hyperlinks and video live at source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m11d23-Prostitution-journalism-Yup-mainstream-media-is...

Please click and read the outstanding work of Stephen Lendman in Paid lying – what passes for major media journalism. Stephen documents major areas of propaganda. I also recommend the work of PuppetGov to artistically represent the fact of Americans being played by political “leadership” and their media whores. An example of their video work is below in powerful beauty (warning: some strong language).

In my work, to just consider one area of easily-demonstrated intentional lies of omission and commission, propaganda: I’ve previously documented the two principle fears some Americans espouse with Iran and threaten war to prove beyond doubt they are without basis in fact:

Iran’s nuclear energy program is in compliance with international treaty, fully inspected with all evidence showing energy-use only, and all US intelligence agencies in agreement of zero evident threat of nuclear weapon production. The US is out of compliance by refusing to help Iran achieve nuclear energy and accept inspections to ensure safety.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s statements toward Israel have been contrived by US political “leaders” from both parties and the corporate media as a threat when the text and context of the speech clearly and verifiably show only interest in an Israeli government that respects the rights of Palestinians. This means Americans are being lied to from their political leadership and media, just as we were lied to about Iraq. Please let that sink in.

Please verify these two facts to your satisfaction. I’ve also documented that the US overthrew Iran’s democracy from 1953 until 1979; denied by the US government until 2000, but now conservative and unchallenged history. The US aided Iraq’s invasion of Iran from 1980 to 1988, supplying chemical and biological weapons to kill Iranians defending their nation, and US military attacked and destroyed Iranian oil platforms and a commercial airliner. I've also written the facts in a story as if the US were in Iran's position.

This is in addition that we now know from US Senate and House disclosed evidence that all claims to invade Iraq were known to be false at the time they were told.

Because “mainstream media” doesn’t scream this fact and reveal the US illegal Wars of Aggression, they are criminally complicit in covering-up a crime. They are propagandists of an oligarchic dictatorship; literally dictating what they want us to believe. This evidence verifies for all with intellectual integrity and moral courage that the US has been subject to Orwellian lies from a controlled corporate media.

You're being played. Let that sink in. You are being treated as a dumb animal by both political party leaderships and the corporate media. You are being used for something, some agenda other than what they say.

Your political leaders and the corporate media are lying sacks of spin.

And this will continue to your children and on into the future unless we have a breakthrough in public recognition of propaganda and demand for truth. I advocate Truth and Reconciliation or prosecution.

As I previously wrote with documented manipulation of information:

Information Operations Roadmap is a program approved by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld in 2003, and surprisingly released to George Washington University’s National Security Archive in a Freedom of Information Act request.[13] Wikipedia acknowledges its existence, but fails to inform of its content for government influence of American public opinion for support of US military operations. The existence of this document confirms governmental planning to replace fact with spin for the American public’s consumption.[14]

In 2000, CNN reluctantly acknowledged that they employ military PSYOPS (Psychological Operations Group) personnel at their news station.[15] The express purpose of US military PSYOPS is propaganda; to manipulate public opinion in favor of government military policy.

The Pentagon complied with Freedom of Information requests and released over 8,000 pages that confirmed beginning in January 2002, they recruited over 75 former military “experts” to be what they termed as their “surrogates” and “message force multiplies” to appear in major media to advocate for the War on Terror under the disguise of independent analysts.[16] They collectively appeared over 4,500 times to reinforce the government’s military positions while the media called them “military experts.”[17] The program was managed by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Victoria Clark, funded by our tax dollars, and again had the express purpose of propaganda. The title for this episode that stuck was “PSYOPS on steroids.” The Pentagon claims to have discontinued the program.

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan confirmed that the Bush administration directly sent “talking points” to Fox News for their communication to the American public.[18]

Americans seem to be taking notice of at least some of this information. According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, the majority of the American public see the US major media news organizations as politically biased, inaccurate, and uncaring. Among those who use the Internet, two-thirds report that major media news do not care about the people they report on, 59% say the news is inaccurate, 64% see bias, and 53% summarize their view on major media news as, “failing to stand up for America.”[19]

A hypothesis to explain our government’s motivation to disinform the public in favor of Middle East wars that seems to be supported by the facts is to dominate the Middle East’s oil supply. Indeed, the Bush administration first named the Iraq war, “Operation Iraqi Liberation.”[20] Wikipedia used to have an article explaining that the project name was changed due to people wondering if its acronym, O.I.L., was the war’s real purpose. Regarding war with Iran, 90% of their oil and gas reserves are in the province that borders Iraq, most of which is right on the border, a tempting and nearby target should the control of oil be the objective.[21]

For those who cling to the notion that the purpose of the war was to remove a vicious dictator for the good of the Iraqi people and the safety of the world rather than for oil, consider that the US supports vicious dictators in Africa who cooperate with their oil exports to the US. The second and third largest oil producers of Africa are Angola and Gabon; neither belong to OPEC. In addition, Equatorial Guinea is a significant exporter of oil. All three countries have dictators at least as bad as Saddam. All three are on favorable terms with the US and were welcome to meet with President Bush.[22]

Also consider the CIA program, “Operation Mockingbird,”[23] disclosed to the public in the Church Senate Committee hearings in 1976, then reported in detail by Woodward and Bernstein in the Washington Post.[24] This was a fully implemented CIA program to spread disinformation throughout American media. CIA Director William Colby testified to the Church Committee that over 400 CIA agents were active in the US media to control what was reported through American mainstream television, newspapers, and magazines. President Ford fired Colby after his testimony, replacing him with George H. W. Bush. Bush Sr. ended the CIA’s testimony, stating that there were no other programs of concern to disclose and promising that the CIA would no longer influence the media.

An historical precedent of US government manipulation of the media that may have encouraged such a program was the successful cover-up of the destructive effects of the US use of nuclear weapons against Japan. After the US used the world’s most destructive WMD in history, General MacArthur closed southern Japan to reporters. The War Department hired NY Times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, William Laurence, to report to the American public on the accomplishment of the US nuclear weapons program. Part of Laurence’s instruction was to specifically state that nuclear weapons had no danger of radiation. Laurence did so, discounting Japanese reports of radiation fallout poisoning as “propaganda.” Laurence was rewarded for his “reporting” with a second Pulitzer.[25]

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[13] National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB177/index.htm , Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Operations_Roadmap .
[14] Try these: The National Security Archive. Rumsfeld’s Roadmap to Propaganda. National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book #177: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB177/index.htm , and BBC. Brookes, A. US Plans to “Fight the Net” Revealed. Jan. 27, 2006: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4655196.stm .
[15] CommonDreams.org. Cockburn, A. The military and CNN. March 23, 2000: http://www.commondreams.org/views/032300-107.htm .
[16] New York Times. Barstow, D. Behind TV analysts, Pentagon’s hidden hand. April 20, 2008: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html .
[17] Media Matters. Military analysts named by Times expose appeared or were quoted more than 4,500 times on broadcast nets, cables, NPR. May 13, 2008: http://mediamatters.org/items/200805130001 .
[18] Truthdig.com. Scott McClellan: White House fed “talking points” to Fox News. July 27, 2008. http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20080727_scott_mcclellan_white_house_fed_talking_points_to_fox_news/ .
[19] In From the Cold. And they wonder why we despise them. Aug. 10, 2007: http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2007/08/and-they-wonder-why-we-despise-them.html .
[20] White House Press Briefing of March 24, 2003: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030324-4.html , Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Iraqi_Liberation&redirect=no
[21] For additional background: Westminster Committee on Iran. Iran After the NIE Report: Exploring the Issues, Exploding the Myths. Dec. 20, 2007: http://www.payvand.com/news/07/dec/1205.html and map of Iran’s Petroleum Facilities, 2004: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iran_petroleum_facilities_2004.jpg .
[22] There are many updated articles you can research. For foundation: Energy Bulletin. Beinart, P. Rigged. June 9, 2004: http://www.energybulletin.net/node/596 .
[23] What Really Happened. Mockingbird: The Subversion of the Free Press by the CIA: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/MOCK/mockingbird.html , Prison Planet. Louise, M. Operation Mockingbird: CIA Media Manipulation: http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_louise_01_03_03_mockingbird.html , Brandt, D. Journalism and the CIA: the Mighty Wurlitzer. April-June, 1997: http://www.freedomofthepress.net/journalismandtheciathemightywurlitzer.htm , Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird .
[24] Bernstein, C. The CIA and the Media. Oct. 20, 1977: http://carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php .
[25] Wanttoknow.info. Cover-up of Original Atomic Bomb Effects in New York Times Rings True Today: http://www.wanttoknow.info/atomicbombcoverup .