A new poll shows that most Americans still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction

According to a recent poll, most US citizens still believe that Saddam Hussain possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction. How do we interpret the results. Isn't it the power of Psychological operations including false flag attacks perpetrated against the US public with the help of media organizations, that are responsible for such beliefs  which cost American public six trillion dollars. The price Iraqi's pay is rarely discussed and even if somebody mentions it he is silenced saying teh word collateral damage. Colateral damage for what? Read an excellent article below at Washington's blog.

Majority Are Still Falling for Fake News
A new poll from YouGov shows that most Americans still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction at the start of the Iraq war:

That’s stunning, given that President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, the CIA, SecDef Rumsfeld, SecState Powell, National Security Advisor Rice, Bush’s chief strategist Rove, “Curveball” (the alias of the name of the unreliable WMD information) and other top officials have all publicly admitted that Iraq had no WMDs.



Corporate Media Pushed Fake News
The mainstream media has confessed that they pushed the fake WMD claims.
For example, the New York Times pushed fabricated evidence in the run up to the Iraq war.   A year later, the newspaper apologized for its inaccurate, one-sided coverage.
The Washington Post also apologized for hyping the non-existent WMD threat.
CNN’s Howard Kurtz wrote:

Major news organizations aided and abetted the Bush administration’s march to war on what turned out to be faulty premises. All too often, skepticism was checked at the door, and the shaky claims of top officials and unnamed sources were trumpeted as fact.
***
The low level of public confidence in the media has many causes, but one of them stems from what happened back in 2003.

Government Officials Pushed Fake News
We in the alternative media have reported over and over and over and over and over and over that all of the insiders knew that Iraq didn’t have weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). And see this.
Catastrophic Consequences of Fake News
We were told that the Iraq war would make us safer.  We were told that it would be quick, and would virtually pay for itself. (We were also told that it would be a “cakewalk”, and that American soldiers would be greeted with flowers.)
In reality, the Iraq war was a total disaster.
The war cost up to $6 trillion dollars, which – even in a country as big as the U.S. – is a lot of money.
The war made us less secure than before.  Remember, Al Qaeda wasn’t even in Iraq until the U.S. invaded that country. And the Iraq war directly led to the creation of ISIS.
Indeed, the leaders of America and the UK were warned that the Iraq war would increase terrorism … before they pulled the trigger.
That’s “fake news” …

The original source of this article is Washington's Blog

Copyright © Washington's Blog, Washington's Blog, 2016

Alarming rise in journalists' killing across the world

GENEVA: Fifty-nine journalists have been killed around the world so far this year, in an alarming rise from 2008 that has become a “bloodbath” of the media, a watchdog said on Thursday.

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said 53 journalists were killed in the first six months, up from 45 in the first half of last year, but highlighted another six killings in July, including Russian journalist and rights activist Natalya Estemirova who was murdered on July 15.

Mexico leads the media blackspots with seven journalists being killed this year, according to the PEC.

It said there were six journalists killed in Pakistan, five each in Iraq, the Philippines, Russia and Somalia, four in Gaza and Honduras, three in Colombia, two each in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Venezuela and one in India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, and Madagascar.

The PEC called upon all UN states, international organisations and NGOs to take action “to stop this bloodbath against journalists”.

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Another Pakistani journalist's house attacked

New York, July 13, 2009--The house of a second Pakistani journalist working in the border area with Afghanistan was looted and burned on Saturday, according to the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ). The attack was similar to one carried out by Taliban militants on Thursday in the same district, which has been an area of conflict since the government launched an offensive in April.

According to the KhUJ and the English-language daily The News, the home of Behroz Khan, in Balo Khan village in Buner in the North West Frontier Province, had been looted and ransacked a few times in recent months before it was burned over the weekend. Khan is a senior journalist who works for Geo TV and has assisted CPJ investigations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the past.

"The targeting of homes and families of journalists who dare to report professionally is a frightening trend that must be stopped," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "All sides in the conflict in Pakistan must respect the role of journalists in covering the news."
The News reported that Khan had left the area before the most recent attack and CPJ has not been able to contact him. The paper said Buner's district coordination officer and district police officer were not available to comment.

A bomb destroyed the home of Voice of America correspondent Rahman Bunairee in Buner district on Thursday in what was believed to be a retaliatory attack by the Taliban.
The government said on Wednesday that it was winding down its military operations against Taliban militants in Buner and the adjoining Swat Valley. The offensive, launched in April, has killed about 1,600 combatants, according to the government.

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Pakistani reporter's home destroyed

New York, July 10, 2009--The home of Voice of America (VOA) correspondent Rahman Bunairee in Buner district was leveled by a bomb on Thursday in what was believed to be a retaliatory attack by the Taliban, news reports said.

Citing Bunairee's account, the U.S. government-funded broadcaster reported that "a few dozen militants came to his home in Buner district Wednesday night and told his father that because his son was speaking against militants, they had been ordered to blow up his home." The English-language Daily Times reported that Bunairee's family--including two young children--then vacated the house.

"Despite the government's claims of having secured the area, Pakistani journalists remain prime targets," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "The attack on the home of Rahman Bunairee is one more indicator of the dangers these journalists--and their families--face as they continue to report from this high-conflict area."

CPJ could not reach Bunairee by telephone or e-mail today, but news reports and accounts from VOA colleagues have filled in many details. Bunairee told colleagues that he and his family have relocated to a safe place. He said the attack may have come in retaliation for a recent report that said militants were still patrolling the streets in several villages in Buner--a district in the volatile North West Frontier Province--despite government claims that the Taliban have been largely eliminated in the area, the VOA said.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the government said that its military operations against Taliban militants were drawing to a close in Buner and the adjoining Swat Valley. It said Pakistani forces had killed about 1,600 combatants since it launched its offensive in April. A few days earlier, the government had encouraged civilians who had fled the fighting to begin returning to the area.

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Pakistani journalists in frontier region

Following the wounding of a journalist and a driver by Pakistan security forces on Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on Pakistan's military today to institute training to prevent such incidents and to discipline troops who fire unwarrantedly.

According to an e-mail message from the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ), troops manning a checkpoint in the Malakand Agency, within the frontier region, fired on AVT Khyber cameraman Malik Imran and the crew's driver, Mushtaq. The area is the scene of ongoing battles between various Pakistani units--some regular army, others from the Frontier Guards--and Taliban fighters.

The KhUJ reported that both men are in stable condition. Two other journalists traveling in the car, AVT Khyber reporter Lihaz Ali and photographer Abdul Majeed Gorayawere (whose affiliation was not given), were not injured. The journalists told KhUJ that their car was fired on after it had cleared the checkpoint.

The Pakistani military did not respond immediately to CPJ's request for comment.
It is imperative that the Pakistani military review its checkpoint procedures and ensure that its soldiers allow journalists to work in safety in conflict areas," Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator.

KhUJ's parent organization, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), noted that "such incidents have become the order of the day in conflict areas." PFUJ Secretary General Shamsul Islam Naz said in a statement from Islamabad that the extraordinary security measures adopted by the armed forces in these areas are keeping journalists from highlighting the impact of the fighting on the local populace.

CPJ supported calls from the PFUJ and its subsidiary groups for Pakistani media companies to offer safety training and protective gear for their reporters and other personnel working in combat situations. "Many Pakistani journalists are being thrown into war reporting without proper training or equipment--a problem their employers must address immediately," said Dietz.

On the same day of the incident in Malakand, police in Rawalpindi baton-charged a group of journalists demonstrating to draw attention to the security crisis for journalists reporting in Pakistan's war-torn regions, according to local news reports. In a statement released Wednesday, the PFUJ expressed concern that the heavy-handed police response reflected a growing attitude of indifference by government and law enforcement agencies regarding freedom of expression and the need for journalists to be able to do their work safely.

In a briefing paper in May, CPJ reported that journalists in Pakistan have come under rapidly escalating pressure as the military confronts Taliban militants in the northwest region of the country. Threats and attacks from both sides have made reporting from Taliban-controlled areas more dangerous.

In a separate incident on Monday in Islamabad, the media support group Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) reported that three journalists were injured when they were assaulted by workers of the Islami Jamiat Talaba, the student wing of Jamat-e-Islami, a religious political party, during a protest. The demonstrators told three journalists--Syed Mehdi, photojournalist for the daily The Nation, Muhammad Asim, photojournalist for the Daily Jinnah, and Aqeel Qasim Shah, cameraman for Metro One TV station--to stop taking photographs and attacked them when they did not. PPF said Mehdi was beaten with batons and received first aid treatment at a local hospital. Asim suffered minor injuries. Shah's camera was broken and his shoulder was injured.

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