Fox News warmongering in the USA

This video is called OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism.

By Media Matters for America:

9 Shameless Warmongers Who Call Fox News Home

Some of the worst purveyors of misinformation about Iraq have been warmly embraced by Fox News

September 5, 2010

During the run-up to the Iraq war, some of the worst purveyors of misinformation about Iraq had a home at Fox News, and their ranks have swelled considerably since then. Media Matters takes a look at the track record of wrong predictions and shoddy analysis about the war in Iraq by many of Fox News’ contributors and analysts.

1. Karl Rove

White House Iraq Group was formed to “set [messaging] strategy” for going to war with Iraq. The Washington Post reported in 2003 (accessed via Nexis) that the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) was formed in August 2002 “to set strategy for each stage of the confrontation with Baghdad. A senior official who participated in its work called it ‘an internal working group, like many formed for priority issues, to make sure each part of the White House was fulfilling its responsibilities.’ ” Part of the WHIG’s mission, according to the Post, was to decide “what to demand of the United Nations in the president’s Sept. 12 [2002] address to the General Assembly, when to take the issue to Congress, and how to frame the conflict with Iraq in the midterm election campaign that began in earnest after Labor Day.” Rove was a regular participant in this group.

WHIG promoted view that Saddam “had weapons of mass destruction and was seeking more.” The Los Angeles Times reported on August 25, 2005, (accessed via Nexis) that the WHIG “promoted the view that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was seeking more”:

The group consisted of Rove, Libby, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr., then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen Hadley, and Mary Matalin, Cheney’s media advisor. All are believed to have been questioned in the leak case; papers and e-mails about the group were subpoenaed.

Before the war, this Iraq group promoted the view that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was seeking more. In September 2002, the White House embraced a British report asserting that “Iraq has sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”

The Washington Post further reported that WHIG “assigned Communications Director James R. Wilkinson to prepare a white paper for public release, describing the ‘grave and gathering danger’ of Iraq’s allegedly ‘reconstituted’ nuclear program.” From the October 30, 2005, article (accessed via Nexis):

By summer 2002, the White House Iraq Group assigned Communications Director James R. Wilkinson to prepare a white paper for public release, describing the “grave and gathering danger” of Iraq’s allegedly “reconstituted” nuclear weapons program. Wilkinson gave prominent place to the claim that Iraq “sought uranium oxide, an essential ingredient in the enrichment process, from Africa.” That claim, along with repeated use of the “mushroom cloud” image by top officials beginning in September, became the emotional heart of the case against Iraq.

Fox News Gold: how to interview Rupert Murdoch: here.

Britain: The British press, playing catch up to the New York Times, is understandably focused on the fate of Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s communications chief, when it comes to the story of News of the World phone tapping. But the really interesting element of the NYT investigation is the very close relationship between the Met and News International. A mutually beneficial pattern is described, when the NotW gets a crime scoop, makes a show of handing the details to the police, and then writes up a fawning account of the police operation the following week: here.

The Tories have come in for further embarrassment this weekend after police confirmed they would reopen an investigation into the alleged role of the party’s communications chief Andy Coulson in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal: here.

MPs call for Rupert Murdoch to give evidence on phone-hacking: here. And here.

MPs rattled by phone hacking crisis – and lack of police action: here.

MPs rattled by phone hacking crisis! – PART 2: Privileges Committee urged to ask ‘News International’s’ Andy Hayman to appear: here.

The row over Tory spin doctor Andy Coulson should not be mistaken for one of those long running and complicated arguments that are of interest only to fellow media types: here.

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has said he would seek a judicial review over the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the News of the World phone-hacking case: here.

A desperate damage control operation is underway as further allegations emerge about the extent of the illegal phone hacking at the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World: here.

Andy Coulson quit as David Cameron’s spin chief today over the continuing row surrounding phone hacking when he was editor of the News of the World: here.

THE resignation of Coulson yesterday as Prime Minister David Cameron’s Director of Communications, follows on, almost immediately, from the police being forced to re-open the criminal investigation into illegal phone tapping by the News of the World: here.

Australia: After a record high vote for the Greens in the August 21 federal election, it did not take long for the corporate media to get its claws out. In particular, Rupert Murdoch-owned News Ltd’s flagship newspaper The Australian has been called out for its string of critical stories and headlines targeting the Greens: here.

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