"Here is some of the misinformation coming from the adminsitration:
1. According to Condoleeza Rice on a recent TV talk show, the war would take only a few days. (Her comment was made about two weeks ago.)"
If she said that (do you have a link?), she said it without talking to the military commanders. Every military person that I have heard has said that the road to Baghdad has been on or ahead of schedule. When it comes to listening to the facts of war, I definitely prefer to listen to those in the field.
"2. According to the former head of Bush's economic advisory team, the war might easily cost more than $1 trillion. After he was fired, the administration still kept saying that the cost would be around $50 billion, but this was upped to $75 billion yesterday in the form of a request for a supplemental appropriation. Note that no extra cost had been budgeted for in the recent appropriation, and the administration asked for a supplemental only AFTER the earlier budget appropriation had passed Congress."
Again, do you have a link? I read in December that the estimates were 75-200 billion.
"3. According to U.S./British reports from Umm Kasr, the city is now under control of the invading forces, but reports from other sources indicated that key portions of the area were still under Iraqi control."
The Iraqis may have control of parts of the city. What British Command said is that they can move freely where they need to in order to move in humanitarian supplies. OPf course, the plain clothes special forces of Saddam will do anything to prevent delivery of that aid. Maximizing the pain and suffering of the civilians has been Saddam's mantra for 20 years.
"One cannot trust the reports coming from the administration, nor from the coopted news media. In fact, one can no longer trust an administration which bases its case for invading Iraq on forged documents."
The bottom line is that Saddam has sponsored suicide bombings and the manufacture of lethal biological and chemical agents. We know that he has them because we originally gave them to him. We want them back. <g>
"If the administration would give straight, honest answers, they would find much less support from the general population. Hence, in order to retain support, they manage the news."
I agree with you there. The administration manages the news, not unlike every other news outlet or administration on the planet. Right or wrong, it is a fact of life.
This is one example that was in the news this week. The downing of the US helicopter on Sunday has been reported as a result of a fire fight with a division of the Iraqi military. 30 attack helicopter were repelled. The Iraqi news agency and Al Jazeera has reported that the copters were repelled by farmers. Who would you believe there? The news is one big psy-op battle in my opinion.
In order to make an intelligent decision on real activity in the war, the markets or virtually everything in life, multiple sources from all parts of the world should be digested. I don't trust politicians, period. |
