US MANIPULATION OF IRAQI PRESS

When I read about the accusation that the Pentagon may be manipulating the Iraqi press, my first thought was the cycle continues: government lies, deceives and cheats; the public, primarily through the press, eventually uncovers it; no one in real power is inevitably punished; and the public naively feels the system works. Whether it’s the Bay of Pigs, cooked numbers in Vietnam, Watergate, Iran Contra, Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, or the torture of terrorist suspects, the story is always the same. Aside from a couple of low-level fall guys, none of the real masterminds are punished so there is no deterrent for history to keep repeating itself. When it comes to truth, justice and the American way we have no credibility in the global community. How can we expect to sell our brand of democracy and high-ideals to other nations if it is being marketed by a government of liars? Democracy will never be effectively exported from our shores until we begin to hold those individuals who perpetrate such crimes or low morality accountable for their actions and punish them regardless of rank in government, business or the military. The other option of course is to suppress the American press so these stories never see the light of day.