R
Ronda Hauben
Guest
Weapons of Mass Destruction Syndrome and the Press
[Analysis] How does one prove a negative
by Ronda Hauben
April 5, 2006. Congressman Ron Paul (Texas) makes a speech "Iran: The
Next Neo-con Target." (1) He reviews the scenario of how the invasion of
Iraq was prepared in the U.S. "We demand that Iran prove it is not in
violation of nuclear agreements, which is asking them impossibly to prove
a negative," Paul observes.
Mohamed El Bareidei, the IAEA Director, Paul explains, has supported
Iran's contention that it has been in compliance with its rights under the
nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) IAEA safeguard agreement
What have we learned from the experience in Iraq, Paul asks?
Four years have passed since the U.S. government mobilized much of the
U.S. press to create the .spin. which provided a pretext for the March
2003 invasion of Iraq. The U.S. government accused Iraq of having .Weapons
of Mass Destruction." How could Iraq prove they didn.t have any of a whole
catalogue of things that they were accused of having? There was no way for
Iraq to disprove the accusations. Thus much of the U.S. press, in
cooperation with various U.S. government officials, used the impossibility
of proving a negative to create a media environment in which the U.S.
government could falsely claim they had a justification a war against of
Iraq.
Fast forward to April 18, 2007. The same U.S. Congressman.s comments seem
like a lone voice of reason during a hearing in a U.S. House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee about how to craft financial
sanctions against North Korea and Iran.(2) In this hearing, the witnesses
and some of the Congressmen discuss what they claim is the great success
that the sanctions against North Korea have been. They review how the U.S.
Treasury Department froze $25 million of North Korea's funds in a bank
account at the Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a bank in Macau China. The action
by the U.S. Treasury Department against this bank resulted in North Korea
losing access to the international banking system. David Asher, one of the
witnesses, tells how he was part of a team carefully planning such
consequences of an action taken by the U.S. Treasury Department under
Section 311 of the U.S. Patriot Act. (3)
Asher acknowledges that he was involved in instigating investigations
against North Korea in a whole variety of law enforcement entities.
"Sanctions are an act of war," Congressman Paul inserts into the hearing.
(4) They mostly harm innocent citizens, he points out and they are used by
governments preparing the population of their country to accept a war. The
Chair of the hearing wonders aloud whether such sanctions hurt the people
of a country versus whether they bring regime change.
This hearing and other U.S. government activities demonstrate that the
U.S. Treasury Department.s action against Banco Delta Asia was a carefully
prepared political act calculated to accomplish a political end. (5) It
was not an unintended consequence of some legitimate legal process. It was
not the result of a judicial process which gathered evidence, made
allegations, presented its evidence and rendered a decision by an
impartial judge based on the evidence. Instead the Treasury Department was
the accuser and the judge and never presented any evidence. The accused
was automatically declared guilty. Even after the guilty verdict there
were few avenues available to challenge the whole procedure. The
blacklisting of the Banco Delta Asia and of North Korea from the
international banking system was done with no due process procedure.
It is therefore all the more revealing to see the many press accounts
which accepted that North Korea was guilty of crimes and was unreasonable
in turning to its sovereign right to self defense. Similarly it is
revealing to see how most of the U.S. media treat Iran's right to develop
and operate nuclear enrichment technology for peaceful purposes. Zbigniew
Brzezinski, appearing on the Charlie Rose show on Friday, June 15,
acknowledged that under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Iran
has the right to the peaceful development of nuclear technology and hence
to do nuclear enrichment for nuclear energy production.
Yet much of the U.S. media, to the contrary, pronounces Iran guilty of
producing nuclear weapons though there is no proof that this is true. It
is left to Iran to prove it isn't true, something which would not be
possible for any country to do.
Just as the New York Times and other U.S. media unswervingly presented the
accusations against Iraq in the run up to the Iraq war, so similar press
reports abound accusing North Korea of illicit activity and Iran of
preparing to produce nuclear weapons. It is up to the accused to disprove
the accusations, despite the fact that no evidence has been presented to
support the accusations.
There is no way to prove a negative. That is why the legal system is
premised on the obligation of the accuser to present the evidence of a
crime and the accused is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. In
the reversal of these norms, however, the accuser makes unsubstantiated
allegations and much of the mainstream media repeats the allegations,
without any investigation to determine if there is any factual basis for
the allegations.
Thus much of the U.S. media has become complicit in carefully preparing
the court of public opinion against the countries the U.S. government has
labeled as part of the so called "axis of evil."
Judith Miller was a New York Times reporter who reported unsubstantiated
allegations accusing Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction. When
she was confronted with the proof that her stories were false but were
used to create a pretext for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, she responded that
she wasn't an intelligence agent who was able to determine what was true
or false. A journalist, however, has an obligation to present the public
with accurate information, contrary to Miller's protestations to the
contrary.
What is the significance of such drumbeats for war being orchestrated so
freely? With regard to the Banco Delta Asia accusations, there are a few
exceptions to the general acceptance by much of the media of
unsubstantiated allegations. Publications like the McClatchy publications,
OhmyNews International, and some blogs like China Matters have provided
articles challenging the dominant media barrage. (6) Similarly, there are
a few publications presenting the right of Iran to peaceful development of
nuclear energy under the NPT and the fact that there is no proof for the
allegation that it is developing nuclear weapons. These publications
include Seymour Hersh's articles in the New Yorker Magazine and Herb
Blix's recent book "Target Iran: The Truth about the White House.s Plans
for Regime Change" (Nation Books, 2006) .
Why haven't more of the U.S. media devoted resources to investigate the
actual circumstances of the allegations being so freely and doggedly
circulated by U.S. government officials to back up their political
objectives against North Korea and Iran?
The group known as the White House Iraq Group, a group created inside the
White House itself, conducted a campaign to spread the case for an attack
on Iraq and to discredit critics of its pro war propaganda. (7)
The growing online community of citizens in the U.S. challenged the White
House and mainstream media.s drumbeats for war. The online community was a
force, though not strong enough to prevent the war against Iraq.
The strategy of the White House to involve the mainstream media in the
process of creating a false set of allegations in order to prepare the
population for a war has been exposed in the aftermath of the invasion of
Iraq. Historically and currently in the U.S. there is a need for a press
that challenges such government propaganda campaigns and provides the
needed questioning and debate on vital issues of public policy. Part of
the vision inspiring the birth of the Internet was that the Internet would
make possible more political participation of the citizens in the critical
issues of the day. (8) Whether the online community of netizens can
succeed in building the kind of investigatory press so critically needed
in the U.S. is a challenge still to be met.
Notes:
(1) See Paul's speech
(2) House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and
Trade, April 18, 2007, Isolating Proliferators and Sponsors of Terror: The
Use of Sanctions and the International Financial System to Change Regime
Behavior
(3) "North Korea's $25 Million and Banco Delta Asia" [Opinion] Another
abuse under the U.S. Patriot Act (2001)
(4) Webcast of April 18, 2007 hearing (17:30)
(5) "Behind the Blacklisting of Banco Delta Asia": Is the policy aimed at
targeting China as well as North Korea?"
(6) McClatchy publications: See for example: China Matters
OhmyNews International: See for example here and here.
(7) "Heat Is On for CIA Leak Probe Prosecutor": With his Grand Jury term
about to expire, Washington is wondering if Patrick Fitzgerald will indict
(8) "Citizen Model for the Study of the Internet"
This article is in OhmyNews International
The url is:
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=3684
33&rel_no=1
The links are in the original article - see above url
[Analysis] How does one prove a negative
by Ronda Hauben
April 5, 2006. Congressman Ron Paul (Texas) makes a speech "Iran: The
Next Neo-con Target." (1) He reviews the scenario of how the invasion of
Iraq was prepared in the U.S. "We demand that Iran prove it is not in
violation of nuclear agreements, which is asking them impossibly to prove
a negative," Paul observes.
Mohamed El Bareidei, the IAEA Director, Paul explains, has supported
Iran's contention that it has been in compliance with its rights under the
nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) IAEA safeguard agreement
What have we learned from the experience in Iraq, Paul asks?
Four years have passed since the U.S. government mobilized much of the
U.S. press to create the .spin. which provided a pretext for the March
2003 invasion of Iraq. The U.S. government accused Iraq of having .Weapons
of Mass Destruction." How could Iraq prove they didn.t have any of a whole
catalogue of things that they were accused of having? There was no way for
Iraq to disprove the accusations. Thus much of the U.S. press, in
cooperation with various U.S. government officials, used the impossibility
of proving a negative to create a media environment in which the U.S.
government could falsely claim they had a justification a war against of
Iraq.
Fast forward to April 18, 2007. The same U.S. Congressman.s comments seem
like a lone voice of reason during a hearing in a U.S. House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee about how to craft financial
sanctions against North Korea and Iran.(2) In this hearing, the witnesses
and some of the Congressmen discuss what they claim is the great success
that the sanctions against North Korea have been. They review how the U.S.
Treasury Department froze $25 million of North Korea's funds in a bank
account at the Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a bank in Macau China. The action
by the U.S. Treasury Department against this bank resulted in North Korea
losing access to the international banking system. David Asher, one of the
witnesses, tells how he was part of a team carefully planning such
consequences of an action taken by the U.S. Treasury Department under
Section 311 of the U.S. Patriot Act. (3)
Asher acknowledges that he was involved in instigating investigations
against North Korea in a whole variety of law enforcement entities.
"Sanctions are an act of war," Congressman Paul inserts into the hearing.
(4) They mostly harm innocent citizens, he points out and they are used by
governments preparing the population of their country to accept a war. The
Chair of the hearing wonders aloud whether such sanctions hurt the people
of a country versus whether they bring regime change.
This hearing and other U.S. government activities demonstrate that the
U.S. Treasury Department.s action against Banco Delta Asia was a carefully
prepared political act calculated to accomplish a political end. (5) It
was not an unintended consequence of some legitimate legal process. It was
not the result of a judicial process which gathered evidence, made
allegations, presented its evidence and rendered a decision by an
impartial judge based on the evidence. Instead the Treasury Department was
the accuser and the judge and never presented any evidence. The accused
was automatically declared guilty. Even after the guilty verdict there
were few avenues available to challenge the whole procedure. The
blacklisting of the Banco Delta Asia and of North Korea from the
international banking system was done with no due process procedure.
It is therefore all the more revealing to see the many press accounts
which accepted that North Korea was guilty of crimes and was unreasonable
in turning to its sovereign right to self defense. Similarly it is
revealing to see how most of the U.S. media treat Iran's right to develop
and operate nuclear enrichment technology for peaceful purposes. Zbigniew
Brzezinski, appearing on the Charlie Rose show on Friday, June 15,
acknowledged that under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Iran
has the right to the peaceful development of nuclear technology and hence
to do nuclear enrichment for nuclear energy production.
Yet much of the U.S. media, to the contrary, pronounces Iran guilty of
producing nuclear weapons though there is no proof that this is true. It
is left to Iran to prove it isn't true, something which would not be
possible for any country to do.
Just as the New York Times and other U.S. media unswervingly presented the
accusations against Iraq in the run up to the Iraq war, so similar press
reports abound accusing North Korea of illicit activity and Iran of
preparing to produce nuclear weapons. It is up to the accused to disprove
the accusations, despite the fact that no evidence has been presented to
support the accusations.
There is no way to prove a negative. That is why the legal system is
premised on the obligation of the accuser to present the evidence of a
crime and the accused is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. In
the reversal of these norms, however, the accuser makes unsubstantiated
allegations and much of the mainstream media repeats the allegations,
without any investigation to determine if there is any factual basis for
the allegations.
Thus much of the U.S. media has become complicit in carefully preparing
the court of public opinion against the countries the U.S. government has
labeled as part of the so called "axis of evil."
Judith Miller was a New York Times reporter who reported unsubstantiated
allegations accusing Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction. When
she was confronted with the proof that her stories were false but were
used to create a pretext for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, she responded that
she wasn't an intelligence agent who was able to determine what was true
or false. A journalist, however, has an obligation to present the public
with accurate information, contrary to Miller's protestations to the
contrary.
What is the significance of such drumbeats for war being orchestrated so
freely? With regard to the Banco Delta Asia accusations, there are a few
exceptions to the general acceptance by much of the media of
unsubstantiated allegations. Publications like the McClatchy publications,
OhmyNews International, and some blogs like China Matters have provided
articles challenging the dominant media barrage. (6) Similarly, there are
a few publications presenting the right of Iran to peaceful development of
nuclear energy under the NPT and the fact that there is no proof for the
allegation that it is developing nuclear weapons. These publications
include Seymour Hersh's articles in the New Yorker Magazine and Herb
Blix's recent book "Target Iran: The Truth about the White House.s Plans
for Regime Change" (Nation Books, 2006) .
Why haven't more of the U.S. media devoted resources to investigate the
actual circumstances of the allegations being so freely and doggedly
circulated by U.S. government officials to back up their political
objectives against North Korea and Iran?
The group known as the White House Iraq Group, a group created inside the
White House itself, conducted a campaign to spread the case for an attack
on Iraq and to discredit critics of its pro war propaganda. (7)
The growing online community of citizens in the U.S. challenged the White
House and mainstream media.s drumbeats for war. The online community was a
force, though not strong enough to prevent the war against Iraq.
The strategy of the White House to involve the mainstream media in the
process of creating a false set of allegations in order to prepare the
population for a war has been exposed in the aftermath of the invasion of
Iraq. Historically and currently in the U.S. there is a need for a press
that challenges such government propaganda campaigns and provides the
needed questioning and debate on vital issues of public policy. Part of
the vision inspiring the birth of the Internet was that the Internet would
make possible more political participation of the citizens in the critical
issues of the day. (8) Whether the online community of netizens can
succeed in building the kind of investigatory press so critically needed
in the U.S. is a challenge still to be met.
Notes:
(1) See Paul's speech
(2) House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and
Trade, April 18, 2007, Isolating Proliferators and Sponsors of Terror: The
Use of Sanctions and the International Financial System to Change Regime
Behavior
(3) "North Korea's $25 Million and Banco Delta Asia" [Opinion] Another
abuse under the U.S. Patriot Act (2001)
(4) Webcast of April 18, 2007 hearing (17:30)
(5) "Behind the Blacklisting of Banco Delta Asia": Is the policy aimed at
targeting China as well as North Korea?"
(6) McClatchy publications: See for example: China Matters
OhmyNews International: See for example here and here.
(7) "Heat Is On for CIA Leak Probe Prosecutor": With his Grand Jury term
about to expire, Washington is wondering if Patrick Fitzgerald will indict
(8) "Citizen Model for the Study of the Internet"
This article is in OhmyNews International
The url is:
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=3684
33&rel_no=1
The links are in the original article - see above url
