Update on RAI Story

Just read an interesting post on the American Constitution Society's blog. And this story on Salon.com as well as the accompanying letters should also interest people. (Unless you're a Salon subscriber member, you'll need to watch a short ad before getting a day-pass.)

They offer some nuance regarding the usage and the legal status of the weapons and material in question. Balloon Juice, Confederate Yankee, and Ezra Klein also have debates going that actually take a serious look at the issue.

For those who like to highlight that the US media hasn't touched this story with a barge pole, I reiterate that it has also been almost totally ignored by their German counterparts. If it had ANY credibility, many here would gladly slobber all over it. Not only do they likely see its spurious nature, but they are well aware of the non-independence of Italian broadcast media. Here's an understatement: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Berlusconi have something in common.

BTW, the BBC has backpedalled and now refers to 'incendiary arms' and not 'chemical weapons.' Sign of a nefarious plot or that the Beeb did a LITTLE more research on the story? According to the BBC itself, and yours truly, it's clearly the latter. Better late than never, but hopefully next time they'll think twice before filing and making me choke on my muesli at the crack of dawn.

jo

Subjects: white phosphorus ; military ; Iraq ; Politics ; anti-Americanism ; media bias ; Mainstream Media