Reply #194: Jeff Gannon, Nick Berg & Aziz al-Taee

[DulceDecorum]

CNN Hid Truth About Saddam Horrors
Jeff Gannon
April 14, 2003
CNN's Chief News Executive revealed Friday that his network suppressed stories about Saddam Hussein's reign of terror in Iraq in order to maintain a bureau in Baghdad. In an Op-Ed piece for The New York Times titled, "The News We Kept To Ourselves," Eason Jordan wrote, "I felt awful having these stories bottled up inside me." Those stories are accounts of atrocities committed by Iraq's regime over three decades.
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Others who spoke at the rally added their comments about CNN's dishonesty. Author and syndicated talk show host, Laura Ingraham told Talon News, "They sold their soul for a story, they are completely devoid of journalistic ethics. If they withheld information about George W. Bush, they would be excoriated by their peers."
Aziz Al-Taee, President of the Iraqi American Council, when asked to comment by Talon News, denounced the network for making "a bad decision."
"Professionals need to always report the truth. Were it not for their self-serving actions, there might have been more support for ending the regime sooner," Al-Taee said.
http://www.ifapray.org/NFOW/NFOW2003/Jan-June%202003/CNN%20Hid%20Truth%20About%20Saddam%20Horrors%20-%20April%2014,%202003.html

Aziz Al-Taee is an Iraqi Citizen who migrated to the USA in 1983.In 1990 , Aziz became a permenat resident and since then he acquired a distinguished political and business role in the USA . He can be reached by telephone at XXX.The following are some of Aziz Activies:
Commerce Member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Founder and Member of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce Member of the Arab-American Chamber of Commerce Member of the Asian-American Chamber of Commerce Member of the Northeast Chamber of Commerce
Political Member of the Presidential Club Member of the Mayor's Advisory Council on Asian Affairs Member of AAIPAC
Nonprofit Founder/President of the Iraqi-American Council (I.A.C.) Founder/Vice-President of the American Muslim Society of the Tri-State Area Member of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (A.D.C.) President-Circle Member of the Arab-American Institute (AAI) Member of the Islamic Institute Member of the American Muslim Council
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Aziz_Al-Taee

March 24, 2003
GWEN IFILL: And with me are three colonels, plus one. John Warden was air force deputy director for strategy, doctrine, and war fighting during the 1991 Gulf War, an architect of that war's air campaign. Sam Gardiner teaches military operations and planning, and is a longtime consultant to the Defense Department. Patrick Lang is a former army Special Forces officer and defense attaché in the Middle East. He was chief Middle East analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Gulf War. Tonight, they are joined by Aziz al-Taee, chairman of the Iraqi American Council. It's a non-governmental organization that promotes democracy for Iraq. He left the country in 1983. His family still lives in Baghdad.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june03/military_3-24.html

April 8, 2003
Al-Taee is waiting for word from his parents, brothers and sisters and more than 10 nieces and nephews that he has never met who are still living in the city.
His last phone conversation with his family was 10 days ago. Since then, the phone lines have been down, but he's encouraged by word that Iraqi civilians are fighting now against Saddam's militia.
http://www.nbc10.com/iraq/2096558/detail.html
YEAH, SURE.
AND DON'T FORGET THE FLOWERS.

Posted on Mon, May. 17, 2004
Here in America, Aziz was the highly visible spokesman for a group he'd founded called the Iraqi American Council and appeared frequently on major media outlets like Fox News Channel calling for the military ouster of Saddam Hussein.
Aziz' outfront role also included speaking at pre-war, pro-troop rallies. It continued even after it was reported the inner-city electronic entrepreneur had pleaded guilty in the crack-vial case in 1994 and later had legal run-ins involving stolen computers and bootlegged CDs.
<snip>
In 1993, about a decade after fleeing Saddam's Iraq for America, Aziz was in the electronics business when he was one of 25 people charged with distributing some 100 million crack vials on the East Coat. Prosecutors said that Aziz, who lived in Northeast Philadelphia, was tied to a network run by a Soviet immigrant named Valery Sigal. Most in the ring were immigrants from Russia or the former Eastern Bloc.
Aziz claimed he didn't know the vials were going to drug dealers. but he pled guilty. He was sentenced to three years of probation, fined $3,000, and forced to forfeit $17,673 in profits.
He was arrested again in May 2001, on charges that the chain of electronics stores he owns in Philadelphia was selling counterfeited compact discs. A judge dismissed that case for lack of evidence last March. The Inquirer also reported he received probation in a 1997 case for selling stolen computers to undercover cops. Current records show he owns a cell-phone firm called Page One Communications with a number of outlets in Philadelphia.
Aziz went by several names in Philadelphia. Sometimes called "Joe Aziz," he started calling himself Aziz al-Taee in the late 1990s, around the time he formed the Iraqi American Council. He said al-Taee was his tribal name and - in speaking out against Saddam - he was worried about relatives in Baghdad.
The group has an address in Washington's Virginia suburbs and a national board of directors, but there were differing claims of how many members or how much clout the group really had.
In December 2002, another key member of the Iraqi American Council - a California engineer named Bassam Ridha Al-Hulsaini - was reportedly one of 15 Iraqis flown to Washington by the State Department for two days of "media training" under a project known as Future of Iraq. A couple of months later, al-Hulsaini addressed a "pro-troops" rally in San Francisco, declaring that "The Iraq people are waiting for this liberation."
It's not clear whether Aziz received "media training," but the handsome, nattily dressed ex-pat, now 40, probably didn't need it. He addressed similar rallies in Valley Forge, St. Louis and Washington, where he claimed Hussein's henchmen killed both his cousin and brother-in-law. The rallies were launched by Clear Channel syndicated talk-radio host Glenn Beck, and the media giant sponsored many of them.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8684646.htm?1c
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/3/2/165001.shtml
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/855057/posts

March 3, 2003
Jeff Gannon
WASHINGTON (GOPUSA News) -- A few hundred people braved the damp cold in Washington on Saturday to wave American flags and cheer speakers on the National Mall. The "Patriot's Rally for America" was organized by the D.C. Chapter of The Free Republic, a conservative activist group.
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To: FreeTheHostages
Hey, Republic, isn't the author of this article that really nice press guy you met outside the White House?
Yep-he is truly a nice person. He knows Kristinn and is familiar with FR. Went to his website to sign a petition-GOPUSA.com-and discovered that he has featured our rally as the front article. He has just received a press pass to the WH to question Ari, which is why we ran into each other at the WH, and was very ready to participate in the press mtgs there-very kewl. I expect he and Les Kinsolving will keep things very interesting in that cramped room.
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/855731/posts

May 11, 2004
Jeff Gannon
Some Americans are angry about the overreaction of the "Arab street" and the politicization of the matter by Democrats. The White House press corps' demands for an apology from President Bush have been a particular source of annoyance to many since no apologies were issued after several American contractors were burned and hung from a bridge in Falluja last month.
They contend that the prisoners that were photographed while naked will survive their ordeal, but many of Saddam's victims did not survive the torture chambers and will never be seen again. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis perished at the hands of his henchmen. Most of the regime's victims were simply executed, but thousands suffered unspeakable torture during three decades of brutal rule.
Last year, Aziz al-Taee, chairman of the Iraqi-American Council told Talon News about some of the atrocities he had seen. He spoke of how his cousin was tortured and murdered by Iraqi officials after which his mutilated body was returned to his mother with a bill for the bullets used to kill him. She was threatened with execution if she dared to hold a funeral service for her son.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1133343/posts

COMMENT ON TALKLEFT.
The "Jeff Gannon" story is much worse than someone using a false name to get White House press clearance . Not only did the White House likely plant a fake reporter to ask biased softball questions, Gannon, aka JD Guckett, with no journalism experience, training, or skill, could not have possibly researched and written the polished yet vicious articles without substantial help (completely written?) by the White House and/or GOP.
<snip>
Press Secretary McCllelan already admitted he knew Gannon was using a false name, yet played along with his cover for nearly two years. McClellan always seemed prepared to run with Gannon's softball questions, suggesting the questions were scripted beforehand. So how much help did the White House give "Gannon" with his research and writing? Gannon first got press clearance on April 3, 2003, four days after his fake news website was created. In less than three weeks, (April 22, 2003) Gannon is supposedly writing from Crawford, Texas, detailing Bush's Easter Celebration! The next day, he's back at his desk in Washington writing on Syria. And would Aziz Al-Taee, President of the Iraqi American Council, really grant an interview to a reporter with two weeks experience (April 14, 2003)?
Gannon was not even mentioned in today's press briefing. It is amazing and sad that the mainstream media is not following this. If the White House or conservative GOP members were behind the Gannon articles, which attack even moderate Republicans, the free press is really broken.
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/009666.html