Has mainstream media devolved so far that world war is now considered a legitimate subject to advocate?

::::::::

New York, New York June 17: There are screws loose in high places.

Elements of the intelligence "community" which have done such a fine job
in Iraq, and their Israeli counterparts, along with the cadre of paid
and unpaid cheerleaders in the TV punditocracy, seem to have decided
that what the world needs now is another world war.

And they are not shy about saying so.

First, last week, David Twersky, the Tel Aviv correspondent for the New
York Sun, a mouthpiece for the Israeli hardliners, compared the
kidnapping of a corporal in Gaza to the assassination of Archduke
Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the incident that triggered World War 1.

The parallel was planted.

Then, just yesterday Sunday June 16, New Gingrich, former House Speaker
and still a darling of the GOP right, stated as a matter of fact on Meet
that Press that a new war is already underway in the Middle East. It
is, he insists, already a world war. "THIS IS, IN FACT, WORLD WAR 3," he
said for emphasis, with no regrets and an apparent longing to "bring it
on."

Columnist Dave Postman elaborated on his message in his Seattle Times blog:

"Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich says America is in World War
III and President Bush should say so. In an interview in Bellevue this
morning Gingrich said Bush should call a joint session of Congress the
first week of September and talk about global military conflicts in much
starker terms than have been heard from the president.

"We need to have the militancy that says 'We're not going to lose a
city,'" Gingrich said. He talks about the need to recognize World War
III as important for military strategy and political strategy.

"Gingrich said he is "very worried" about Republicans facing fall
elections and says the party must have the "nerve" to nationalize the
elections and make the 2006 campaigns about a liberal Democratic agenda
rather than about President Bush's record."

Mmm..., a world war to save the Bush Administration? How convenient.

But there is more. The always aggressive and often obnoxious Prince of
Darkness, Richard Perle, a leading booster of war on Iraq, is now
lobbying the Administration to finish off the "axis of evil." In print
pieces and TV appearances, he is calling for a wider war now.

Hold on. Also on Meet The Press, Martin Fletcher, the NBC veteran
Israel correspondent revealed that the Israeli war plan that is now
being carried out is not simply a response to current risks or attacks,
and that it has been FIVE years in the making. It was a plan just
looking for a pretext.

"I think they will never say that publicly," he added, explaining that
this war plan that was not made by this current Israeli government but
earlier by his Kadima Party mate Ariel Sharon & his generals. Fletcher
says Tel Aviv calls it a "work plan." He says it is being implemented
"step by step."

He added, "It will go on until someone steps in and stops them."

The United States is not currently that "someone"-not now. President
Bush is backing Israel although with an unheard PR appeal asking that
they be gentler in their attacks. He, like, Israel, is blaming Hezbollah
which insists it is acting defensively and reactively, not offensively.

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner, who appears in my film WMD
(Weapons of Mass Deception) has been running war games Vis a Vis Iran.
He wrote to me on the weekend after talking to Pentagon insiders. His
conclusion: "It would be hard to overestimate the danger of a major
war," he says. They say the Israeli soldiers they captured were fighting
illegally in Lebanon.

He says be believes the US and Israel are coordinating their strategies.
While he believes that Iran is orchestrating Hamas and Hezbollah through
Syria, he also says: "That does not mean that Israel is not taking
advantage of the events. They have decided on regime change in Gaza and
on punishing Hezbollah while establishing a buffer zone to prevent
rocket attacks. As closely as the US and Israel have been coordinating,
one has to assume coordination."

Former Israeli independence fighter and now peace activist Uri Avnery
goes further contending: "As in 1982, the present operation, too, was
planned and is being carried out in full coordination with the US. As
then, there is no doubt that it is coordinated with a part of the
Lebanese elite."

And who wants this war? The Toronto Star's Linda McQuaig challenges the
dominant view in DC that it is only the Iranians.

"Is it really Iran that is pushing for war? Think about it. Why would
Iran want to provoke a war with Israel and the U.S. - both heavily armed
nuclear powers - when it has no nuclear weapons itself?"

Summer is often called the silly season. While the Bush Administration
is losing one war in Iraq, and another with public opinion here at home,
it seems to be opting for more conflicts as its backers bang the drum
for a new world war.

Years ago, Che Guevara called for "I, 2, 3" Vietnams. The Busheviks
today may be moving toward '1, 2, 3' world wars.

Sound crazy? In our Orwellian political climate, a new generation of Dr
Strangelove's are in command. Only this time, they don't act like
loonies but have mastered the art of the TV interview and can, with
selective facts and ideology packaged as information, make insanity
sound oh so sane.

They have convinced themselves, and now want to convince us, to join a
new hegemonic adventure to expand their failed "GWOT," (Global War on
Terror), whatever the costs.

And where is the media in all this, to rein them in, to connect the
dots, to offer the missing context and background, to make vital
distinctions between the aggressor and those agressed upon, and to stand
up for international law, human rights, and sanity? NBC is giving the
Gingrichs and Pearls of the world a platform to advocate more killing
with no one to challenge them effectively.

We need more critics like Cenk Uygur who challenges William Kristol on
Huffington Post in these terms:

"Bill Kristol has never seen a war he didn't like. No, that's too soft.
A war he didn't love and lust after. Here's a wolf in sheep's clothing
pretending to be serious, sober minded analyst on television when in
reality he is trying to get us sucked into horrific wars that other
people will die fighting."

Why didn't Tim Russert have the guts to say something similar to Newt
Gingrich?

Has mainstream media devolved so far that a world war is now considered
a legitimate subject to advocate? Doesn't this new "mission" add up to
more madness?

Has it come to this? Is the summer heat corroding our senses? Is global
warming melting our brains?

Authors Bio:
News Dissector Danny Schechter is blogger in chief at Mediachannel.Org He is the author of PLUNDER: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books) available at Amazon.com.
See Newsdisssector.org/store.htm.