Desperate fabrication
Remember what I predicted yesterday?
Well, Koring managed to stay on the front page with a story that is completely contrived. It's manufactured news. The entire story is about a return phone call for heaven's sake.
Of course, that makes it sound like LaViolette called Attaran up out of the blue just to bully him. Not until the twelfth paragraph of the story do we find out that Attaran left a message for the Provost Marshal late Tuesday evening, and that LaViolette was simply returning it on behalf of her boss, who shouldn't be speaking directly with Attaran due to the ongoing investigation.
Now Attaran and his pet journo at the Globe and Mail say she tried to intimidate the Ottawa legal beagle.
You want intimidation? How about a media-hungry activist leaving a message after hours for the senior policeman in an active investigation? Since Koring declined to reveal it in his article, I wonder what Attaran said in his message? Specifically, I wonder what would make an experienced Public Affairs Officer return such a message with a witness present?
Ask yourself: if this were any other police force undergoing any other internal investigation, how appropriate would it be for a lawyer who initiated the original complaint to call the chief of the force up late at night?
In fact, speaking of intimidation, I'd like to know what else you would call a journalist putting up an article on the front page of one of the most influential and respected newspapers in all of Canada - the cream of the crap, as it were - that spanks the military for one officer daring to question the motives of its accuser. Koring and Attaran might as well have said "We're the inquisitors here, not you." This story is intended to put the CF back firmly in its supposed place.
Well, I'm questioning motives as well, gents. Hell, I'm pretty close to answering those questions too: Attaran's motive is getting attention for his detainee transfer policy obsession, and Koring's is staying on the front pages by whatever means possible.
Notice that your interests and mine as Canadians are nowhere in that equation. The average Canadian's only function to these two ambitious and self-absorbed individuals is to be spun.
Update: This would be pathetic if the consequences weren't so despicable:
So, just to keep this straight, the only guy telling the MPCC panel that a public probe is "vital to keeping confidence" in the CF is...Professor Attaran. That makes two stories in one paper today based solely upon one activist's agenda. No real news, just Attaran's point of view foisted upon the readership of the Globe and Mail as original reporting.
What an absolute disgrace.
Upperdate: Bruce Rolston at Flit weighs in with some excellent questions of his own.
In fact, I'd guess that even if there's nothing really new to report on the story, you'll see him milking any angle he can, no matter how lame or contrived, with every ounce of persistence and doggedness he can muster. You see, page one above the fold is the lead-dog position for an ink-stained wretch, and they'll fight to maintain that position like that lead-dog would for a bone or scrap of meat. Manufacturing controversy sells, and journalistic ambition outweighs any considerations of such outdated ideals as truth or fairness in reporting. [Babbler's bold]
Well, Koring managed to stay on the front page with a story that is completely contrived. It's manufactured news. The entire story is about a return phone call for heaven's sake.
The Ottawa law professor who sparked an investigation into the possible abuse of Afghan detainees by Canadian soldiers says he was contacted by a senior naval officer Wednesday who tried to intimidate him and impugn his motives.
The officer, Commander Denise LaViolette, a communications specialist for the military legal-affairs department and for the Provost Marshal, the military's chief of police, confirmed that when she returned a telephone call from Amir Attaran, she called him “unprofessional,” questioned whether he “had a personal agenda” and eventually hung up on him after an acrimonious conversation.
Of course, that makes it sound like LaViolette called Attaran up out of the blue just to bully him. Not until the twelfth paragraph of the story do we find out that Attaran left a message for the Provost Marshal late Tuesday evening, and that LaViolette was simply returning it on behalf of her boss, who shouldn't be speaking directly with Attaran due to the ongoing investigation.
Now Attaran and his pet journo at the Globe and Mail say she tried to intimidate the Ottawa legal beagle.
You want intimidation? How about a media-hungry activist leaving a message after hours for the senior policeman in an active investigation? Since Koring declined to reveal it in his article, I wonder what Attaran said in his message? Specifically, I wonder what would make an experienced Public Affairs Officer return such a message with a witness present?
Ask yourself: if this were any other police force undergoing any other internal investigation, how appropriate would it be for a lawyer who initiated the original complaint to call the chief of the force up late at night?
In fact, speaking of intimidation, I'd like to know what else you would call a journalist putting up an article on the front page of one of the most influential and respected newspapers in all of Canada - the cream of the crap, as it were - that spanks the military for one officer daring to question the motives of its accuser. Koring and Attaran might as well have said "We're the inquisitors here, not you." This story is intended to put the CF back firmly in its supposed place.
Well, I'm questioning motives as well, gents. Hell, I'm pretty close to answering those questions too: Attaran's motive is getting attention for his detainee transfer policy obsession, and Koring's is staying on the front pages by whatever means possible.
Notice that your interests and mine as Canadians are nowhere in that equation. The average Canadian's only function to these two ambitious and self-absorbed individuals is to be spun.
Update: This would be pathetic if the consequences weren't so despicable:
Public probe on detainees 'imperative,' panel told
space
Investigation into allegations of abuse called vital to keeping confidence in Forces
A public investigation with open hearings into allegations of detainee abuse "is absolutely imperative to maintain confidence in the Canadian Forces," the Military Police Complaints Commission has been told in a submission from Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran.
So, just to keep this straight, the only guy telling the MPCC panel that a public probe is "vital to keeping confidence" in the CF is...Professor Attaran. That makes two stories in one paper today based solely upon one activist's agenda. No real news, just Attaran's point of view foisted upon the readership of the Globe and Mail as original reporting.
What an absolute disgrace.
Upperdate: Bruce Rolston at Flit weighs in with some excellent questions of his own.
posted by Babbling Brooks at 10:39 a.m.
1 Comments:
How now? The guys we handed over were tortured.
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