Link: http://detainthis.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/ap-is-lying-to-push-for-war-on-iran-again/

Imagine that a world leader was quoted as publicly saying: "Judging from recent trends, the neocon regime is not likely to survive in this region."

Now, imagine that a major news organization published a report based on that statement. What do you suppose the headline would say?

A) World leader: Neocon regime survival not feasible
-or-
B) World leader: Not feasible for US to exist

Assuming that the translation is accurate to begin with, the obvious choice is "A" because it is clearly the most accurate, right?

Not according to "the world's largest and most trusted source of independent news and information."

A January 15, Associated Press headline reads:

Iran president: 'Not feasible' for Israel to live [1]

In other words, "Israel must die" or "Israel should die." But did Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually say that?

Let's look at the opening paragraph:

A top Israeli envoy delivered his country's stance on a cease-fire agreement in Gaza to Egyptian mediators trying to seal a truce on Thursday. The Iranian president said the fighting showed Israel's continued existence in the region is "not feasible."

It may appear as though he's suggesting that all of Israel (the government, people, and maybe even trees and goats — who knows?) will cease to exist. That would be awful if that is what he is actually saying. But it's impossible to know for sure when the AP editor quotes only two words.

So, after sifting through 18 more paragraphs of Israeli PR, we find:

At a news conference, Ahmadinejad said the fighting in Gaza has been "a great lesson for all," saying it shows "the absolute defeat and desperation of this (Israeli) regime."

He says that "even for the supporters of the occupying regime and its leaders, it has become clear that the continuation of the Zionist regime's life in the region is not feasible."

So, contrary to what the AP headline and opening paragraph told readers, he was not suggesting the death of the entire nation of Israel. In fact, he didn't even use the word Israel at all; the AP editor nicely inserted it for him.

In professional news reporting, the headline and the lede (the first 1–3 paragraphs or so) typically deliver the synopsis of the story. An unmistakable trait of shoddy news-wire journalism is when you have to read 20 paragraphs of irrelevant editorializing to get a modifying paragraph with quoted phrases and context pertaining to what the headline promised to deliver.

Question: Who's going to stick around for that?
Answer: A lot fewer than would read only the headline and lede.
Conclusion: Damage done.

If AP was an honest outfit, the headline would have been something like, "Iran president: Zionist regime survival not feasible," and the lede would have entailed quoted phrases and pertinent context, without inserting the editor's choice of words. At the very least, it would have entailed an accurate paraphrasing of Ahmadinejad's statement.

The last time The Associated Press and other major news media deliberately flooded the world with an egregious misinterpretation of an Ahmadinejad remark, it was used as a tool for 1) handicapping the Iranian (and U.S.) economy through unlawful asset freezes, trade embargoes, and other economic sanctions, and 2) subjecting the Iranian people to an immoral and unlawful shakedown via the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), thus preventing them from fully enjoying their natural right to choose the mode of energy production that best suits them and their budget.

Those sanctions are acts of war, and The Associated Press is fiddling with a few key words and tens of millions of innocent lives.

The "wiped off the map" lie has been used to collectively punish everyday Iranians (and Americans) in the guise of keeping an allegedly genocide-minded leader in check. But, did you know that the U.S. government has given hundreds of millions of U.S. tax dollars to U.S.-designated terrorist groups toward violent and illicit regime-change in Iran? [2]

Not if you've been getting your "news and information" from AP.

Fight the Lying Warmongers

If you are opposed to the world's largest and most powerful news media's efforts to bring about the deaths of millions of innocent human beings at the behest of the belligerent Israeli and U.S. regimes, then contact The Associated Press and let them know.

Don't let them lie us into another unnecessary, trillion-dollar, genocidal war of aggression.

AP Jerusalem Bureau
PO Box 13172
Jerusalem 91131
Israel
Tel: 972-2-538-5577
Fax: 972-2-537-6083
Bureau Chief, Steve Gutkin: sgutkin@ap.org
Managing Editor, Josef Federman: jfederman@ap.org

AP Headquarters
450 W. 33rd St.
New York, NY 10001
Tel: 1-212-621-1500
Email: info@ap.org

—————

1. google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g6l-TrnBjEMU0HBCWo667sTBC8eQD95NMH4O1
2. See: www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/5551 &
www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HB18Ak01.html &
rightweb.irc-online.org/rw/3277.html &
www.infowars.net/articles/march2007/300307Iran_provocation.htm

January 15, 2009 © By DetainThis. Permission granted to repost with URL attribution to ThePeoplesVoice or DetainThis.