...

AP Interview with Obama: Spinning Iran’s Theoretical Ability to Build Bomb Into Claim of Actual Production

U.S. government officials know they don't always have to lie or deceive. Oftentimes, the media will just do it for them.

by Jeremy R. Hammond

Oct 14, 2013

… read
READING PROGRESS: 0%

Last week, the Associated Press published an interview with Obama. Its headline declared:

OBAMA: IRAN 'YEAR OR MORE' FROM GETTING BOMB

The article opened:

President Barack Obama says U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran is still "a year or more" away from producing a nuclear weapon....

The AP doesn't provide the exact quote from Obama, but further down the page paraphrases:

Israeli officials have said Iran is just months away from having the capacity and knowledge to build a bomb, while Obama said Tehran was a year or more away.

So, Obama said that it would take "a year or more" for Iran to have "the capacity and knowledge to build a bomb". Compare that with the rather more sensationalized headline and lead paragraph. Obama apparently couched his comments, trying to make Iran sound threatening but without coming out and saying that Iran is actively trying to make nuclear weapons. Obama no doubt couched his language carefully this way because he knows that the U.S. intelligence community assesses that Iran has no nuclear weapons  program. He knows the IAEA continues to monitor Iran's program and to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material to any military aspect of its program.

The AP, though, has no problem taking even Obama's disingenuous but couched remarks and sensationalizing them to suggest that Iran is actually actively engaged in "producing a nuclear weapon".

Of course, the Obama administration has no problem with the media engaging in this kind of sensationalized fearmongering. U.S. government officials know they don't always have to lie or deceive. Oftentimes, the media will just do it for them.

About Jeremy R. Hammond

About Jeremy R. Hammond

I’m an independent journalist exposing the state propaganda that manufactures public consent for criminal government policies.

My work examines US foreign policy, market interventionism, and so-called "public health" policy through one consistent lens: an uncompromising application of the non-aggression principle that transcends the narrow linear spectrum of "left" vs. "right".

Read about my mission and core values →

Essential Reading

A Palestinian boy and an Israeli soldier by Israel's illegal separation wall in the West Bank. (Justin McIntosh/CC BY 2.0)

Foreign Policy, News & Analysis

The Path to Peace Lies In Rejecting the ‘Peace Process’

August 28, 2013

White House Coronavirus Task Force Response Coordinator Deborah Birx delivers remarks during a coronavirus update briefing Thursday, April 23, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks/Public Domain)

Health Freedom, Special Reports

Fact Check: Yes, Dr. Birx did change her tune on COVID-19 vaccines

August 15, 2022

NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledged in an interview that “positive” PCR test results commonly indicate the presence of non-viable viral RNA rather than infectious virus. (Screenshot from YouTube)

Health Freedom, Special Reports

Facebook “Fact Check” Lies about PCR Tests and COVID-19 “Cases”

November 19, 2020

Join the Discussion

Your first comment is briefly held for approval to keep out spam and trolls; after that, your comments post instantly. Please keep discussion civil and on topic — see the comment policy.

Formatting: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>, <a href="URL">link</a>, <blockquote>quote</blockquote>

>

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This