UPDATED - ColdType

EMBEDDED: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION
news from CBC’s ‘The National’, and for the first
time, I felt I was back in the land of real information.
There was a critically inflected report on
the war, with Iraqi voices. There was a feature on
an anti-war organizer in Ottawa. There was a
report on the debate about Canadian policy,
which has, to date, stayed out of the fray. There
was a commentary predicting the U.S. would win
but worrying about the costs and consequences.
In short, there was the kind of TV news Americans
used to watch in the age of Cronkite and
Chancellor.
Many Americans are turning away from the
tube even as ratings soar. What I mean is that
they/we are synthesizing our own news input,
drawing from many sources including websites
overseas. The New York Observer called me yesterday
for a comment for a story they are
preparing on how many of us are becoming our
own editors and personalizing our media
choices. For example, as we watch TV news casts
that seem more and more like CIA-sponsored
briefings, with continuing reports on weaponry
and the “wow” factor as expressed by reporters
riding in tanks, other news is getting out.
Russian Intelligence vs. Ours
I CAN’T vouch for the accuracy, but it is interesting
to find Russian intelligence reports carried
on the mediawar.info website about the
recent battles that have been portrayed as a big
win for the red, white and blue. They quote from
Iraqwar.ru:
“The IRAQWAR.RU analytical center was created
recently by a group of journalists and military
experts from Russia to provide accurate and
up-to-date news and analysis of the war against
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Iraq. The following is the English translation of
the IRAQWAR.RU report based on the Russian
military intelligence reports. Here is an excerpt
from the March 24, 2003, 0800hrs report:
“Other Americans have failed in trying to use
their momentum in capturing An-Nasiriya and
attempted to encircle the town from the west,
where they encountered strong layered Iraqi
defenses and were forced to withdraw. The Iraqi
forces used this opportunity to attack the U.S.
flanks with two brigades, breaking the U.S. combat
orders and causing panic among the U.S.
troops. The U.S. command was forced to halt the
advance of its forces toward An Najaf and once
again redirect several tank battalions to support
the attacked units. Nearly six hours were needed
for the U.S. aviation to stop the Iraqi attack and
restore combat order of the U.S. forces.
“During the past day the coalition aviation flew
more than 2,000 close support missions in this
area [An-Nasiriya]. “We can only thank God for
having air dominance,” said the commander of
the U.S. 15th Marines Exp. Corps Col. Thomas
Waldhauser in a private conversation with one of
the CNN reporters. Later the CNN journalist
cited the Colonel in a phone conversation with
his editor. The conversation was intercepted.
“According to the intercepted radio traffic, the
U.S. forces have sustained up to 40 killed, up to 10
captured and up to 200 wounded during the
fighting near An-Nasiriya. There is confirmed
information about one lost attack helicopter and
an unconfirmed report about a lost ground
attack plane. The U.S. forces have also lost up to
40 armored vehicles, including no less than 10
tanks. Several intercepted reports by the U.S.
field commanders stated that their troops are
unable to advance due to their soldiers being