News Hounds

Fox News Peddles a War With Iran

This is how Neil Cavuto opened his show today (June 27, 2005): "Remember how much we fussed over this guy? [Video of Saddam Hussein shown while the banner at the bottom of the screen read: Forget Saddam?] Now what if I told you we might be facing a bigger threat from this guy? [Video of Iran's President-elect, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while the banner below read: A Bigger Threat?] Why Iran's newly elected President had oil prices jumping and no less than our President talking. [Video of men working on an oil derrick over a banner reading: Fear Factor?]" And that was just the teaser.

Fox then went to a full fledged FOX NEWS ALERT and Cavuto told the audience that oil prices closed above $60.00 per barrel for the first time ever today, "all on fears this guy [Ahmadinejad] could soon have us all over a barrel."

Cavuto then went to Wendell Goler at the White House who told the audience about recent remarks made by Bush, Rumsfeld and Scott McClellen and then Cavuto introduced two guests, John Loftus and Tim Timmerman, the author of a book called "Countdown to Crisis," the crisis being Iran.

Timmerman said that a "showdown is "absolutely" more likely after the election of Admadinejad, and that Admadinejad's "first statement was that he was going to go toward a nuclear showdown." Loftus said he "has almost no popular support but that "in the long run it would be safer" to have "an uprising." He said the "Japanese are telling us now that Iran is sending advanced cruise missiles to North Korea that can be used to attack Japan," and that "the more time you give Admadinejad the more danger to the US and our allies."

Advocating for an invasion himself, Cavuto said, "I just don't know gentlemen what you do here short of a military invasion or quarantine or any of that stuff."

Timmerman said the Pentagon is spending $3 million on "pilot programs," but "we should be spending 100 times that amount."

Cavuto, again advocating for something stronger said, "But pro-democracy efforts need to turn over the Constitution and the regularity of these elections and that ain't going to happen any time soon."

Timmerman said "this is something people are ready to do," when Cavuto interrupted to again advocate on behalf of military action: "A thousand names were just wiped off the ballot here to make it all go away," so this is a country "that can just sorta laugh in the face of that, right?"

Loftus said the newly elected Iranian president is "opposed to elections. Reform is not going to work, boycotts are not going to work." He said we have to go to the UN and blockade Iran's oil.

Cavuto, again advocating for the hardliners said, "Well, John, I love you dearly, the UN's not going to do anything." He said he thought part of today's run-up in oil prices was addressing the fear of a blockade, but wondered if "this guy gets tough with us on oil," it could boomerang.

Loftus, in what sounded like pre-Iraq rhetoric, implied that any action we took would be easy, and over in six months: We have a six month oil supply, "so we can outlast an Iranian regime." If we "shut the oil off, the regime might collapse in an unemployment riot."

Timmerman said "there are going to be massive protests" and we need to be "ready to assist the pro-democracy" forces.

Cavuto pointed out that Ahmadinejad "got a lot of votes," but, Timmerman interjected (for a second I thought he was talking about our recent presidential elections): "You better watch who is counting those votes. We don't know how those ballot boxes were stuffed." He said some people were forced to vote, and that he "would not count on major support for this man."

Cavuto wondered whether the US could stand "higher oil prices if it means pushing this guy out of office." Timmerman said yes, but not definitely and Loftus again implied it would be a cakewalk: we can last six months but "we've gotta drop a lotta money on the revolution."

Cavuto ended by saying he suspects a lot of Americans "don't even know what happened in Iran over the weekend or why it's important," so to say they "might be willing to swallow higher oil prices might be a leap of faith." Timmerman told the audience to read books (like his, no doubt) and read the news, and Cavuto chimed in: "And listen to shows like this. Leading off with it."

Comment: Doesn't this all sound sickeningly familiar? And isn't it fightening when supposedly neutral journalists propagandize for the government?