Run-up to Invasion: AP gets it wrong on Iran

Iran is in the crosshairs of the Bush administration, and the press is helping to pass the ammunition. The AP timeline of Iran's nuclear history  takes the words of the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, and puts them in the mouth of the IAEA September 24, 2005 resolution that hints Iran may be referred to the UN Security Council. From the AP timeline:

"Sept. 24, 2005: IAEA passes resolution calling Iran's nuclear program "illegal and illogical" and puts Tehran one step away from Security Council action on sanctions."

Read an analysis below the fold and check the link for my letter to the AP, WaPo, and my local paper for the details. Granted, this is relatively small potatoes in the scheme of things. Yet, every incorrect and biased snippet like this adds to the lies that will support military action against Iran.

You may want to write a similar letter to your local paper if they carried the same timeline. There's more below.

The error?

1.      The IAEA resolution of September 24, 2005 never calls Iran’s nuclear program “illegal and illogical.”  See the IAEA’s September 24^th resolution: http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2005/gov2005-77.pdf

2.      On September, 26, 2005, however, “the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, nevertheless rejected the IAEA’s September 24^th resolution as ‘illegal, illogical and politically motivated.’”  See quote in the (UK) News-Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/26/wiran26.xml

 

 

What are  readers to make of this error?  Here’s what I come away with:

1. The AP reported something that is untrue.
2. The AP has used plagiarized language without attribution.
3. The AP has used the plagiarized language to characterize the IAEA’s September 24^th resolution  while failing to even report Iran’s response to the IAEA resolution.

 

Why is this significant?

In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, major news organizations—including the AP—made major errors in reporting on the issues surrounding Iraq’s nuclear program.  These errors, in combination with the Bush administration’s propaganda, helped convince the American people to support the invasion of Iraq, a country that posed no threat to the United States.

 

The AP January 10, 2006 time-line article on Iran’s nuclear history contains the same sort of errors that helped to convince a nation to support an unnecessary war.  Given the mistakes the AP, et al made three short years ago, it seems to me that they would be especially vigilant these days.  

 

It took me about 45 minutes to gather this information, and I am no  professional.  I simply read the article with a healthy dose of skepticism and followed a few links to get at the truth.  At this point in my life—as an observer of both politics, foreign affairs, and the media and as a peace activist—I feel compelled to verify what I read regarding the Bush administration claims of “grave threat.”  

 

So should the AP!

 

Read my letter to the AP, WaPo, and my local paper here: http://knotmaster.com/ap_error.pdf

•  How many know AP is voice of Penatgon?

  Raise your fists.

  by ccnwon on Sun Jan 15, 2006 at 12:05:23 PM PDT

  •  Who?

    *A*ss-kissing the *P*entagon?  Yeah, I knew.

    by LithiumCola on Sun Jan 15, 2006 at 12:14:48 PM PDT

•  I caught them too

  a couple of weeks ago on the Craig Murray story. They totally left out any connection to the US on the torture.

  We are going to have to inspect every lead they put out and keep calling the papers on them.

  by Overseas on Sun Jan 15, 2006 at 02:57:17 PM PDT

•  This is very important

  The point cannot be too strongly made. If we are to stop the imminent threat of invasion, it will mean a full press on lies and misstatements such as the one from AP reported here. Bravo, bosuncookie!

  by Valtin on Sun Jan 15, 2006 at 03:35:21 PM PDT