Sunday, April 26, 2009

Some Reporters Are More Important Than Others

Notice there is not much of a fuss over the 300 or so reporters that have (either directly or indirectly) been killed (never mind imprisoned for no reason) since the U.S. invaded Iraq (most of them Arab)?

You'd almost think you editors don't really care about you, huh, reporter?


Also see
: Occupation Iraq: Maliki Shuts Down News Media

Operation Mockingbird

Judging by the attention they give this young lady, and the nature of the obfuscating and omitting AmeriKan MSM, one may well conclude she is a CIA spy. The Iranians have certainly had
experience in that arena. The journalism part her NOC? Paper would tell us if true, right? Right?

"US 'disappointed' as Iran convicts journalist; Verdict comes as Obama considers talks with Tehran" by Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press | April 19, 2009

TEHRAN - Iran convicted an American journalist of spying for the United States and sentenced her to eight years in prison, her lawyer said yesterday, complicating the Obama administration's efforts to break a 30-year-old diplomatic deadlock with Tehran.

The White House said President Obama was "deeply disappointed" by the conviction, while the journalist's father told a radio station his daughter was tricked into making incriminating statements by officials who told her they would free her if she did. It was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of espionage - a crime that can carry the death penalty.

Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation, charging her with spying for the United States. The Fargo, N.D., native had been living in Iran for six years and had worked as a freelance reporter for several news organizations including National Public Radio and the BBC.

The journalist's Iranian-born father, Reza Saberi, told NPR that his daughter was convicted Wednesday, two days after she appeared before an Iranian court in an unusually swift one-day closed-door trial. The court waited until yesterday to reveal its decision to the lawyers, he said.

Saberi's father is in Iran but was not allowed into the courtroom to see his daughter, who he described as "quite depressed." He said she denied the incriminating statements she made when she realized she had been tricked but "apparently in the case they didn't consider her denial."

Saberi's lawyer said he would "definitely appeal the verdict."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States was working with Swiss diplomats in Iran to get details about the court's decision and to ensure Saberi's well-being. She said the United States will "vigorously raise our concerns" with the Iranian government.

I read this stuff and all I can think of is the thousands of innocent people we've tossed in jail cells around the world in the name of fighting "terror" -- a government created, funded, and directed entrprise that specializes in what they call false flags.

The United States has called the charges against Saberi baseless, and the State Department said Thursday that Iran would gain good will if it "responded in a positive way" to the case. Obama has said he wants to engage Iran in talks on its nuclear program and other issues - a departure from the tough talk of the Bush administration.

Iran has been mostly lukewarm to the overtures, but Iran's hard-line president gave the clearest signal yet on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic was also willing to start a new relationship with Washington. In a speech, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was preparing proposals aimed at breaking an impasse with the West over its nuclear program. But Iran's judiciary is dominated by hard-liners, who some analysts say are trying to derail efforts to improve US-Iran relations.

The United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran after its 1979 Islamic revolution and takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran. Relations deteriorated further under former President George W. Bush, who labeled Iran as part of the so-called Axis of Evil along with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and North Korea.

Gee, they really gloss over the history (and present) there, huh? I've had enough of that and the anti-Iranian slant in jewspaper, I mean, newspaper.

Saberi's conviction comes about two months ahead of key presidential elections in June that are pitting hard-liners against reformists who support better relations with the United States. Ahmadinejad is seeking reelection, but the hard-liner's popularity has waned as Iran's economy struggles with high inflation and unemployment.

Yeah, thank God politics never plays into AmeriKan elections, huh, MSM!?

Some conservative Iranian lawmakers played down Saberi's conviction, saying the verdict would not affect any ongoing efforts to build trust between the United States and Iran. "Although there is a wall of mistrust between Iran and the United States, the judicial verdict won't affect possible future talks between the two countries. The verdict is based on evidence," said lawmaker Hosseini Sobhaninia.

Saberi's father disagreed, telling NPR, "I don't think they have any evidence and I haven't heard any evidence that they have made public."

Gitmo.

Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized Iran for arresting journalists and suppressing freedom of speech. The government has arrested several Iranian-Americans in the past few years, citing alleged attempts to overthrow its Islamic government through what it calls a "soft revolution." But they were never put on trial and were eventually released from prison.

Related: Operation Ajax

U.S. Government Harbors Terrorist Jundallah

M.E.K.

Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran

Terrorism, definition:

"
[An] act of terrorism, means any activity that (A) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State; and (B) appears to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping."

"The hope that Iranians will blame their own government for their hardships, and that their complaints will influence the regime"

Are we CLEAR?


The LEAST you could do, 'bamer, is CALL OFF the AMERICAN TERRORISTS!!!!!!!

"The Saberi case is the latest example of how Iranian authorities arbitrarily use spying charges to arrest journalists and tighten the gag on free expression," said Reporters Without Borders. Meanwhile, NPR said it was "deeply distressed by this harsh and unwarranted sentence."

How come I don't hear you guys hooting about your own?

Iran has released few details about the charges. Iranian officials initially said Saberi had been arrested for working in the Islamic Republic without press credentials, and she had told her father that she was arrested after buying a bottle of wine. An Iranian investigative judge later told state TV that Saberi was passing classified information to US intelligence services.

And, of course, if this were true the U.S. government and MSM would be forthright and admit it, right? Right, readers?

Her parents, who traveled to Iran from their home in Fargo in a bid to help win their daughter's release, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Saberi's father has said his daughter, who was Miss North Dakota in 1997, had been working on a book about the culture and people of Iran, and hoped to finish it and return to the United States this year.

That her NOC or.... ?

--more--"

Some don't get nearly as much print, and the connections do make you wonder if they are also spies.

"N. Korea to put 2 US journalists on trial" by Bloomberg News | April 25, 2009

SEOUL - North Korea will put two US journalists detained last month on trial, risking an escalation in tensions triggered by the nation's April 5 missile test.

"The relevant agencies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have concluded the investigation of the US journalists," the official Korean Central News Agency said yesterday. "They decided to formally bring them to trial, based on their documented crimes." The report didn't elaborate.

North Korea detained Euna Lee and Laura Ling on March 17 for allegedly entering the country illegally from China. They were reporting for San Francisco-based Current TV on the plight of North Koreans fleeing the country....

Yup, Al Gore's girls!

--more--"

Stink, readers.

When you gonna send some girls to Gaza Palestine, Gore?

Al?

(hearing nothing but the sound of farts expelling)