http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-24/0605229744140205.htm

US using media in psychological war against Iran

Nuclear Western countries, led by the US, have long been using news reports to spread outright lies or biased information to discredit or portray the helplessness of countries which are against their goals or objectives.

The Associated Press, Reuters, the United Press, France Press, CNN and BBC have been pioneers of the West's media disinformation.

Biased news stories disseiminated by Western news agencies are not limited to the political field but also extend to social, cultural and economic activities of countries which they target.

Cuba, to cite an example, has for decades been subjected to US sanctions and military threats by the Western press in both its political and non-political activities.

Signs of a collapse of the anti-American government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua immediately showed after the US and Western press launched a psychological war against the country through its domestic press.

Several reports and results of research on the collapse of the Soviet Union also confirm that the US and European press were responsible for the fall of the USSR through a media war they successfully launched against it.

Now the Western and US press have turned their eyes at the Latin American state of Venezuela, inciting the people to stand up against the alleged dictatorship of President Hugo Chavez by releasing millions of "black news" after the attempted, US-supported coup d'etat in Venezuela four years ago failed.

In the modern history of Iran, direct participation of the US press and the BBC in the US-sponsored coup d'etat of August 19, 1953 (Morad 28) and attempts to discredit the Islamic Revolution as well as the Founder of the Islamic Revolution, the late Imam Khomeini, and other figures may be cited.

In the aftermath of the Iraqi-imposed war on Iran (1980-88), the US and West admitted to having provided former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein with tens of billion of dollars in weapons and intelligence information against Iran.

During the war, Western news agencies, radio and other media supported activities to help the former Iraqi government in its war against Tehran.

The US federal budget for 2006 allocates 75 million dollars, in addition to the previous 10 million, to open new channels of communication with the people of Iran and incite opposition against their government, a policy long pursued by the US Administration under President George W Bush.

The sheer volume of articles and other publications of the US and Western media against Iran makes it extremely difficult or impossible for readers to verify their authenticity.

The US and Western media, which claim to be champions of press freedom, have shown they are willing to defy any law that guarantees access to correct information by even refusing to disclose their sources.

Using ambiguous terms such as "an informed source," "a Western diplomat and political expert speaking on condition of anonymity" and "classified information," the US and Western media conceal their sources of information and thereby escape responsibility for damaging news against other countries.

To cite another example, Reuters on Saturday quoted the New York Times as saying diplomats from all sides and other officials of countries negotiating a solution to the Iran nuclear issue believe there is a faint chance of reaching a solution following differences in opinion in talks, and blame Iran's inflexibility for ongoing tensions.

The Associated Press also quoted diplomats, without naming them, as saying the three European states -- Britain, France and Germany -- are discussing ways of ending the United Nations Security Council's involvement in the nuclear issue if Tehran agrees to end its uranium enrichment. Otherwise, sanctions and the use of force (on Iran) would be an option.

The news agency further quoted a diplomat, without again naming him, as commenting relative to the draft resolution that is sought to be passed by the Security Council that its five permanent members -- China, Russia, the United States, France and Britain -- along with Germany will meet in London on Wednesday and that the draft resolution could still be amended prior to the meeting.

According to the Associated Press, it could not name the diplomat because he was not authorized to disclose the contents of the draft resolution.

The undeniable feature of news writing and reporting are truth and accuracy and there is no arguing US and Western news reporting fail to meet these standards.

Meanwhile, certain Arab-language media have also followed suit and are reporting such kind of news against Iran.

News sent: 14:02 Monday May 22, 2006


 http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0605223292195645.htm

US State Department on intensive military mission in Persian Gulf

US State Department's military officers have embarked on intensive campaign against Iran to mar good neighborly relations between Iran and the Persian Gulf states with a recipe of intelligence from Washington.

Political observers believe that the new wave of US diplomatic campaign is an effort to influence Iran's brotherly relations with its neighbors in the Persian Gulf possibly ahead of Washington's new scenario of adventurism in the Persian Gulf.

A group of high-level US officials have been visiting the region with so-called intelligence about Iranian weapons of mass destruction.

US State Department officials touring the region in recent weeks include John Hillen, the assistant secretary for political-military affairs, and Robert Joseph, undersecretary for arms control and international security.

Both focused on rallying the Persian Gulf states support for US efforts to what they lobby as 'to halt Iran's nuclear program', while urging closer military and intelligence ties with Washington.

In April, Joseph visited Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, urging them to upgrade defenses against chemical and biological weapons. Joseph also requested help in monitoring financial restrictions with Iran and closing what he described as Iranian 'front companies' seeking nuclear technology.

Hillen said in a press conference that the cooperation goes beyond the existing Patriot missile defense batteries in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and the US Navy's Persian Gulf patrols that seek to 'track rogue nuclear shipments'.

"There is a lot new in each area actually -- a lot," Hillen said.

"We wouldn't have under and assistant secretaries rolling continuously through the region if there wasn't."
The State Department's moves to boost Persian Gulf defenses makes sense, from a pre-attack standpoint, said Wayne White, the State Department's former head of Iraq intelligence.

"If one is planning a defense against what Iran might do with its long-range surface-to-surface missiles and its anti-ship missiles in the Persian Gulf in the wake of a US or Israeli attack against Iran's nuclear infrastructure, this is exactly what one would do," White said.

Such reservations about cooperating with the United States tend to be dropped when conflicts draw near, Hillen said.



News sent: 19:56 Monday May 22, 2006


Meanwhile, the Tehran Times is reposting scary stuff from the NYT:

 http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=5/23/2006&Cat=2&Num=1

U.S. planning antimissile shield for Europe


WASHINGTON (New York Times) — The Bush administration is moving to establish a new antimissile site in Europe that would be designed to stop attacks by Iran against the United States and its European allies.

These moves are only more scaremongering by the U.S. to demonize Iran in order to increase its influence in Eastern Europe.

The administration's proposal calls for installing 10 antimissile interceptors at a European site by 2011. Poland and the Czech Republic are among the nations under consideration. However, Andrej Cirtek, the spokesman for defense ministry, told AFP on Monday that his country has received "no concrete proposal" from the U.S. for locating antimissile defense base on Czech soil.

A recommendation on a European site is expected to be made this summer to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Pentagon officials say. The Pentagon has asked Congress for $56 million to begin initial work on the long-envisioned antimissile site, a request that has run into some opposition in Congress. The final cost, including the interceptors themselves, is estimated at $1.6 billion.

The establishment of an antimissile base in Eastern Europe would have enormous political implications. The deployment of interceptors in Poland, for example, would create the first permanent American military presence on that nation's soil and further solidify the close ties between the defense establishments of the two nations.

While the plan has been described in Congressional testimony and in published reports, it has received relatively little attention in the United States. But it is a subject of lively discussion in Poland and has also prompted Russian charges that Washington's hidden agenda is to expand the American presence in the former Warsaw Pact nation.

The proposed antimissile site is the latest chapter in the long-running saga of the United States missile defense program, which began with President Reagan's expansive vision of a space-based antimissile shield.

The Pentagon is seeking $9.3 billion for its missile defense work for the 2007 fiscal year. About $2.4 billion is to go for fielding new systems and maintaining existing ones. The remainder is for additional development and testing.

The folks in Tehran know about Gitmo, the analysis that the recent prison riots were media-reports only is well researched: