Do news blackouts help journalists held captive?
News organizations have invoked the captives’ safety in seeking media blackouts. But do the blackouts really benefit the individuals being held captive?
Posts
FOIA Needs New Muscle Behind It, Not Just Promises
/in The Comittee to Protect Journalists/by Frank SmythWikiLeaks posted a classified U.S. military video showing U.S. forces firing on Iraqi civilians, killing two Reuters journalists as well as wounding children.
El Salvador’s Cold War Martyrs
/in CommonDreams.org/by Frank SmythThe curfew broke after dawn. But the massacre took place in the middle of the night. The high command of the Salvadoran armed forces, who were receiving a million dollars a day in U.S. aid, made their decision near midnight. They had been on the defensive over the past…
Israel’s future could be on the line in Iraq
/in Newsday/by Frank SmythFor all the talk about Iraq and whether we should send more troops, one subject has gone ignored: Israel. What happens to America’s closest ally in the region in case of a wider war marked by more anarchy and violence?
Time for Hard Choices on Leaving Iraq
/in Newsday/by Frank SmythWhile the unexpected crisis involving Israel and Lebanon rages on with no end in sight, the United States needs to stay focused on the Iraqi crisis of its own making, as it becomes clear that U.S. efforts are not going well.
A war ‘shock and awe’ didn’t win
/in Newsday/by Frank SmythPresident George W. Bush’s strategy of launching a “shock and awe” campaign was designed to send the message that resistance to superior U.S. firepower is futile, but it’s not turning out as planned.
Iraq: No Consensus, No Constitution
/in Newsday/by Frank SmythAny notion of pluralism, let alone democracy, is not only new to Iraq; it threatens to upset a regional balance of power, made worse by confusion among U.S. experts over which group comprises the majority in Iraq.