Tuesday, February 5, 2013

CBC on IRAN


The case of CBC's faulty reporting which has been selected as a first example is a bit out-of-date, but the issue of Iran's nuclear development is still very current. The following is a particularly blatant example of CBC echoing and re-echoing a falsehood that is essentially a warmongering propaganda point as if it were a certifiable truth. Thus this article offers an example in which CBC is using its media power to facilitate an unnecessary war with Iran which could cause great harm to Canadians.


The article in question is headlined:    Analysis / Iran really is on the nuclear brink


http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/11/13/f-iran-nuclear-program.html


There are many things wrong with this article, but in this posting I will discuss only one point:


Israel and Zionist-supporters repeatedly claim that Iran is very close to developing a nuclear bomb capability, but actually most intelligence experts, including a consensus amongst US intelligences sources, believe that Iran is still far from this, and certainly is nowhere near a nuclear brink. However this CBC article falsely cites a report of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as the source of this conclusion. CBC wrote:


"A United Nations watchdog has put a much finer point on the whole matter, saying that Tehran is, indeed, on the brink of developing a nuclear warhead."


The CBC article even provides a hyperlink which has the appearance of directing the reader to the original report. I followed the hyperlink and it just lead to another Iran-related CBC article which made no reference to the IAEA report and in no way supported the claim of Iran being on the nuclear brink. It is hard not to think the hyperlink was meant to give false credibility to the CBC statement, assuming few would actually click on it to read the full report. However I did seek out the original IAEA report. It can be found online at:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/nov/09/iran-nuclear-programme-iaea-report

I read it cover to cover, including the appendices and found not a single sentence, phrase, or even a word which declared or even suggested that Iran was close to developing a nuclear bomb. The most aggressive comment in the IAEA report was "The Agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program." However troubling this concern may be, this statement cannot possibly be construed to suggest an imminent timing for the production of a nuclear weapon?


Consequently one must conclude that the headlined claim that Iran is on the nuclear brink, citing only the IAEA as the source, is a lie. This false assertion is an important element in the warmongering narrative on Iran, because it is the basis for the claim that urgent military action must be taken against Iran. If Canada must be involved in a war, any war, it should be based on a truthful assessment of the facts, not on propagandistic lies. CBC should be held accountable for presenting war-promoting falsehoods to Canadians.


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