ʻO ia kekahi o nā New York Times ' shining examples of investigative journalism, as it reported last week that the “U.S. is moving forward with reconstituting nuclear weapons, while concurrently attacking Iran for similar behavior.” The story raised serious questions about US double standards in dealing with an alleged nuclear threat, while at the same time violating its own obligations – under the Non-Proliferation Treaty – requiring it to dismantle its nuclear stockpile.
Hiki iā mākou ke moeʻuhane ʻaʻole anei? Although one of the hottest stories of the year ia hōʻike ʻia e ka Pūnaewele lawelawe last week, the US plan for new nuclear weapons production was completely ignored in the mainstream media. That Obama allocated $55 million for nuclear weapons production runs directly contrary to the myth that the US fulfills its international legal obligations, while punishing “rogue regimes” for violating international law. This story, however, was dead on arrival when it was first reported by the Pūnaewele lawelawe (IPS) on Wednesday, September 30th.
ka IPS report states that “despite the statements by Barack Obama that he wants to see the world reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons, the U.S. Department of Energy continues to push forward on a program called Complex Modernization, which would expand two existing nuclear plants to allow them to produce new plutonium pits and new bomb parts out of enriched uranium for use in a possible new generation of nuclear bombs.” The story’s timing is particularly ironic considering that the US is openly admitting to reconstituting nuclear weapons, while there is currently no physical evidence that ʻIlana is running a nuclear weapons program.
The combined stories of ʻIlana’s “weapons program” and US nuclear reconstitution are one of the most explosive news developments of the year, although one wouldn’t know by following the news. ka IPS story was picked up by progressive, non-mainstream news sources such as ʻO Truthout, Nā CommonDreams, a ZNet, but received no coverage in mainstream sources. The Obama administration’s calling out of ʻIlana was covered in 66 news stories, op-eds, and/or editorials from September 30th iā Okaba 6th. ka New York Times ran 19 pieces, ka Hawaii Post 18, ka ʻO Houston Chronicle 7, ka ʻO Washington Times 6, ka Boston poepoe honua 6, ka Los Angeles Times 5, ka ʻO Chicago Sun Times 4, a me ka Kapalakiko Chronicle ʻekahi. In contrast, no headlines, op-eds, or editorials in these papers featured the US decision to reconstitute nuclear weapons. There is not a single reference to the Complex Modernization program anywhere in the reporting of these papers, nor is the program mentioned in any of the news programs from ABC News, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, a Fox News i ka pule i hala. References to Iranian “nuclear weapons” appear, in contrast, in nearly four dozen stories in these television outlets.
A brief review of newspaper stories on ʻIlana from the last week demonstrates the extraordinarily propagandistic nature of reporting and commentary on ʻIlana, to the exclusion of criticisms of the US:
- Mai ka ʻO Washington Times: “The Coming War with ʻIlana; Real Question is not if, but when,” “Righteous Indignation: Countdown to War and Armageddon,” and “Big, Ominous Win for ʻIlana; Buying Time for Continue Clandestine Work.”
- Mai ka Hawaii Post: “U.N. Chief Says Iran Must Prove its Sincerity on Nuclear Issue,” and “Nuclear Disarmament is an Issue of Morality.”
- Mai ka New York Times: “Iran Agrees to Key Concessions on Uranium, but Doubts Linger,” “Iran May Have All it Needs for Bomb U.N. Agency Says Functioning Nuke is in Reach,” “Challenge for Obama: Holding Iran to its Word,” “The Possibility of a Nuclear-Armed Iran Alarms Arabs,” and “Answering Iran’s Nuclear Challenge.”
- Mai ka Los Angeles manawa: “Access Delay May Give ʻIlana Time to Obscure Data.”
- Mai ka ʻO Houston Chronicle: "ʻIlana Will Send its Enriched Uranium to Russia Concession a Win for West – if it’s Not Hollow.”
It is disturbing that the US plan for nuclear weapons production is completely censored from our discourse. Obama promised to “seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” The Department of Energy’s plans clearly violate this promise, and run counter to US obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue US nuclear disarmament, rather than rearmament.
ʻAʻole he mea kupanaha i ka US media and political establishment ignored this story. US political and media elites expect Americans to be ignorant regarding official double standards, but this is only possible if media outlets refuse to talk about these double standards. Most Americans, for example, probably don’t know much about US support for Saddam Hussein during the 1980s, when he was committing the worst of his atrocities against the Iraqi and Iranian people. This ignorance is not surprising, since most media outlets refused to discuss US support for Saddam in the 1980s, or during the run up to the 2003 invasion. Most Americans probably don’t know much about how the U.S. increased its support for Saddam during the worst of his atrocities, and how U.S. corporations and government officials provided Hussein with the necessary precursors for developing his infamous weapons of mass destruction. US hypocrisy in regards to Iraqi WMD played out over a period of a few decades, however, so it was easier for officials and journalists to omit discussion of this inconvenient history. Ma ka hihia o ʻIlana, however, Obama’s verbal attacks took place just five days before reporting on the ʻAmelika Hui Pū ʻIa’ nuclear weapons reconstitution (Obama made his speech criticizing ʻIlana on Friday, September 25th, Oiai ka IPS moʻolelo ma US nukes was released on Wednesday, September 30th). Americans may be ignorant of their history, but it’s unlikely that they’re so ignorant that they’d fail to notice blatant nuclear hypocrisy over the period of a single week. It is not surprising, then, that journalists refuse to publicly embarrass Obama for his militaristic approach to ʻIlana.
Ke aʻo nei ʻo Anthony DiMaggio US a me Global Politics ma Illinois Moku'āina University. He is the author of Mass Media, Mass Propaganda: Examining American News in the “War on Terror” and the forthcoming: When Media Goes to War: Hegemonic Discourse, Public Opinion, and the Limits of Dissent (February 2010). Hiki ke loaʻa iā ia ma: [pale ʻia ka leka uila]
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