More Make Believe from the Democrats: Benchmarks by which to Blame the Iraqis

Democrats seem to understand that they have public support to extract the US from Iraq. They're getting some good press today with Associated Press reporting, "Democrats not backing down on Iraq Bill." They also seem to be considering Congressman John Murtha's idea of limiting the duration of funding through July, contingent on "benchmarks" that the Iraqi government is to achieve.

It's the later part that is generally suspect. True enough that Iraqi's aren't showing the "resolve" necessary to solve the "problems" in Iraq. But the unraveling of Iraq's society is due predominantly to US policies. Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin knew in advance we were going to war on false pretenses, and now hides behind false notions that he was sworn to secrecy and couldn't divulge that fact:

I was angry about it. [But] frankly, I couldn't do much about it because, in the intelligence committee, we are sworn to secrecy." Durbin went on to say "We can't walk outside the door and say the statement made yesterday by the White House is in direct contradiction to classified information that is being given to this Congress.

That, as we all know, is BS. Durbin is also sworn to protect the Constitution against all foes, external and internal. Ray MacGovern, who's getting a lot of air play on this blog reacted to the Durbin blather as follows:

Classification is to protect sources and methods. It’s not to protect presidents, OK? And so, he should have come out and said, “Look, this is not what I’m hearing in the Intelligence Committee. Hold the presses. We’re not going to go to war until I get satisfaction.” He didn’t do that.

And now we're in a war, and Iraq is taking the brunt of it, and these same Democratic politicians are saying Iraq needs to meet benchmarks? As predicted predicted by Robert Fisk and Gary Younge, the US Iraq exit strategy is going to be "Blame the Iraqis." "Oops. They didn't meet their benchmarks for resolving their problems. We gotta go. Sorree." It's pathetic. More make believe by the Democrats.

Sources:

References to Durbin and McGovern from DemocracyNow, May 1, 2007.

misspellings: Durban, bench mark, ray macgovern, secracy
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How Long Can US Hang on in Iraq?

I've recently written, and debated on Mahablog, about my sense that the Democrats won't make a move to "own this war" until sometime after November 2008. The Democrats will stay in Iraq even if they take office in 2008, and won't get to choose when combat operations stop.

Then, I made a counter-argument to my position, debating the other side. On the April 23, 2007 Flashpoints radio program, Former CIA analyst McGovern said:

We may be able to have permanent military bases for a year or two, it's not going to be possible to keep them. It's just not possible in this day and age to invade an occupy a country the size of Iraq with 140,000, or if you put in 500,000 it still wouldn't work.

He cites 1.3 billion "ticked off" Muslims, porous boarders, and General Petraus's book on counter insurgency.

Today, we read that a rocket attack on the Green Zone "killed four Filipino contractors working for the U.S. government." We also learned that this "was the third straight day that the zone was hit by rockets or mortars, heightening concerns about security in the area." And we all remember, on April 12, DemocracyNow and others reported:

An explosion has been reported inside the Iraqi parliament building in Baghdad. There are early reports at least two Iraqi parliament members were killed and others injured. The blast took place inside a cafeteria where Iraqi parliamentarians were eating lunch. The parliament building is located inside Baghdad’s heavily-guarded Green Zone.

Cafeteria Bombing in Green Zone

Car Bombing in Green Zone

Hmmm... Bush sends 20,000+ additional forces to secure Baghdad, and there are "heightening concerns" about security in the most secure part of Baghdad. I'll grant it makes sense to have more US casualties during this surge, but one would think there would be more security. If the US is counting on attrition to turn the corner, they might want to get more fingers to count on.

If the Democrats wait just a little longer, according to McGovern, the insurgency might do their job for them. I think they're going to wait until at least November 2008.

Sources:

4 killed in Green Zone rocket attack, Associated Press, May 2, 2007, THOMAS WAGNER.

Photo Credit: This famous picture is the supposedly the property of Corbus-Bettman Archives. It was originally a UPI photograph that was taken by an Dutchman, Mr. Hugh Van Es.
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Create Buzz for Impeachment

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The next few months will determine whether or not America redeems itself in the eyes of the world by impeaching either Bush, Cheney or both. It's a matter of accountability and sending a message to future presidents: "It's the people stupid."

Take the MoveOn.com Poll to Impeach Bush:
LINK to Poll

Tell the media you want coverage of HR333 to impeach Cheney. Contact the Media

Tell members in the US House of Representatives that you want them to co-sponsor HR333 to impeach Cheney: Contact US House


Visit the A28 Impeachment Network. It's a pretty cool way to experiment with a web presence. See my A28 Space.
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Mission Accomplished?

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Four years and counting....

A look at the Iraq war timeline gives a sense of perspective on this.... place it side-by-side with the Vietnam war time line and one gets a sobering perspective.

We won't be leaving Iraq any time soon:

First, the Democrats don't want to own this war. If they "succeed" in forcing a troop withdrawal in the next year or so, they risk being blamed for what happens thereafter... just in time for the November 2008 elections.

Second, the Democrats understand the concept of a power vacuum. They understand that Iran is poised to fill a vacuum in Iraq. You don't hear Democrats talking about removing the "enduring" bases from Iraq. When they secure the White House, US troops will remain in Iraq for a long time.

It's worth noting that former CIA analyst and briefer Ray McGovern thinks I'm wrong on this (who are you going to listen to, me or a CIA analyst with 26 years of experience?). On the April 23, 2007 Flashpoints radio program, McGovern said not to worry about "enduring" US military bases.

We may be able to have permanent military bases for a year or two, it's not going to be possible to keep them. It's just not possible in this day and age to invade an occupy a country the size of Iraq with 140,000, or if you put in 500,000 it still wouldn't work.

He cites 1.3 billion "ticked off" Muslims, porous boarders, and General Petraus's book on counter insurgency.

Finally, it must be said that there's the public mission, and the covert mission. Many speculate that the unstated mission in Iraq accepts, possibly fosters, the chaos. Why? "I'm a war President." Attorney General Gonzoles says a war president has additional executive powers. If peace broke out in Iraq in 2004, how would the US justify continued dominance of decisions in Iraq? (yea, it's a sovereign state). "Mission Accomplished" might better be measured by the pending petroleum law and other corporate-friendly laws instituted in Iraq.
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Main Street Economy vs Wall Street Economy

Oh, the economy is doing great. The Dow Jones Average just passed 13,000.

Another interpretation has it that the US Federal Reserve is facing a crisis, and that the Dow Jones is a reflection of that. Seems like a conundrum until one considers the following chain of events.

Back in 2002 the stock market took a dive. A lot of money ran out of stocks and into real estate, swelling a speculative bubble of historic proportions. Now, the real estate boom is deflating and is causing defaults among home owners, mortgage companies and global anxiety reflected in a worldwide stock plunge back in March 2007. The Federal Reserve stepped to buy bonds, thereby pumping money into the banks that sell the bonds, which in turn put some of this into stocks, and Voila! Wall Street economics look great. Unfortunately, it's artificial, and the people on Main Street aren't sharing in the so-called great economic situation.

Worse, the Fed is stuck between an rock and a liquidity hard place. This is a new version of "stagflation." The Fed wants to tighten money supply due to inflation concerns; however, it's forced to increase money supply for the reasons described above. In other words, the economic situation is out of control. Add on top of that the global imbalances in which the US has become a major debtor nation with a weak tax base by which to service its debt, and the Wall Street economic indicators start to look pretty hollow.

Update:

On May 6, 2007 we read the following in an Associated Press article:

Still, worries linger about stagflation — slowing growth amid soaring prices — and what the Federal Reserve would do about it.

We also read the following, which reflects the disconnect between the Main Street Economy and Wall Street Economy:

Recently, it has seemed as if nothing can derail the stock market's climb....on Friday, reports that Microsoft Corp. might be mulling a buy of Yahoo Inc. nudged stocks higher despite lackluster jobs data.

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April 28 Nationwide Impeachment Protest

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My small contribution to the April 28, 2007 Nationwide impeachment protest. The theme of the day is spell it out, the word "IMPEACH" everywhere on April 28.




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HR 333 Impeach Dick Cheney

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Congressman Dennis Kucinich's articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney provide a focal point for citizens to express their views about the corrupt Bush regime.

A Paraphrased Synopsis of the Articles of Impeachment

The articles of impeachment contend that each of Cheney's actions have undermined the national security of the United States.

Article 1 - False Claims of Iraqi WMD: Cheney purposefully manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the US Armed Forces against Iraq.

Article 2 - False Claims of al Qaeda Connection to Iraq: Cheney purposefully manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda to justify the use of the US Armed Forces against Iraq.

Article 3 - Threats of Aggression Against Iran: Cheney has violated his constitutional oath by openly threatening aggression against Iran absent any real threat to the United States.

To see the entire Articles of Impeachment and supporting Documentation CLICK HERE

The Court of Public Opinion Rules Impeachment

You might find some counter-points to right-wing talking points to be helpful:

1. "The threshold for impeachment is high." Not True. Laws need not be violated in order to justify impeachment. Do the actions undermine the government's credibility? Has the official failed to carry out constitutionally mandated duties? Does the American public want the official removed? That is sufficient to meet the threshold.

2. "Bush's term in office is nearly over." This is less about expelling Cheney from Office than it is about accountability. A citizen-based impeachment movement helps maintain the integrity of our country's principles, and deter abuses of future leaders.

3. "Impeachment would be a distraction of Congress." Bush and Cheney's abuses are so extreme that impeachment is warranted despite the distraction it would cause.

4. "Impeachment is inappropriate when our Nation is at war." The US is engaged in a chosen war of aggression in Iraq, founded on false pretenses, which are part of the charges against Bush and Cheney. The Bush administration has created an Orwellian war stance to boost their executive power. The "time-of-war" argument has no credibility in this case.

Flex Your Citizen Muscles:

It's vital to create "buzz" in the halls of Congress and the corporate media editorial board rooms. The links below facilitate your involvement in doing that.

Media Contacts

Contact the US House of Representatives

Contact the US Senate

H.R. 333, House Resolution 333

Inside the NYC Beltway Mentality

It's not every day I blog from NYC. It occurs to me that there's an "inside the beltway" analogy for New York City. You see it in the devolution of the quality of information in the New York Times. You also see it at CBS (See "Update").

Example. Does Jeffrey Gettleman and his editors at the Times recognize the irony of the front page piece from April 25, 2007 entitled "People Who Feed Off Anarchy in Somalia Are Quick to Fuel It"? The US has fueled it and feeds off of it. The US has opened another front in the Mid-east War, See the Map. The US is now operating under the cover of Chaos; they couldn't do that with the Islamic Courts maintaining order in Somalia.

The coalition Islamic Courts, who were not all fundamentalists, had begun to bring a sense of order to Somalia before the US covert operations, supported by Ethiopia, created the current chaos. Prior to that, the US CIA had backed the Somali war lords who fostered the kinds of things Gettleman describes in his article. Note the "Oil Factor In Somalia," a 1993 article.

The US-installed Somali Prime Minister, Ali Mohammed Ghedi, recently told the Dow Jones News Network that Somalia is welcoming back multi-national oil compaines with similar oil production sharing agreements that the Bush Administration is pushing for in Iraq. Companies seeking new or renewed contracts include Conoco-Phillips and Royal Dutch Shell. Ghedi said,

The [Somali] parliament will approve the new oil laws in two months.

I recall arriving in Washington DC in the mid-1980s to discover that stacks of resumes from Ivy League schools were a common feature of congressional offices. Few of these people were hired, but those that were spent much of their time angling for career advancement, and had little interest in the issues of the day (Star Wars and the US covert war in Central America). Very few of these people had any honest understanding of the atrocities being committed in Central America at the time by US backed death squads. Naive, superficial and as a result, dangerous, because they effectively run Congress.

The same holds in New York City. Of course, I didn't have to come up here to recognize this. It's just that being here heightens my awareness to it.

This phenomenon can be generalized: The political and economic elite are, for the most part, uniformed. True, there are insiders who are fully informed, who call the shots on the use of force to advance and maintain power, but they are the minority.

But, even some of those closest to the execution of that power fail to realize what they are doing. They are the pawns and those in denial. It's not hard to fall into that trap, particularly when you're isolated as people become when wrapped up in the fast pace of NYC upper rank activities, like reporting for the Times.

I could go on with examples, but will use just one. Richard Khanlian of Santa Fe, NM questions whether the US "success" in Iraq can be any different than the Iraq of Saddam Hussein in light of US military complicity, and participation in similar behavior. Khanlian was prompted by the NY Times April 22 front page article, "3 Suspects Talk After Iraqi Soldiers Do Dirty Work."

In general, those "inside the beltway," "inside the Manhattan buzz zone," what I call the inside crowd, are swept up in a dangerous current. They need to step back and ask themselves some sobering questions and act on their basic values.

Update:

High Tech Parent, Jadegreen, provides another example. Remember the Katie Couric plagiarism espose'? Jadegreen followed up the follow-up. In doing so, Jadegreen refelects on the following comment by Katie Couric:

this was a very unfortunate incident because the person who did this is a lovely person, but clearly inexperienced about the tenets of basic journalism.

Jadegreen points out the obvious, if one stops to think about it; how is it that a person who attains the privilage of writing for the CBS anchorperson is "inexperienced about the tenets of basic journalism"? The answer lies in the thesis that America is in decline, which was my initial reaction to the Couric scandal and the general point of this essay, with superficial NYC insiders providing more evidence.

Sources:

DemocracyNow, April 27, 2007, "The Most Lawless War of Our Generation" - Former UN Spokesperson on Somalia.


DemocracyNow, Tuesday, April 3, 2007, 400 Die in Mogadishu's Worst Fighting in 15 years.

DemocracyNow, Tuesday, January 9, 2007,
U.S. Launches Targeted Assassination Air Strikes in Somalia, Many Reported Killed.

DemocracyNow, hursday, December 28, 2006,
Conflict in Somalia: Islamic Courts Abandon Mogadishu as UN Warns of Humanitarian Crisis.

Flashpoints Radio, Knight Report, April 26, 2007: Somalia oil information.
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Do the Democrats Want their Iraq Legislation to "Succeed"?

The Democrat's legislation on Iraq funding exemplifies the adage that politics is the art of the possible. The non-binding, do litte or nothing legislation is summed up by the Associated Press as:

Troops could remain in Iraq after the 2008 date but only for limited non-combat missions, including counter terrorism operations and training Iraqi forces.

In other words, it's not a proposal to withdraw troops, because everyone knows that "counter terrorism operations" can mean anything (typically a dirty war), and that "training Iraqi forces" includes joining them in the field. Recall the Vietnamization policy of training South Vietnamese began in 1969 and US troops didn't finally leave until 1973 or 1975 depending on what you mean by "leave" (See Timeline).

Ironically, we are hearing reports from the McClatchy newspapers, via DemocracyNow! that:

the U.S. military has quietly made a major policy shift in the war. Military planners have abandoned the idea that training Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon. The military believes that U.S. troops will have to secure the country largely on its own. The Pentagon has not announced the change but evidence has been building for months that training Iraqi troops is no longer the focus of U.S. policy.

Difficult to know what to make of that...

... and by now everyone has also pondered the thoughts that 1) "enduring" US bases will remain in Iraq (enduring is a new term being used by the US government in place of "permanent"), and 2) Bush and the oil men are seeing victory in Iraq in the form of the immanent petroleum legislation pending in the Iraqi Parliament.

My prediction of when the US will leave Iraq is about six years from now, based on comparing the Vietnam War timeline with the Iraq War timeline. I'm not sure I believe the prediction myself, but the timeline comparison is interesting.

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern has his own predictions. On the April 23, 2007 Flashpoints radio program, McGovern said not to worry about "enduring" US military bases. "We may be able to have permanent military bases for a year or two, it's not going to be possible to keep them. It's just not possible in this day and age to invade an occupy a country the size of Iraq with 140,000, or if you put in 500,000 it still wouldn't work." He cites 1.3 billion "ticked off" Muslims, porous boarders, General Petraus's book on counter insurgency.

We keep hearing the Democrats say that this is Bush's war. True, politics is the art of the possible. But, if McGovern's prediction is right, that the situation will unravel on its own, the Democrats probably don't want their withdrawl proposal to "succeed." If they got their way, then, when the whole thing unravels, the right wing noise machine, and compliant corporate media, will pin the blame on the Democrats.

Prediction: Quagmire conditions in Iraq will continue for a long time.

Sources:

1. Associated Press, April 25, 2007, Democrats predict they can win Iraq vote

2. DemocracyNow! Headlines for April 20, 2007

3. Flashpoints Radio, April 23, 2007.
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Corruption within World Bank?

I don't claim to know "the facts" about Wolfowitz's supposed career advancement of his girlfriend at the World Bank. However, the issue is a big deal because of the weight that the World Bank places on preventing corruption when it makes funds available. If the World Bank is itself corrupt on the surface, what can be expected from those to whom the Bank makes loans?

That said, most people realize that the World Bank was captured and corrupted, long ago, by transnational corporate interests.
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Stop Blaming the Iraqis for US Crimes Against Peace

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The right wing noise machine has gotten to a lot of people. The machine wants us to believe Iraqis are barbarians, and despite US good will, they are destined to fight with each other. This is the foundation of the US exit strategy; "It's OK to abandon primitive, dark-skinned Arabs that don't want democracy. We tried, but these uncivilized people don't appreciate our sacrifices."

No mention of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) undermining Iraq's civil and security structure, no mention of the CPA opening Iraq's economy to looting by transnational corporations (as if there could be fair competition when 12-years of sanctions made Iraqi company's weak), no mention that the US created a power vacuum, no mention that Ambassador Negroponte and Colonel James Steele introduced the Salvadoran death squad model in Iraq, no mention that the US aggressive war of choice triggered this chaos and constitutes a crime against peace.

No mention that the US is responsible for the chaos and for reparations to Iraq, but that the US is in such deep debt that it will be hard to convince US tax payers to fund reparations. Instead, the so-called "leaders" on both sides of the political spectrum would have us believe that the Iraqis are to blame, so we don't owe them anything.

My experience in Washington suggests that the heads of most people in Washington are spinning with day-to-day deadlines. They have not stopped to think about what I've written above. If they took the time, they might realize that imposing benchmarks on the Iraqis is unfair. Granted, the Iraqis must take the lead in solving the problems facing them; however, the US is responsible for creating many of the problems and is thus responsible for the financial support to enable a process to resolve them.

Update: Unfortunately, the "blame-the-Iraqi" framing of reality has been adopted by the Democratic leadership: "Meet our benchmarks or else."

During the Nuremberg trials, the chief American prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, stated:

To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.

[2]

In other words, Bush and the US citizens are responsible for "the accumulated evil of the whole."
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Sandcastle and Blue Sky

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So I'm talking to my dad and he's lamenting the fact that we are so totally fucked. Him, because he's getting old enough to be contemplating death, and the rest of us 'cuz we're really on the brink of crossing the point of no return: runaway greenhouse effect.

So, sometimes, ya just gotta spend a little time building a sandcastle.

Sources:

Deviant Art Page More photos of the same and more.
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Swimming with the Inside Crowd

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I've gotta get off this Katie Couric kick....

This post was inspired by an exchange I had in the comment section of a post on High Tech Parent blog regarding Katie Couric's Plagiarism problem.

greebs said:

My version was simply "this is pathetic."

When it comes down to it, anyone making $15 million as a journalist should really be doing his or her own writing. That's a hard argument to work around.

greebs post.

My satirical response attempts to arugue around it:

greebs, didn't you get the memo? Oh, I guess you're not part of the inside crowd.

Well, it SAYS if you're really rich, you get other people to do things FOR you. You can even get other people to pay your taxes to fund the war.

That's how it works now. It's really cool. I sold some stock recently, that I picked up on a good tip, using a loan from a good friend, and then flipped it now I'm IN. Now we have a new maid named Lolita who's really awsome with the kids. Njuen does the garden, even when we're at our place in Paris, don't need to ask, he just takes care of it. Bjork has been maintaining my blog... I just send him e-mails with the theme, and he does the rest.

I have a friend who can get YOU in too. All you have to do is... well, we better talk about this off-line, if you know what I mean ;-)
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Imus vs Couric by Technorati Graphs

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CBS has been in the spotlight lately due to the gaffes of Don Imus and Katie Couric. Clearly, the Imus "Nappy-Headed Hoe" issue has been bigger than the Katie Couric Video Notebook plagiarism issue, but how much bigger?

Technorati's records of blog site postings that mention "Imus" vs "Katie Couric" give some indication from the perspective of the blogosphere.

The upper graph to the right shows blog postings that include "Katie Couric." It shows a small baseline of activity surrounding a couple of spikes in the range of 300-400 hits per day. The second spike is a result of the library card story taken from a piece by Jeffrey Zaslow that appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

The lower graph shows blog postings that include "Imus." It shows little or no baseline of activity, but a huge surge reaching nearly 14,000 at its peak.

So, "how much bigger?" The Imus story was about four to five times bigger than the Couric story at the peak.... assuming the Couric story has played out.
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Step It Up 2007: Ice Melting

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The following is my contribution to Step it Up National Day of Climate Action on April 14th, 2007.












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Couric Debacle Prompts CBS to Increase Web Quality Control

According to the New York Times, CBS news will be taking a closer look at its web content. This is a result of the Katie Couric library card plagiarism Video Notebook fiasco, which has spawned intense scrutiny by bloggers and others.

This site recently highlighted other video notebook entries that are questionable, including a background on Barack Obama, and Couric's undercount of Iraqi civilian deaths.

The CBS action was brought to my attention by The New York State of Mind blog site.

My original response to the Couric plagiarism incident was to view it as just one more example of the slow devolution of American culture. I've probably spent too much time on this issue. However, it is worth people voicing their opinions to CBS News on this general state of affairs. To that end, here's a link to contact CBS News.

Contact CBS News:

Web E-Mail Form for All CBS News Programs

Evening News E-Mail: evening@cbsnews.com

CBS News
524 W. 57 St., New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-975-4321
Fax: 212-975-1893

LINK to Media Contacts in General

Sources:

After Couric Incident, CBS News to Scrutinize Its Web Content

By BILL CARTER
Published: April 12, 2007

CBS News said yesterday it planned to install a new level of editorial oversight to its Web site since revelations that the CBS anchor Katie Couric read a plagiarized commentary on the site last week.

CBS has fired the producer who wrote the piece for Ms. Couric, and said yesterday it was investigating to see if the producer, whose name CBS has not disclosed, had written any previous commentaries for Ms. Couric that had been plagiarized.

The commentary, about how children use libraries in a world increasingly dominated by the Internet, was clearly inspired by a piece written the previous month in The Wall Street Journal. A Journal editor called the similarities to the attention of CBS News on Monday, and executives there, reading the two pieces, immediately concluded that they were basically identical.

CBS News executives said they were stunned that anyone would so blatantly copy someone else’s work. The incident is an embarrassment for the news division, and comes at a time of continuing struggle for Ms. Couric’s newscast to be competitive with NBC and ABC in the evening-news ratings.

The videotaped commentary, which was used in a section of the CBS News Web site called “Katie Couric’s Notebook,” but which also was sent out for use by CBS television and radio stations, was removed from the CBS site, and the network issued what it called a correction, saying it should have noted that “much of the material” had come from the newspaper.

As described by Sandy Genelius, the spokeswoman for CBS News, the process of creating the 55-second essays that were included in the “Notebook” feature involved a meeting between Ms. Couric and a group of producers from the Web site and her going over dozens of suggested topics for the daily commentary.

Asked whether Ms. Couric had read the article in The Wall Street Journal, Ms. Genelius said, “I believe she did not.” Ms. Couric was not available for comment.

All television news anchors read scripts for their newscasts that are prepared by staff members, but the anchors almost always rewrite these themselves.

A spokesman for ABC News, Jeffrey W. Schneider, said that on ABC’s Web site commentaries were written only by the contributor whose name was on that commentary.

Allison Gollust of NBC News said she was not aware of any NBC Web contributions that were written by anyone other than the person whose name was attached to it. “We certainly do not have anyone on the staff whose job it is to write something like that for one of our anchors or correspondents,” she said.
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Tax Help

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Courtesy of Toothpaste for Dinner by Drew.

Katie Couric and CBS Perpetuate Undercount of Iraqi Civilian Deaths

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So, how many inaccuracies can be found Katie Couric's Video Notebook? Here's another.

On March 19, 2007, Katie Couric reported 50,000 Iraqi civilian deaths, despite the well-known Lancet study citing an estimated 654,965 additional deaths in Iraq between March 2003 and July 2006 (the low end of the estimated range was about 400,000).

A Johns Hopkins School of Public Health web site states:

The mortality survey used well-established and scientifically proven methods for measuring mortality and disease in populations. These same survey methods were used to measure mortality during conflicts in the Congo, Kosovo, Sudan and other regions.

The Guardian reports:

Scientists at the UK's Department for International Development ... concluded that the study's methods were "tried and tested". Indeed, the Johns Hopkins approach would likely lead to an "underestimation of mortality".

The Ministry of Defence's chief scientific adviser said the research was "robust", close to "best practice", and "balanced". He recommended "caution in publicly criticising the study".

We know that people are buried quickly in the Islamic tradition, leading to lower reporting of deaths to officials. We know that the mass media is unable to report on vast areas of Iraq due to increasing violence, again leading to under reporting.

So, why does Katie Couric and CBS continue to report a number that is an order of magnitude lower than the best available estimate? Partly because of the human capacity for denial. Partly because corporate media insiders live in a celebrity bubble; they and their wannabe helpers are isolated from realities that would allow them to believe the numbers of additional civilian deaths could be so high. Perhaps to avoid accepting responsibility as a democracy for such a gross crime against humanity.
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Another Couric Video Notebook Error?

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Noted as "A sign of the declining modern media," among other things, d-day blog finds another Katie Couric Video Notebook misrepresentation (no video on this one). How many more are there?

On April 13, 2007, d-day blog reports, in Zombie Lies that Katie Couric's video notebook repeated the rumor that Barack Obama had been educated in an Islamic madrassa. Compare the original and revised versions. This was reported on by media matters. In particular, they expose CNN's Glenn Beck for perpetuating the rumor.

Sources:

Katie Couric Notebook Entry Obama's Background, April 11, 2007: Note it has been Corrected.

Huffington Post, Eat the Press for the before and after comparison.
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Couric: Faux Journalist Reflects Twilight of America

It is one more sign of the decline of America.

CBS News said this week the April 4 installment of "Katie Couric's Notebook" consisted mostly of passages lifted verbatim from a Wall Street Journal column by Jeffrey Zaslow that was published in March.

Rigor and professionalism has given way to false appearance and the bottom line. For a highly-paid news anchor to blunder into plagiarism is unacceptable in a first-rate nation, which is the point. The U.S. is fading in the same way Rome, Spain and Britain faded from preeminence.

Morris Berman, and others, are writing books on the decline of the American Empire. A review of Berman's "The Twilight of American Culture," sums it up:

Morris Berman discusses the decline in American life, evidenced by growing class inequities, the deterioration of literacy, and the pervasiveness of anti-intellectualism.

The deterioration of literacy is exemplified in this case by a failure to recognize plagiarism. Couric didn't even write the video essay, despite the impression given that she does.

Here's another example of the decline, a failure of accountability:

The producer responsible for Couric's piece was fired on Monday night, hours after the Journal contacted CBS News to complain.

"Couric's" piece? First, it was phony theater, foisted on the American public; Couric wasn't mouthing a memory about her library card. She was mouthing someone Else's memory about their library card, written by an as-yet nameless producer (UPDATE: Now named as Melissa McNamara).

Second, if it's truly "Couric's piece," isn't she also responsible? Apparently not in the twilight of America, where it's OK for CBS to give the impression that it is "Couric's piece." It was faked, like most of what passes for journalism on corporate media as the American Dark Ages approach.

Sources:

Reuters, April 12, 2007, CBS says Couric unaware video essay plagiarized.

Melanie Ho, Review of Berman's "The Twilight of America."

See Also:

Regret The Error, a blog that was cited in the Reuters article.

The Daily Background, a blog that was cited in the Reuters article. Raises the question of double-plagiarism. What The Daily Background calls "double-plagiarism" I call "phony theater."

High Tech Parent on Couric

On the ligher side, gotta take a look at the visual on Milk Was a Bad Choice

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