War Of Lies

[S.J]

CONFLICT'S TRUTHS OBSCURED BY OFFICIAL LIES
By Justine Smith
 
THE cliche warns that truth is the first casualty of war - but dying alongside it in Iraq is the coalition's credibility as the propaganda machine spins out of control.

US General Tommy Franks promised a "platform of truth, not propaganda" at the first of his daily briefings but the lies began before the first bomb was dropped.

Tariq Aziz defects

MARCH 19: Saddam's deputy Tariq Aziz is dead or has defected, say US officials.

THE TRUTH: Reports of his demise would appear to be premature. Tariq is alive and well and briefing journalists in Baghdad.

SCUDS

MARCH 20, 10.15AM: A Scud missile fired at US troops on the Kuwaiti border intercepted by Patriot missiles, US says.

MARCH 23, 4.30AM: US general Stanley McChrystal: "So far there have been no Scuds launched."

THE TRUTH: The missiles fired so far appear to be smaller than Scuds.

UMM QASR

MARCH 20, 7.33PM: Port of Umm Qasr taken by US troops. TV reporters, including ITN's Mark Austin, challenge the claims.

MARCH 22: British spokeswoman: "Umm Qasr has been taken by the 15th Marine expeditionary Unit." Sir Michael Boyce: "All the key components of the southern oil fields are now safe."

MARCH 23: Street battles flare up in Umm Qasr and around oil fields within hours of Sir Michael's speech and continue until March 25.

MARCH 26, 11.55AM: Iraqi information minister denies the port has fallen.

THE TRUTH: News of occupation premature or intended to prompt collapse of regional regime but now appears to be secure.

SADDAM "HIT" IN FIRST SURGICAL STRIKES

MARCH 21: 2.30AM: Pentagon sources claim senior members of Ba'ath party hit and possibly killed in strikes on Baghdad bunker. Saddam was the target.

5.30AM: A tired-looking Saddam on Iraqi TV - speculation rife this is one of his famous doubles or an earlier recording.

MARCH 24, 12.03PM: Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon says the broadcast was not live, adding: "We know we hit him. We know he was wounded."

THE TRUTH: Saddam would appear to be very much alive.

THOUSANDS OF IRAQI TROOPS SURRENDER

MARCH 21, 3AM: The 8,000 troops of Saddam's feared 51st division have surrendered to US Marines, say officials.

10.30AM: Chief of Britain's defence staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce confirms an entire Iraqi division has surrendered.

MARCH 23, 10.33PM: Iraqi officials deny the report.

THE TRUTH: MARCH 24, 3.22AM: The 51st division "commander" is a junior officer seeking better treatment. The number of surrendered troops is undisclosed, but a fraction of the 8,000 reported. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's claims that the coalition is in contact with a number of Iraqi leaders on the verge of surrender are equally impossible to confirm.

NASSIRIYA

MARCH 22, 12.20PM: US military spokesman confirms earlier press reports southern Iraqi town of Nassiriya has fallen.

MARCH 23, 10.21AM: US-led forces suffer heaviest casualties so far with stiff resistance at Nassiriya, Najaf, Basra and Umm Qasr.

THE TRUTH: US troops have "punched" their way through Nassiriya but it is still controlled by Iraqi resistance.

BASRA "UNDER COALITION CONTROL"

MARCH 22, 12.55PM: US and UK forces now "confident" they have control of Basra, says the BBC.

MARCH 25, 6.35AM: British military commanders say Basra has now become a military objective.

9.16AM: British spokesman: "We're not going into Basra, it's simply not considered a target."

THE TRUTH: The battle for Basra rages on, five days after it had "fallen".

IRAQI "VICTORIES"

MARCH 23, 9.04AM: Iraq Defence Ministry spokesman: "We have shot down five planes and two helicopters belonging to the US."

9.13AM: US officials: "We have no reports of missing aircraft or pilots."

THE TRUTH: Two crew missing after British Tornado shot down by US Patriot missile.

10.35AM: Iraqi vice-president, Taha Yassin Ramadan: "Thirty-five captured US troops will be shown on television within hours."

11AM: US Central Command in Qatar: "Iraq has not shot down any planes or taken any PoWs."

3.30PM: Five US PoWs paraded on Iraqi TV.

MARCH 25: The Iraqi Information Minister says "scores of invaders" have been killed by Iraqi troops in marshes near Nassiriya.

MARCH 23: US Marines had said they suffered six dead and at least 14 wounded in and around Nassiriya.

THE TRUTH: No official US death toll yet confirmed.

CHEMICAL WEAPONS FACTORY "FOUND"

MARCH 24, 1.33AM: US forces find first cache of Saddam's chemical and biological weapons in An Najaf, say US TV news stations.

2.44PM: General Tommy Franks not "entirely sure" that it is a chemical factory after all.

THE TRUTH: No further mention of this explosive "find" suggests reports were premature and wrong.

BASRA UPRISING

MARCH 25, 5.15PM: Media reports of a popular uprising in Basra.

7.44PM: Iraqi officials: "Basra is continuing to hold steadfast."

MARCH 26, 2.27AM: British spokesman: "We don't have a clear indication of its scale. It looks like this is based on the massive resentment of the population."

7.40AM: Al Jazeera reports no evidence of an uprising in Basra.

MARCH 26, 12.30PM: Tony Blair: "In relation to what has happened in Basra overnight, truthfully reports are confused but we believe there was some limited form of uprising."

THE TRUTH: Basra has not collapsed. Reports appear based on hope.

TV STATION BOMBING

MARCH 26, 3.42AM: US says coalition missiles struck Iraq's main television station in addition to key telecommunications targets.

7.19AM: Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon tells the BBC "no direct attempt" has been made to take Iraqi television off the air.

THE TRUTH: Hoon should perhaps consult with his American counterparts before giving briefings.

MARKET BOMB

MARCH 26, 10.30AM: Iraqi officials say at least 14 people were killed when a shopping area in Baghdad was hit by two US missiles. Journalists say they counted 15 bodies.

1.15PM: US General Vincent Brooks says he is not certain the carnage was caused by coalition forces.

6.38PM: US admits coalition used precision guided weapons to attack missile installation positioned less than 90 metres from homes.

MARCH 27, 12.58AM: US spokesman: "No conclusive evidence" that coalition forces were responsible.

THE TRUTH: Coaltion refuse to admit responsibility but suggest Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery might have been to blame. Iraqis claim there was no military installation there.

TITANIC TANK BATTLE

MARCH 27, 10.10AM: Reports emerge that Desert Rats have destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks outside Basra in the biggest tank battle since World War Two.

2.40PM: The titanic battle was in fact only a "skirmish" compared to some of the battles of the past, says David Fletcher, historian of the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset.

One tank officer said the contest would be as one-sided as a Ferrari racing an Austin Allegro.
 
from the Daily Mirror

[TheSheriff]

Nice article, though the writer fucked up two points, and was sloppy on another one.

One SCUD missile has been launched, the Iraqi Information Minister says so, and so does American MiliCom.

There is clear evidence, collected by anti-war sources, including Der Spiegel and Le Monde, that there was an uprising in Basra. Canal Plus, a French TV station, showed footage of it.

Iraq admits 8,000 of its troops, it says from the 174th Conscript Division, surrendered. It says they were not the 51st, and only a small "treachorous" group surrendered from that, about 600 strong.

As for Saddam being wounded, it seems that he WAS, but not killed.

[notorious^q8I]

yo i was in kuwait during the war
i remember there was somn weird with umm qasr
for like 4 days in a row they kept delaring that they took umm kasr, there was somn really weird there

[Kassem]

yo i was in kuwait during the war
i remember there was somn weird with umm qasr
for like 4 days in a row they kept delaring that they took umm kasr, there was somn really weird there

which part of kuwait where u living at that time , some wierd shit happened those days

[Mr. O]

interesting...

[notorious^q8I]

yo i was in kuwait during the war
i remember there was somn weird with umm qasr
for like 4 days in a row they kept delaring that they took umm kasr, there was somn really weird there

which part of kuwait where u living at that time , some wierd shit happened those days

jabreyah... u?

[Kassem]

bnied al gar

[notorious^q8I]

^^ocassionaly i eat at badr el bodoor or tabbab in ur area... nice and cheap lol
nice buildings though