Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The site is a sister to Atlantic Free Press and Brick Ogden an American Expatriate in Amsterdam has been a key supporter of this project.
The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
So far, there are 2 things that we can say with certainty about the massacre of the 250 Iraqis outside Najaf on Monday. First, we know that there is no substantiating evidence to support the official version of events. And, second, we know that every media outlet in the United States slavishly provided the government’s version to their readers without fact-checking or providing eyewitness testimony.
This proves that those who argue that mainstream news is “filtered” are sadly mistaken. There is no filter between the military and media; it’s a direct channel. In fact, all of the traditional obstacles have been meticulously swept away so the fairy tales which originate in the Pentagon end up on America’s front pages with as little interference as possible.
In the present case, we were told that “hundreds of gunmen from a ‘messianic cult’ (Soldiers of Heaven) planned to disguise themselves as pilgrims and kill clerics on the holiest day of the Shiite calendar”. We are expected to believe that they put their wives and children in the line of fire so they could conceal their real intention to lay siege to the city.
How many men would willingly drag their families into battle?
According to the Associated Press:
“Their aim was to kill as many leading clerics as possible, including the main ayatollahs, which would include Iraq’s main spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani….Najaf government officials indicated that the militants included both Shiite and Sunni extremists, as well as foreign fighters.”
Horseshit.
What we know now, is that, there were no foreign fighters (or
Al Qaida, as was originally stated) nor were there any Sunni militants.
It was a group of Shiites who were rivals of the leading Shiite-led
government (the SCIRI and Da’wa parties which represent Muqtada al Sadr
and Abdel Aziz al-Hakim)
So what really happened?
Apparently,
a fight broke out at a checkpoint between government forces (Shiite)
and the rival group. (who were also Shiites) Shots were fired, the
violence escalated, and government soldiers were quickly overpowered.
So, they called for backup from the US military saying that they were
under attack by al Qaida and Sunni insurgents. It was all rubbish, but
the military believed it, sent in F-18s and helicopter gunships and
buried the group under a carpet of bombs. (It is expected that women
and children were killed in the bombing)
In fact, many in the
media celebrated the slaughter of the Iraqi pilgrims as though they
were revisiting the “Battle of the Bulge”. Here’s a typical account
from the AP:
“US and British jets bombed and strafed the
militants, the US Air Force said Monday. US F-16s and A-10 jets dropped
500-pound bombs on insurgent positions, the Air Force said”.
Hoorah! More innocent people butchered!
Say what you will about the corporate media; they still havn’t lost their appetite for carnage.
Neither
has the decider-in-chief who, when asked about the attack, answered,
“My first reaction on this report from the battlefield is that the
Iraqis are beginning to show me something.”
What the Iraqis
“showed” Bush was how easy it is to dupe the US military into carrying
out their genocidal reprisals against rival groups. Just as the Mahdi
Army and other Shiite militias are “laying low” while the US military
ethnically cleanses Sunni neighborhoods throughout Baghdad, so too, the
Shiite-led Iraqi government is now using American firepower to
eliminate their potential Shiite enemies.
Apparently, Bush is as happy with this new arrangement as the Shiite warlords who now run the country.
A
spokesman from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said that “200 terrorists
were killed and 60 wounded” lowering the original estimates.
“Terrorists”?
“Terrorist families” (including children) or just plain old terrorists?
Whatever
the precise details may be, the official version is utter nonsense.
That’s why the survivors of the attack are being prevented from
speaking to the press. Just like the bombed-out wedding party in Anbar
Province, or the Jessica Lynch fiasco; the official version is “always
right” as long as there is no competing narrative.
The bottom
line is that the US military is now being used as an “enforcer” in
tribal and clan-based disputes. This will make it even more difficult
for Washington to prove that its honest broker who can reconcile the
differences between the between the warring factions. With every
reckless act of violence, the USbecomes further mired in an
“unwinnable” war in a hostile country. Only the American media thinks
that that's something to cheer about.
Really sad how convoluted things are in Iraq. Its hell on Earth, and our mi-steps played a large role in it.
Its not so bad that we mistakes, but we made mistakes while we told the world to buzz off! Right here at home, we told our fellow citizens they were cowardly if we didnt support the actions.
Sadly, many said nothing. Now its to late. I recall a quote from Thomas Jefferson, an American President who once said "If there is a God, I pray he's not Just".
I as well.
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Fourth Estate of Fifth Column written by a guest,
February 02, 2007
Chalmers Johnson in his new book submits the possibility of a military takeover of our government if the Bush admimostration does not clean up its act. Regardless of whether the neocons are using the industrial/military complex or the complex is using the neocons, empire building is their only goal. The media, after all the mergers and buyouts has abandonned the principles of the Fourth Estate and has increasingly acted as a fifth columnon their behalf.
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Interesting Insight: Shia Supporting Sunnis Get Attacked written by a guest,
February 07, 2007
What I found interesting was that the groups attacked were Shia, but advocate a supreme religious leader being Sunni. They advocate unity with Sunnis. That's motivation for hammering them, no? Read More: http://gdaeman.blogspot.com/2007/02/massacre-in-najaf.html
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So far, there are 2 things that we can say with certainty about the massacre of the 250 Iraqis outside Najaf on Monday. First, we know that there is no substantiating evidence to support the official version of events. And, second, we know that every media outlet in the United States slavishly provided the government’s version to their readers without fact-checking or providing eyewitness testimony.
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Its not so bad that we mistakes, but we made mistakes while we told the world to buzz off! Right here at home, we told our fellow citizens they were cowardly if we didnt support the actions.
Sadly, many said nothing. Now its to late. I recall a quote from Thomas Jefferson, an American President who once said "If there is a God, I pray he's not Just".
I as well.