JohnDrake

cross-posted at Daily Kos

This is the second in a series of diaries that analyses the birth of a disinformation campaign in late 2001, the objective of which was to ensure public backing for the invasion of Iraq.

The story so far…

In Part I: Cheerleading for War, I introduced you to reporter Tom Mangold who in October 2001 produced an hour long report for the flagship BBC current affairs programme Panorama, the transcript of which demonstrates Mangold’s chummy relationship with past (James Woolsey) and future (Porter Goss) directors of the CIA and shows him claiming as fact an over-arching conspiracy theory in which Hussain was actively involved with Islamic terrorism and biological WMD developments.

But while you might think from this he’s already gone far enough to “prove” links between Anthrax, Iraq and 9/11, Tom Mangold is only just getting into his stride……….

{cross-posted at Daily Kos}

With its grim anniversary passing by almost unnoticed, it’s hard to credit that the Anthrax mailings case was once the focus of intense analysis, not just in regard to the hunt for the perpetrator(s) but also on the way the Bush administration exploited the public’s then nascent Anthrax fear to bolster support for a war against Saddam Hussain’s Iraq.
But now in these Diaries, I can reveal the existence of a hitherto overlooked media report, a single hour-long broadcast from the very earliest days of this campaign, that can be seen almost as a Rosetta Stone for deciphering who really was responsible for feeding the cheerleaders their lines…..

A couple of days ago I saw a diary on Daily Kos that queried whether Obama’s Inaugural address would be carried with live sub-titles by the US networks. This reminded me of an amusing transcription error I saw on a news bulletin just before Christmas, one that I think deserves more widespread coverage as it may by happy accident give the perfect moniker for the new President. (cross-posted at Daily Kos)