Fox News: Bimbos in, Iraq out
Mashhadani to Sue
Iran: Captured Diplomats Must not Be Harmed
Fox Cable News spent more time than other cable news networks covering Anna Nicole Smith, and spent much less time covering Iraq than the other networks. Gee, back in 2003 they seemed to have a lot about Iraq. I guess Faux News is only interested in stories that further the agendas of Rupert Murdoch and his Republican Party:
‘ “Fox spent half as much time covering the Iraq war than MSNBC during the first three months of the year, and considerably less than CNN. The difference was more stark during daytime news hours than in prime-time opinion shows. The Iraq war occupied 20 percent of CNN’s daytime news hole and 18 percent of MSNBC’s. On Fox, the war was talked about only 6 percent of the time. Another story that has reflected poorly on the Bush administration, the controversy over U.S. attorney firings, also received more attention on MSNBC (8 percent of the newshole) and CNN (4 percent) than on Fox (2 percent), the Project for Excellence in Journalism found. ‘
At last, an explanation for the 33% who think Bush is doing a good job in Iraq! They are not getting any news about what is going on there from Republican Party t.v.!
Hat tip to Dan Marsh.
Deposed Iraqi speaker of the house Mahmud al-Mashhadani is challenging the decision of parliamentarians to replace him, saying he will sue.
Just an observation that the Bush Administration’s “surge” was intended to restore security to Baghdad so as to give the Iraqi parliament and executive breathing space to achieve a number of benchmarks, pass key legislation, and pursue reconciliation among sects and parties. Does that look likely to you?
Iran says it is ready for further talks with the US but warns that its 5 diplomats, which the US military detained in Irbil, must not be harmed or the US would “regret it.”
Roadside bombs in several districts of Baghdad, also in Hawija.
The USG Open Source Center paraphrases Iraqi news items for June 12 [bracketed comments by Cole]:
| Al-Sabah carries on page 3 a 560-word report entitled “Muqtada al-Sadr Visits Grand Religious Authority in His House in Al-Najaf; Al-Sistani Blesses Al-Sadr Trend’s Efforts To Bring Shiites, Sunnis Together.” . .
Al-Mashriq carries on page 3 an 80-word report saying that Al-Sadr visited Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani at his house in Al-Najaf. Al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah carries on the front page a 180-word report citing a source at Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s Office saying that Muqtada al-Sadr visited Al-Sistani at his house. . . Al-Bayan carries on the front page a 240-word report entitled “Salah al-Din’s Tribes Vow To Fight Al-Qa’ida Organization; 130 Tribal Chiefs Decide To Fight Terrorist Groups in Cooperation With Government.” . . Al-Sabah runs on page 2 a 140-word report entitled “Al-Hakim in Tehran To Continue Second Stage of His Treatment.” . . Al-Sabah carries on page 2 a 160-word report entitled “Security Tension Following destruction of Al-Sadr Bureau in Al-Fadiliyah District.” . . Al-Sabah publishes on page 5 a 400-word report entitled “Evacuation of Iranian Villages Along Kurdish Borders; Kurdish Government Demands Iraqi Security Forces to defend Borders.” .l . |
For June 11:
| Ishraqat al-Sadr on 10 June carries on the front page a 220-word report citing Hazim al-A’raji, during the Friday sermon in Al-Kazimiyah, calling on the government to stop Al-Qa’idah’s terrorist acts in Diyala and praising Al-Mahdi Army for protecting Al-Kazimiyah. . .
Al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah carries on the front page a 430-word report citing Al-Sadr Trend calling on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to delay the settlement of the Kirkuk Issue. Al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah carries on the front page a 200-word report citing former Iraqi National Bloc member Mahdi al-Hafiz strongly criticizing the proportional power sharing-system and that the national unity government is a big lie. . . Al-Bayyinah carries on the front page a 130-word exclusive report citing Abd-al-Karim al-Anzi, parliament member from the Unified Iraqi Coalition, strongly criticizing Iyad Allawi and Salih al-Mutlag for their attempts to foil the government . . Al-Mada runs on the front page a 150-word report citing Shiite Scholar Muqtada al-Sadr calling on Turkey to deal peacefully with the Kurdish Labor Party and confirming that attacking northern Iraqi villages is not acceptable. . . Al-Adala runs on the front page a 200-word report citing Qasim Dawud from the Unified Iraqi Coalition criticizing demands of some countries to receive money in return of keeping Iraqi refugees in their territories. . . Al-Mu’tamar publishes on page 3 a 120-word report citing the Al-Fadhilah Islamic Party criticizing the performance of the foreign Ministry regarding the Iraqi refugee crisis. . . Tariq al-Sha’b publishes on page 2 a 270-word report citing a security source in Maysan confirming the seizure of a number of artifacts prepared for smuggling in Al-Butayrah District. . . [Antiquities smuggling funds a lot of militia activity in Iraq.] Al-Sabah al-Jadid publishes on the front page a 170-word report entitled “Ten Insurgents Affiliated With Al-Qa’ida Organization Arrested in Karbala.” . . [Karbala is the site of an extremely sacred shrine; if the Salafi Jihadis blow it up, Iraq is over with for some time.] Ishraqat al-Sadr on 10 June carries on page 2 a 140-word report citing the Karbala Governor Aqil al-Khaz’ali saying that the governorate has decided to allow Karbala University’s professors to carry weapons and have a bodyguard for each. . . Al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah carries on the front page a 70-word report saying that a new police commander will be appointed in Basra. . . Al-Mashriq carries on page 4 a 100-word report saying that 5% of Iraqi families live in absolute poverty. . . Al-Mu’tamar publishes on page 3 a 100-word report on the general strike announced by Basra University employees. . . Al-Da’wah on 10 June carries on page 7 a 670-word unattributed article strongly criticizing the Wahabist Movement for distorting Islam and calling for eradicating this movement. . . [Da’wa is the party of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Wahhabi Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has turned down a request from al-Maliki to come visit him in Riyadh.] Al-Zaman publishes on page 3 a 900-word report on the statement issued by the Mujahidin-e-Khalq Organization yesterday, 10 June warning that the Iranian regime is planning to take advantage of US occupation forces’ chaotic situation to impose its control over Diyala Governorate. . . |
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