MEDIA DECEPTION AND IRAQ
commondreams.org
Older article, but still relevant..........
Published on Wednesday, July 11, 2001
Media Deception & Iraq
by Jeffrey Weiss
The Associated Press released a story on June 19, written by Edith Lederer, that was published in many newspapers in the United States, alleging that Iraq was importing weapons despite economic sanctions. I conducted a brief study to find out the genesis of the article.
The local Des Moines Register picked up the AP story from the wire and gave the title: "Iraq evades arms sanctions, U.N. reports say." The story was based upon findings by Gary Mihollin, director of the Washington-based Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. According to the group, Iraq "evaded U.N. sanctions in the 90s importing weapons from companies in Eastern Europe and Russia."
The "UN Reports" cited in the headline were in fact, according to the text of the story, "unpublished" reports released by "U.S. arms-control researchers" who got them from "sources outside the United Nations."
The category of "weapons" provided by companies in the study is never identified; AP writer Edith Lederer, however, makes a reference to Iraq's "nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs."
On June 25 I called Edith Lederer in Washington, D.C. at the AP bureau. The conversation went like this:
Edith: "I can answer one question and give you 15 seconds of my time so hurry."
Jeffrey: "Have you ever seen the unpublished U.N. report that is the subject of the story?"
Edith: "No."
Jeffrey: "Have you ever read any of the text of this unpublished report that is the focus of your story."
Edith: "No."
Jeffrey: "Do you think I can get a copy of this report from Gary in Wisconsin?"
Edith: "I doubt there is any chance that could happen .. Gary is a friend."
Jeffrey: So how do we know this report exists?
Edith: You can read the story in Commentary magazine
Jeffrey: "I looked upon the web site and found out the Wisconsin Project's Iraq program is funded in part by the Pentagon. You describe them as a non-profit watchdog group.
Edith: "I have to go now, but you can find the story in the Commentary."
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