Obsession with seeming unequivocal and immovable has been frequent in the Oval Office. During the Vietnam War, such fixations were indifferent to the fact that the war was losing the U.S. government moral credibility around the world. But from the outset, Lyndon...
On the propaganda front, it's been another tough week for Washington's war makers. But for them, where there's hope there's death. Let's address the Iraq war directly: It's too soon to know whether the Bush administration's new PR offensive will do anything for you in...
Ten days ago, in one of southern Tehran's poor neighborhoods, I interviewed some voters in line to cast ballots for Iran's next president. After a while, when an official at the polling station asked who I thought would win, I repeated the conventional media wisdom:...
Forget it! That seems to be an unstated motto for American media coverage of the Iranian presidential election. The axiom comes down to: "Don't let history get in the way of spin." Evasion smooths the way to the next war. For maximum propaganda effect, the...
Keep them behind the war curve. While some Americans are exposing the deception for the latest war, steadily lay the groundwork for the next one. Focus plenty of news reports on alienated youth in Iran, spotlighting despair that borders on nihilism. Meanwhile, give...
Iran's most repressive clerics and the USA's most militaristic neocons share a common interest: They're very eager to see the failure of Iranian activism for democracy and human rights. On the surface, no outlook could be further from Washington's reigning mentality...
Washington keeps condemning Iran's government and making thinly veiled threats. But in Iran, many people are in the midst of challenging the country's rulers, in the streets and at the ballot box. The June 17 election for president could be a turning point or a hollow...
You wouldn't know it from the media focus on Deep Throat last week, but the lies that Richard Nixon told about the Watergate break-in were part of his standard duplicity for the Vietnam War. It wasn't just that the Nixon administration engaged in secret illegal...
On February 27, 1968, I sat in a small room on Capitol Hill. Around a long table, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was in session, taking testimony from an administration official. Most of all, I remember a man with a push-broom moustache and a voice like...
Memorial Day weekend brings media rituals. Old Glory flutters on television and newsprint. Grave ceremonies and oratory pay homage to the fallen. Many officials and pundits speak of remembering the dead. But for all the talk of war and remembrance, no time is more...
