Abby Martin talks to Jeremy Scahill, investigative journalist and author of the new book and upcoming film Dirty Wars, an exposé on the expansion of American covert wars fought by US intelligence agencies and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). They talk about covert operations happening in countries like Somalia, Yemen, and Pakistan, where drone strikes and targeted assassinations are creating … Read More
effects of war
Agitprop: How the DoD Promotes Its War
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MEDIA ROOTS – The Pentagon disseminates propaganda through many different avenues: embedded reporting, press conferences, active cooperation with Hollywood, and through American Forces Press Service. The capstone of AFPS is a daily report known as “Face of Defense,” which glorifies the fighter, omits the horrors of war, and hypes creative accounts of military life. Examples include: “Passion for Cooking Drives … Read More
White Phosphorus: Dramatic Increase in Iraq Birth Defects
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MEDIA ROOTS – When Saddam Hussein used white phosphorous against his own people in March 1988, the United States labeled it a chemical weapon and considered it to be a weapon of mass destruction. This helped justify the American-lead invasion of Iraq in 2003. However, when coalition forces used the weapon in Fallujah the following year, it was classified as … Read More
Kathyrn Bigelow Makes Bin Laden Propaganda Film
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MEDIA ROOTS – Kathyrn Bigelow made a huge splash at the 2010 Academy Awards by usurping predicted winner Avatar with her depiction of soldiers fighting in Iraq in her movie The Hurt Locker. The Oscar winning film was revered by conservatives and anti-war liberals alike for its ‘balanced’ and ‘realistic’ tone, but in reality the movie is a clever form … Read More
White House Withholds Evidence on bin Laden Raid
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MEDIA ROOTS — It’s been a whole year since Osama bin Laden was allegedly assassinated in a Pakistani Navy Seal raid, but that isn’t stopping water-carrying media outlets and the White House from ratcheting up fears of terrorism, painting the potential for an ‘anniversary attack.’ Not surprisingly, a federal judge recently ruled, because of ‘national security,’ the Obama Administration does not … Read More