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Dear friends,
Project Censored specializes in covering the top news stories
which were either ignored or downplayed by the mainstream media
each year. Project Censored is a research team composed of
nearly 200 university faculty, students, and community experts
who review about 1,000 news story submissions for coverage,
content, reliability of sources, and national significance. The
top 25 stories selected are submitted to a panel of judges who
then rank them in order of importance. The results are published
each year in an excellent book available for purchase at their
website, amazon.com, and most major book stores.
A brief summary of last year's top 10 censored news stories
provided below proves quite revealing and most informative. The
headline of each news story contains a link for those who want
to read the entire article. Links to sources are also provided
for verification. Thanks to the Internet and wonderful,
committed groups like Project Censored, the news is getting out
to those who want to know. By revealing these censored news
stories, we can stop the excessive secrecy and work together to
build a brighter future. Please help to spread the word, and
have a great day!
With best wishes,
Fred Burks for the WantToKnow.info Team
Former language interpreter for Presidents Bush and Clinton
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2006 - Top 25 Project
Censored news stories
http://www.projectcensored.org/store - Order book "Censored
2006" here for full news stories
1. White House Erodes Open Government
While the White House has expanded its ability to keep tabs on
civilians, it's been working to curtail the ability of the
public-and even Congress-to find out what the government is
doing. One year ago, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., released an
81-page analysis of how the administration has administered the
country's major open government laws. The report found that the
feds consistently "narrowed the scope and application" of the
Freedom of Information Act, the Presidential Records Act and
other key public-information legislation, while expanding laws
blocking access to certain records-even creating new categories
of "protected" information and exempting entire departments from
public scrutiny. When those methods haven't been enough, the
administration has simply refused to release records-even when
requested by a congressional subcommittee or the Government
Accountability Office. Given the news media's interest in
safeguarding open government laws, one wonders why these
findings weren't publicized far and wide.
Source: "New Report Details Bush Administration Secrecy" press
release, Karen Lightfoot, Government Reform Minority Office,
posted on www.commondreams.org, Sept. 14, 2004.
2. Media Coverage on Iraq: Fallujah and the Civilian Death Toll
The civilized world may well look back on the assaults on
Fallujah in 2004 as examples of utter disregard for the most
basic wartime rules of engagement. U.N. High Commissioner for
Human Rights Louise Arbour called for an investigation into
whether the Americans and their allies had engaged in "the
deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate and
disproportionate attacks, the killing of injured persons, and
the use of human shields," among other possible "grave breaches
of the Geneva Conventions" considered war crimes under federal
law. More than 83 percent of Fallujah's 300,000 residents fled
the city. Men between the ages of 15 and 45 were refused safe
passage, and all who remained-about 50,000-were treated as enemy
combatants. Numerous sources reported that coalition forces cut
off water and electricity, shot at anyone who ventured out into
the open, executed families waving white flags while trying to
swim across the Euphrates, shot at ambulances, and allowed
corpses to rot in the streets and be eaten by dogs. Medical
staff reported seeing people with melted faces and limbs,
injuries consistent with the use of phosphorous bombs. But you
likely know little of this as the media hardly mentioned it.
Sources: "The Invasion of Fallujah," Mary Trotochaud and Rick
McDowell, Peacework, Dec. 2004-Jan. 2005; "Fallujah Refugees
Tell of Life and Death in the Kill Zone," Dahr Jamail, New
Standard, "The War in Iraq: Civilian Casualties, Political
Responsibilities," Richard Horton, Lancet, Oct. 29, 2004;
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, April 15, 2004.
3. Distorted Election Coverage
The mainstream media largely ignored evidence that electronic
voting machines were susceptible to tampering and downplayed
political alliances between the machines' manufacturers and the
Bush administration. Then came Nov. 2, 2004. President Bush
prevailed by 3 million votes-despite exit polls that projected
John Kerry winning by a margin of 5 million. "Exit polls are
highly accurate," wrote Professor Steve Freeman of the
University of Pennsylvania's Center for Organizational Dynamics
in an article co-authored with statistician Josh Mitteldorf of
Temple University. "They remove most of the sources of potential
polling error by identifying actual voters and asking them
immediately afterward who they had voted for." The discrepancy
of 8 million votes was well beyond the poll's recognized margin
of error of less than one percent. The official result deviated
by more than five percent, which is considered a statistical
impossibility. Freeman and Mitteldorf analyzed the data and
found that "only in precincts that used old-fashioned,
hand-counted paper ballots did the official count and the exit
polls fall within the normal sampling margin of error." The
discrepancy between the exit polls and the official count was
considerably greater in the critical swing states.
Sources: "A Corrupted Election," Steve Freeman, Josh Mitteldorf,
In These Times, Feb. 15, 2005; "Jim Crow Returns to the Voting
Booth, Greg Palast and Rev. Jesse Jackson, Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, Jan. 26, 2005.
4. Surveillance Society Quietly Moves In
It's a well-known dirty trick in the halls of government: If you
want to pass unpopular legislation that you know won't stand up
to scrutiny, just wait until the public isn't looking. That's
precisely what the White House did Dec. 13, 2003, the day
American troops captured Saddam Hussein. President Bush
celebrated the occasion by privately signing into law the
Intelligence Authorization Act-a controversial expansion of the
PATRIOT Act that included items culled from the "Domestic
Security Enhancement Act of 2003," a draft proposal that had
been shelved due to a public outcry after being leaked.
Specifically, the IAA allows the government to obtain an
individual's financial records without a court order. The law
also makes it illegal for institutions to inform anyone that the
government has requested those records, or that information has
been shared with the authorities. The law also broadens the
definition of "financial institution" to include insurance
companies, travel and real estate agencies, stockbrokers, the
U.S. Postal Service, jewelry stores, casinos, airlines, car
dealerships, and any other business "whose cash transactions
have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax or regulatory
matters." In one fell swoop, this act has decimated our rights
to privacy, due process, and freedom of speech.
Sources: "PATRIOT Act's Reach Expanded Despite Part Being Struck
Down," Nikki Swartz, Information Management Journal, March/April
2004; "Grave New World," Anna Samson Miranda, LiP, Winter 2004;
"Where Big Brother Snoops on Americans 24/7," Teresa Hampton,
www.capitolhillblue.com, June 7, 2004.
5. U.S. Uses Tsunami to Military Advantage in Southeast Asia
The American people reacted to the tsunami that hit the Indian
Ocean last December with an outpouring of compassion and private
donations. Across the nation, neighbors got together to collect
food, clothing, medicine and financial contributions. The White
House initially offered an embarrassingly low $15 million in
aid. More importantly, the government exploited the catastrophe
to its own strategic advantage. Establishing a stronger military
presence in the area could help the United States keep closer
tabs on China. It could also fortify an important military
launching ground and help consolidate control over potentially
lucrative trade routes. The United States currently operates a
base out of Diego Garcia-a former British mandate about halfway
between Africa and Indonesia, but the lease runs out in 2016.
Consequently, in the name of relief, the U.S. revived the Utapao
military base in Thailand it had used during the Vietnam War and
reactivated its military cooperation agreements with Thailand
and the Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines.
Sources: "US Turns Tsunami into Military Strategy," Jane's
Foreign Report, Feb. 15, 2005; "US Has Used Tsunami to Boost
Aims in Stricken Area," Rahul Bedi, Irish Times, Feb. 8, 2005;
"Bush Uses Tsunami Aid to Regain Foothold in Indonesia," Jim
Lobe, Inter Press Service, Jan. 18, 2005.
6. The Real Oil for Food Scam
The United Nations allegedly allowed Saddam Hussein to rake in
$10 billion in illegal cash through the Oil for Food program.
New York Times columnist William Safire referred to the alleged
U.N. con game as "the richest rip-off in world history."
According to the GAO, Hussein smuggled $6 billion worth of oil
out of Iraq-most of it through the Persian Gulf. Yet most of the
oil that left Iraq by land did so through Jordan and Turkey-with
the approval of the United States. The first Bush administration
informally exempted Jordan from the ban on purchasing Iraqi
oil-an arrangement that provided Hussein with $4.4 billion over
10 years, according to the CIA's own findings. The U.S. later
allowed Iraq to leak another $710 million worth of oil through
Turkey, all while U.S. planes enforcing no-fly zones flew
overhead. Scott Ritter, a U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq during
the first six years of economic sanctions against the country,
unearthed yet another scam: The United States allegedly allowed
an oil company run by Russian foreign minister Yevgeny
Primakov's sister to purchase cheap oil from Iraq and resell it
to U.S. companies at market value-purportedly earning Hussein
"hundreds of millions" more.
Sources: "The UN Is Us: Exposing Saddam Hussein's Silent
Partner," Joy Gordon, Harper's, December 2004; "The Oil for Food
'Scandal' Is a Cynical Smokescreen," Scott Ritter, UK
Independent, Dec. 12, 2004.
7. Journalists Face Unprecedented Dangers to Life and Livelihood
Last year was the deadliest year for reporters since the
International Federation of Journalists began keeping tabs in
1984. A total of 129 media workers lost their lives, and 49 of
them-more than a third-were killed in Iraq. As far as anyone has
yet proved, no commanding officer ever ordered a subordinate to
fire on journalists. But what can be shown is a pattern of tacit
complicity, side by side with a heavy-handed campaign to curb
journalists' right to roam freely. The Pentagon has refused to
implement basic safeguards to protect journalists who aren't
embedded with coalition forces, despite repeated requests by
Reuters and media-advocacy organizations. To date, U.S.
authorities have not disciplined a single officer or soldier
involved in the killing of a journalist. Meanwhile, the interim
government the United States installed in Iraq raided and closed
down Al-Jazeera's Baghdad offices almost as soon as it took
power and banned the network from doing any reporting in the
country. In November, the interim government ordered news
organizations to "stick to the government line on the U.S.-led
offensive in Fallujah or face legal action," in an official
command sent out on interim prime minister Eyad Allawi's
letterhead.
Sources: "Dead Messengers: How the US Military Threatens
Journalists," Steve Weissman, www.truthout.org, Feb. 28, 2005;
"Media Repression in 'Liberated' Land," Dahr Jamail, Inter Press
Service, Nov. 18, 2004.
8. Iraqi Farmers Threatened By US Mandates
Historians believe it was in the "fertile crescent" where Iraq
now lies, that humans first learned to farm. "It is here...that
mankind first domesticated wheat," wrote Jeremy Smith in the
Ecologist. "The U.S., however, has decided that Iraqis don't
know what wheat works best in their own conditions." Smith was
referring to Order 81, penned by Paul Bremer, the U.S.
administrator in Iraq, and left as a legacy by the American
government when it transferred operations to interim Iraqi
authorities. The regulation sets criteria for the patenting of
seeds that can only be met by multinational companies like
Monsanto or Syngenta, and it grants the patent holder exclusive
rights over every aspect of all plant products yielded by those
seeds. The new scheme effectively launches a process whereby
Iraqi farmers will soon have to purchase their seeds rather than
using seeds saved from their own crops or bought at the local
market. Native varieties will be replaced by foreign-and
genetically engineered-seeds. Order 81 fit nicely into the
outlines of a U.S. "Economy Plan," a 101-page blueprint for the
economic makeover of Iraq, formulated with ample help from
corporate lobbyists. BBC journalist Greg Palast reported that
someone inside the State Department leaked the plan to him a
month prior to the invasion. Smith put it simply: "The people
whose forefathers first mastered the domestication of wheat will
now have to pay for the privilege of growing it for someone
else. And with that, the world's oldest farming heritage will
become just another subsidiary link in the vast American supply
chain."
Sources: "Iraq's New Patent Law: A Declaration of War Against
Farmers,"Grain, October 2004; "Adventure Capitalism," Greg
Palast, www.tompaine.com, Oct. 26, 2004; "US Seeking to Totally
Re-Engineer Iraqi Traditional Farming System into a US Style
Corporate Agribusiness," Jeremy Smith, Ecologist, Feb. 4, 2005.
9. Iran's New Oil Trade System Challenges U.S. Currency
The Bush administration has been paying a lot more attention to
Iran recently. Part of that interest is clearly Iran's nuclear
program-but there may be more to the story. One bit of news that
hasn't received the public attention it merits is Iran's
declared intent to open an international oil exchange market, or
"bourse." Not only would the new entity compete against the New
York Mercantile Exchange and London's International Petroleum
Exchange (both owned by American corporations), but it would
also ignite international oil trading in euros. A shift away
from U.S. dollars to euros in the oil market would cause the
demand for petrodollars to drop, perhaps causing the value of
the dollar to plummet. Russia, Venezuela and some members of
OPEC have expressed interest in moving towards a petroeuro
system. And it isn't entirely implausible that China, which is
the world's second largest holder of U.S. currency reserves,
might eventually follow suit. Barring a U.S. attack, it appears
imminent that Iran's euro-dominated oil bourse will open in
March 2006. Logically, the most appropriate U.S. strategy is
compromise with the EU and OPEC towards a dual-currency system
for international oil trades. But you won't hear any discussion
of that alternative on the 6 o'clock news.
Source: "Iran Next US Target," William Clark,
www.globalresearch.ca, Oct. 27, 2004.
10. Mountaintop Removal Threatens Ecosystem and Economy
On Aug. 15, environmental activists created a human blockade by
locking themselves to drilling equipment, obstructing the
National Coal Corp.'s access to a strip mine in the Appalachian
Mountains 40 miles north of Knoxville, Tenn. It was just the
latest in a protracted campaign that environmentalists say has
national implications, but that's been ignored by the media
outside the immediate area. Under contention is a technique
wherein entire mountaintops are removed to access the coal
underneath-a practice that is nothing short of devastating for
the local ecosystem, but which could become much more
widespread. As it stands, 93 new coal plants are in the works
nationwide. Areas incredibly rich in biodiversity are being
turned into the biological equivalent of parking lots. Is this
the final solution for 200-million-year-old mountains?
Source: "See You in the Mountains: Katúah Earth First! Confronts
Mountaintop Removal," John Conner, Earth First!,
November-December 2004.
Below are the headlines and links to Project Censored news
stories 11 to 25
11. Universal Mental Screening Program Usurps Parental Rights
12. Military in Iraq Contracts Human Rights Violators
13. Rich Countries Fail to Live up to Global Pledges
14. Corporations Win Big on Tort Reform, Justice Suffers
15. Plan to Override Academic Freedom in the Classroom
16. U.S. Plans for Hemispheric Integration Include Canada
17. U.S. Uses South American Military Bases to Expand Control of
the Region
18. Little Known Stock Fraud Could Weaken U.S. Economy
19. Child Wards of the State Used in AIDS Experiments
20. American Indians Sue for Resources; Compensation Provided to
Others
21. New Immigration Plan Favors Business Over People
22. Nanotechnology Offers Exciting Possibilities, Health Effects
Need Scrutiny
23. Plight of Palestinian Child Detainees Highlights Global
Problem
24. Ethiopian Indigenous Victims of Corporate, Government
Resource Aspirations
25. Homeland Security Was Designed to Fail
For several previous censored news stories even more important
that those above, see our two-page media cover-up summary at
http://www.WantToKnow.info/mediacover-up
Final Note: Remember that with your help, we can and will build
a brighter future for us all. And for some deeply inspiring
stories to provide balance to all of this:
http://www.WantToKnow.info/coverupnews#inspiration
See our archive of cover-up news articles at
http://www.WantToKnow.info/coverupnews
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