could surely fathom a reality in which numerous victims of sexual assault exist across AETC and the operational Air Force.  For Rice, it’s far easier to blame a localized problem at the squadron level than engage in institutional introspection or examine the culture over which he reigns.

If recent history is any indication, General Rice and senior Air Force officers will not be held accountable.  After the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, a dozen lower-enlisted service members were punished but only one general was reprimanded.  After repeated Afghan civilian deaths under General Petraeus’ command, no U.S. general was disciplined.  These are dismal precedents.

In 2008, Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the two most senior Air Force leaders for mismanagement of nuclear weapons.  Although their indiscretions led to no casualties, Gates recognized the imperative of holding senior Air Force officials accountable.  The standing lesson is clear: senior officials who endanger lives with nuclear weapons get fired, while those who oversee a ruinous culture of endemic sexual abuse survive without a scratch.  To right this wrong, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta must ask for General Rice’s resignation along with all relevant officers in the AETC chain of command.  All forms of punishment are available when reprimanding the abusers, their immediate superiors, and their entire chain of command, including reduction in rank, forfeiture of pay, confinement, and imprisonment.

General Rice has failed in his duty by misunderstanding the trainee mindset, avoiding a comprehensive investigation of sexual misconduct, and evading punishment.  Although administrative accountability doesn’t ease the pain of victimhood, it sends a firm message to every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine: sexual assault will not be tolerated in the U.S. military, and every link in the chain of command is responsible for enforcing this.  The tragedy of sexual assault is deafening; a catastrophe which numerous military members endure through no fault of their own.  This is a defining time for Pentagon leadership to prove its mettle.

Written by Christian Sorensen for Media Roots. Christian went through BMT at Lackland’s 331 Training Squadron.

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Photograph provided by Flickr user JSMoorman.