From the Toronto Star
via CommonDreams
.org
Dated Sunday July 17
Rove Should Have Been Fired Long Ago for Masterminding Deceptions on Iraq
by Linda McQuaig
Journalists — like people in other lines of work — love to puff up their own importance. And since journalists have access to lots of newspaper space, they have ample opportunity to sell this storyline to the public.
And so, in recent weeks, the American media have been celebrating their commitment to journalistic principles and lauding the heroism of New York Times reporter Judith Miller for going to jail rather than revealing a source.
This is nonsense. The jailing of Miller isn't a story about press freedom. It's a story about how the Bush administration shamelessly attempts to manipulate the "free press" and largely succeeds.
The real hero isn't Miller; it's Joseph Wilson. The former U.S. ambassador was sent by the CIA to Africa in 2002 to investigate claims that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium from Niger — a claim that was central to the White House justification for its invasion of Iraq.
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