The only named source in Barbara Starr’s report (CNN, 5/8/18), aside from the Iranian president, is British Maj. Gen. Felix Gedney, who says he’s seen “no change” in the behavior of Iranian-backed forces.
Why doesn’t CNN Defense Department reporter Barbara Starr just leave CNN and instead work directly for the Trump DoD?
On Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran deal (formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), Starr (5/8/18) rushed to publish an anonymously sourced and transparently propagandistic press release for the Trump administration and Pentagon. Wouldn’t it be easier if Starr just skipped the middleman and just worked for the DoD?
In her 513-word piece, “US Officials Growing Increasingly Concerned Iran Could Attack Israel,” Starr mindlessly repeated “concerns” by unnamed US Department of Defense and Israeli Defense Force officials that Iran might directly attack Israel and/or Israeli positions in occupied Syria—something that has never happened in recorded history:
There are increasing concerns Iran is on the cusp of an attack against Israel, several US military officials told CNN.
Intelligence is not clear on when an attack could come and what form it would take, they said, with one official noting that “if there is an attack, it might not be immediately clear it’s Iran.”
The US is watching very closely to see if Iranian-backed actions could come from inside Syria or Lebanon, or even from inside Iran itself, though that would be considered a major military escalation.
“Increasing concerns” by whom? Increased relative to what? Who are these “military officials”? If they have no clue “what form” such attacks would take or when they would be carried out, what is the public supposed to do with this information? (Don’t be confused it it’s not “immediately clear it’s Iran”—trust us, it will be!) Moreover, why are these vague, temporally uncertain “concerns” being reported at all?
The answer is clear: The Pentagon is using CNN to stoke panic about Iran by accusing them of pre-crime without a shred of evidence, neutral analysis or third-party validation. It’s a Defense Department press release in its purest form, designed solely to scare the reader and justify Trump’s escalation of hostilities toward Iran.
Was Starr presented with evidence of troop movements? Keyhole satellite photos of repositioned missile systems? Statements from Iran? Leaks from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that would justify this being news? No. The report is 100 percent curated leaks by the US and Israeli militaries that serve no apparent purpose other than to demonize an enemy in their crosshairs.
To raise the stakes, Starr dubiously writes “at the same time, Iran has covertly shipped missiles into Syria, according to the US.” But there’s nothing “covert” about Iran’s military support of the Syrian government, including providing the Syrian army with missiles. It’s out in the open and has been for several years. The only plausible reason Starr would add the airport-thriller qualifier “covert” to a routine, years-old policy is to paint the weapons shipment as escalation on the part of Iran—as she did when reporting the “news” of said shipments in a similar DoD/IDF press release last month (CNN, 4/25/18).
Barbara Starr has a long, storied career of acting—in effect if not in name—as a Department of Defense spokesperson (FAIR.org, 4/5/10, 6/27/13, 5/13/13, 8/22/14, 10/14/16). It would both streamline the process and give readers more clarity if she wrote up Defense Department spin for the US government itself, rather than doing so for Time Warner under the auspices of reporting news.
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“FAKE NEWS!” Killer Clown won’t be castigating
Referring to Barbara Starr as a de facto DoD “spokesperson” is much too kind. She’s a DoD shill.
And by the way: we should refer to the DoD by its historic name: the United States Department of War. In fact, the title “Secretary of War” predates the Constitution.
Many rightwingers would likely cheer this return to military tradition — including, and especially, the Pentagon’s pet shill, Ms Starr.
What may be of greater concern is the downplaying of the Israeli attacks on Iranian forces in Syria toward the end of Barbara Starr’s article: She writes, “Some Iranian-backed sites inside Syria have been bombed in recent days in attacks widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. The US assessment now is that Iran could initially strike -in retaliation against Israel for its airstrikes inside Syria.”
While Haaretz reports 15 killed, including 8 Iranians, the Barbara Starr article omits any report of casualties. Starr also omits mention of “the April 9 airstrike on Syria’s T4 airbase which killed seven Iranian military advisers and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,” and that Iran blames the Israeli government for that attack. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/syria-blames-israel-for-strike-near-damascus-target-was-iranian-missiles-aimed-at-israel-1.6071960
The downplaying by Starr is worrisome. The Haaretz article notes that the Israeli “military said any Iranian strike against Israel will be met with a severe response.” It means that if Iran eventually does respond to the ongoing series of Israeli government attacks on their forces, that “severe response” will likely be accompanied by claims of self-defense that will be amplified by US government officials and other allies.
Actually, it makes perfectly good sense when you consider that Wolf Blitzer who anchors CNN for 8 to 10 hours a day was hired away from his propaganda duties at AIPAC. One of the primary objectives of AIPAC, of course, is and has been to con the United States into attacking Israel’s neighbors. Not only do US military personnel do the bleeding and dying, our government pays Israel $3 billion or more annually for the privilege. Such a deal Zionist have for us.
That’s only as it should be. The goyim are animals who were put on earth to serve the Jews. Ask the Chief Rabbi. He’ll explain it.
Great work as always, Adam
I hate this woman! I have hated her for years. She must be on the payroll of arms manufacturers. Bloody stenographer for DOD