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教 育 專 題 深 入 報 導《2005-11-25》 |
本期內容 | |
◎越戰和水門案 白宮揮之不去的鬼魂 | |
◎「帶他們回家」 | |
◎水門案的啟示 | |
◎愛國新聞工作者的興起 | |
◎台灣立報徵文啟事 |
越戰和水門案 白宮揮之不去的鬼魂 | |
策劃、編譯■成怡夏 | |
The ghosts haunting the White House 美國入侵伊拉克喚醒了白宮縈繞不去的兩個鬼魂:越戰和水門案。上週這兩個鬼魂競相浮現,引來過去從未有的注意。第一、因調查水門事件而聲名遠播的記者鮑伯‧伍德沃德,在搖身一變成為布希手下的速記員後,上週就與伊拉克擁有大規模殺傷性武器謊言案件相關的利比案件出庭作證。第二,授勳的越戰老兵暨強硬派國會議員約翰‧穆沙要求美軍立即從動彈不得的伊拉克撤退。 |
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(回目錄) |
「帶他們回家」 | |
策劃、編譯■成怡夏 | |
'Bring them home' 摘要 美國總統布希在重申維持美軍在伊拉克「一貫立場與方針」後,立即遭受民主黨與軍方有緊密關係的重量級鷹派人士,即國會議員、前美國海軍軍官、眾議院國防預算小組委員會資深民主黨人約翰.穆沙的抨擊,他要求華府方面立即將美軍自伊拉克撤退,並在上週四宣稱他將盡速推動修法,要求美國陸上部隊離開伊拉克,並立即遣送一批「可迅速反應」的部隊進到該地區以防備恐怖份子陣營攻擊。 他說:「伊拉克的戰爭並不像美國所宣傳的那樣;這是一個以虛幻包裹著的瑕疵政策。很明顯,在伊拉克持續的軍事行動並不符合美國、伊拉克以及波斯灣地區的最佳利益。」另外,他在多次前往伊拉克出差的過程中也發現:「美軍已經成為暴動的箭靶,美軍駐守在該地等於是暴力的催化劑。」 做為民主黨長期鷹派人士以及對軍人堅定支持的穆沙,原先支持出兵伊拉克,如今也高聲疾呼撤軍一事,此舉預料將會有助於他的民主黨同志,以及某些反對布希伊拉克政策的共和黨員的反戰立場。 事實上在穆沙發表宣言前,共和黨內部就已醞釀反對聲浪,上週二大部分的共和黨員投票通過,要求政府呈交明年前撤軍進度的詳細報告,屆時將以伊拉克軍隊取代美軍,紐約時報將這場表決形容為「對伊拉克戰爭的不信任票」。 穆沙的表態讓過去因為伊拉克戰爭立場嚴重分歧的民主黨員重新採取同一戰線,趁著揣測布希正在操弄媒體準備再度開戰的謠言甚囂塵上之際,民主黨近來在政治上採取愈來愈多的攻勢。 儘管布希政府反批民主黨這麼做是為了誤導視聽,並深刻傷害了目前正在伊拉克的15萬軍隊,但是效果相當有限。再加上上個月,一項針對副總統錢尼的前幕僚長做偽證的指控,其中牽涉到中情局官員,更讓大眾相信情報局有隱藏事實的嫌疑。 對布希政府更具殺傷力的是,上週一名受勳的越戰老兵海格爾警告大家,伊拉克戰爭過去兩年的發展,顯然有重蹈越戰覆轍的可能性,他提醒國會應當提早提醒大家才是。 過去兩週,包括參議員約翰‧柯瑞和他2004年競選總統的搭檔前參議員約翰‧愛德華都公開承認,他們對於自己在2002年10月投票授權給布希開戰的決定後悔,他們表示支持立法規範撤軍時程表的作法。前美國總統柯林頓上週也發表言論,表示攻打伊拉克的決定是錯誤的,他的公開表態勢必會讓其他的民主黨員,特別是直到現在還反對撤軍的參議員妻子希拉蕊重新思考其主張。 原文 In a major new blow to President George W Bush's determination to "stay the course" in Iraq, an influential Democratic hawk with close ties to the military has called for Washington to begin withdrawing US troops immediately. In an emotional news conference Thursday morning, Representative John Murtha, a former officer in the Marines and the ranking Democrat on the Defense Appro-priations Sub-committee of the House of Representatives, an-nounced he would soon introduce legislation requiring US ground troops to be "redeploy[ed]" out of Iraq and to send a "quick-reac-tion" force into the region for possible use against "terrorist" camps in their place. "The war in Iraq is not going as advertised," he said. "It is a flawed pol-icy wrapped in an illusion ... It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region." As a long-time Democratic hawk and staunch supporter of the mili-tary, Murtha, who originally supported the Iraq war, will make it much easier for fellow Democrats and some Republicans to challenge the Bush administration's continuing calls to "stay the course" in Iraq. Even before his statement, Republican lawmakers were voicing grow-ing fears that Iraq threatened their hold on both houses of Congress in next November's mid-term Congressional elections. In a major setback to Bush and an indication of his party's rising anxiety, a majority of Re-publicans voted on Tuesday to require the administration to submit de-tailed reports about progress toward withdrawing US troops over the next year and replacing them with Iraqi forces. The New York Times called the resolution "a vote of no confidence on the war in Iraq", while its sponsor, Senate Armed Forces Committee chairman John Warner, described his amendment as a blunt warning to I-raqis that Washington had "done [its] part" and was fast running out of patience. Democrats, who until recently had been deeply divided about what to do in Iraq, have increasingly taken the political offensive over growing public sentiment (57%, according to one poll last week) that the adminis-tration manipulated the intelligence in order to rally the country to war, a charge that Murtha endorsed on Thursday. Led by Bush, the administration has tried to mount a counter-offensive by calling Democratic charges that it deliberately misled the country into war "irresponsible" and deeply damaging to the morale of the some 150,000 troops currently in Iraq. But its efforts so far have appeared largely ineffective in changing public opinion, in part because last month's indictment in connection with the "outing" of a covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer on perjury charges of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has added weight to charges that intelligence was indeed manipulated. Added to this are the widely publicized claims by former secretary of state Colin Powell's chief of staff, retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, that Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld led a "cabal" that circumvented normal bureaucratic and intelligence channels in order to take the country to war. Nor did it help that a prominent moderate Republican and likely 2008 presidential candidate, Senator Chuck Hagel, criticized the White House's counter-offensive for "dividing the country". In a particularly damaging comment in a major policy address this week, Hagel, a deco-rated Vietnam veteran who has voiced alarm over developments in Iraq over the past two years, noted that Congress should have speak out ear-lier during the Vietnam War. While the administration has appeared flummoxed and on the defen-sive over the charges that it manipulated intelligence before the war, Democrats have appeared increasingly unified behind proposals to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq after the December 15 elections there ac-cording to a timetable that would see most of them leave by the end of next year. In the past two weeks, both Senator John Kerry and his 2004 vice pres-idential running-mate, former senator John Edwards, have publicly ad-mitted that they now regret their votes in October 2002 to give Bush the authority to go to war, and offered support for legislation that would at least establish benchmarks for withdrawing troops. In yet another important step in the Democrats' evolution, former pres-ident Bill Clinton declared for the first time this week that the decision to go to war in Iraq was "wrong", thus presumably preparing the ground for other Democrats, particularly his senator-wife, Hillary, who has until now opposed withdrawal, to move in a new direction. It is in this context that Murtha's remarks will add to the momentum in favor of withdrawal. Indeed, Murtha has historically been so close to the military that many political observers will conclude that he is speaking for senior officers who have grown increasingly convinced that the war has been a major strategic mistake. Warning that the "future of our military is at risk", Murtha said he had concluded after numerous trips to Iraq that "our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency" and that "we have become a catalyst for violence". "I believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis," he said. "I believe that before the Iraqi elections, the Iraqi people and the emerging govern-ment must be put on notice that the United States will immediately rede-ploy." That redeployment, which partly echoes a more comprehensive plan put forward by the Center for American Progress, a think tank consisting mainly of former senior Clinton administration officials, in late Septem-ber, calls for creating a quick-reaction force to be deployed in the region for intervention against "terrorist camps". It also seeks an over-the-horizon Marine presence that could be de-ployed quickly, presumably to prevent incursions by foreign forces into Iraq in the event of a widening civil conflict. Murtha also called for inten-sified diplomatic and political efforts to help stabilize Iraq. "Our military has done everything that has been asked of them," he said. "The US cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home."(資料來源/IPS) |
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(回目錄) |
水門案的啟示 | |
策劃、編譯■成怡夏 | |
The lesson of Water-gate 上週,曾因報導水門事件聲名大噪的華盛頓郵報助理總編鮑柏‧伍德沃德,就中情局洩密案宣誓作證,承認在中情局密探普拉姆身分曝光近一個月前,他就從一名資深政府官員處獲悉了普拉姆的職務,重新點燃紐約時報記者茱蒂斯‧密勒燃起的火焰。茱蒂斯‧密勒最近才從紐約時報記者一職離職,由於她拒絕在牽涉中情局密探普拉姆的案件中出庭作證公佈其消息來源,而被下獄坐牢85天。 伍德沃德上週一在證詞中告訴特別檢察官費茲杰拉德,一名布希政府資深官員在2003年6月中旬不經意告訴他,普拉姆是中情局負責分析大歸模毀滅性武器情報的密探。不過他說這位資深官員不是副總統錢尼前幕僚長利比。 有趣的是,他認為他有向華盛頓郵報的同事和長官致歉的需要,而非郵報的讀者。他模糊不清的證詞,讓讀者簡直是匪夷所思,為什麼這位當代最偉大的新聞工作者會輕易接受官員的說詞,把險惡的貓咪當成無害的金絲雀?在接受媒體訪問時,他甚至對這個案件嗤之以鼻,把費茲杰拉德形容為「垃圾堆裡的狗」,可嘆的是所有的主流媒體早已缺乏調查精神,儘管批評聲浪不斷,仍一副老神在在樣。 然而水門案告訴我們:不管你把事情想的有多糟,不管你相信政府的計畫和行動有多惡劣,不管你以為事情的根源有多深,事實浮現只會證明一切比我們所想像的更嚴重。如同水門案一樣,這個案件已經在網路上被稱為「伍德沃德門」了。 (資料來源/亞洲時報) |
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(回目錄) |
愛國新聞工作者的興起 | |
策劃、編譯■成怡夏 | |
Rise of the 'patriotic journalist' 2001年911事件和隨後的一連串事件嚴重暴露美國媒體的缺失。然而事實上,資深美國新聞工作者羅伯‧派瑞指出,媒體在恐怖攻擊事件前10年間就已經呈現明顯衰退的狀態。在他的文章中,他提到1970中期,媒體在揭露尼克森總統水門案醜聞以及越戰五角大廈檔案後,採取進一步行動揭露中情局的種種濫用職權的行為,像是非法監視美國人以協助智利軍隊推翻政府等,那時是「新聞工作者發揮懷疑精神」的高峰期。 當時有5萬7千名美國軍人在長年的越戰中喪生,因此許多新聞工作者不再給政府無條件的信任。他們主張民眾有知的權利,即使是不堪的罪行也該讓民眾知道。此時,新聞工作者的懷疑精神發揮到極致,演變到後來,媒體甚至對一向在外交政策上享有相對自由決策權的政府官員公然羞辱,導致後來包括當時CIA局長布希在內的國家安全菁英,把後越戰的新聞工作者視為美國打擊全球敵人的最大威脅之一。 這些保守的國家安全精英經過一番周折,透過種種手段把媒體與民眾對政府的不信任感逐步瓦解,重新有效掌控較為「愛國的」媒體,傳達官方說詞,媒體的懷疑精神漸漸衰退,取而代之的是所謂的愛國媒體出現,這種情況直到伊拉克戰爭後,才再次被戳破。 媒體由懷疑精神轉向愛國精神經過幾個轉捩點,較早一次是在1976年,歐提斯‧派克的國會報導揭露CIA的罪行,當時的CIA局長布希以國家安全之名,私下秘密遊說國會壓制這個報導。但是CBS新聞特派員丹尼爾‧舒爾掌握全部檔案資料,決定向大眾公開此事,他把消息洩漏給村聲雜誌而將事實批露。最終,中情局以道歉了事。 然而,政府對於具懷疑精神新聞工作者的打壓這才正式開始。1970年代後期,保守派領導人開始要求媒體自行籌措基金,並與攻擊主流媒體記者的團體合作,一起對付這些言論過於自由或不夠愛國的媒體。這項政策到了1980早期雷根時代重新獲得動力,在新保守主義知識份子政策制定者打先鋒下,雷根政府發展出一套內部稱為「觀念管理」的複雜方式,其工作包括了打擊不上道的新聞工作者。 最有名的事件是1982年紐約時報特派員雷蒙‧鮑內報導薩爾瓦多右翼行刑隊,並揭露美國支持的薩爾瓦多軍隊進行大屠殺事件,由於報導挑戰了雷根對薩爾瓦多軍隊重視人權讚譽有加的說法,觸怒了白宮,而遭來批評,他的愛國立場也被挑起來公然接受檢視。就像其他批評雷根的外交政策的記者一樣,鮑內內外交迫,外有公眾對其名譽的攻擊,內則有該報編輯向他遊說,結果是他自紐約時報離職。 在雷根1984年選舉壓倒性勝利之時,保守份子已經準備好動聽而易記的口號標語,以防備任何新聞工作者或政治人物對美國外交政策批評。這些批評政策的新聞人員被稱為「責難美國的先行者」,在尼加拉瓜衝突中則是「桑定同情者」。這種透過毀謗新聞工作者愛國情操的作法,其實就是要挫折那些報導雷根外交政策者的懷疑精神,並一手遮天左右中美洲和中東以外的民眾視聽觀瞻。 慢慢地,一群新世代的新聞工作者開始佔據重要的新聞工作崗位,他們深刻了解,在國家安全議題上過多的懷疑精神會危及個人的職業生涯。他們直覺地了解,不管他們報導什麼,都有辦法變成保守份子攻擊機器的箭靶。伊朗門事件後,華府功利主義的政治氛圍日增,1993年1月雷根-布希時代結束之際,「懷疑精神的新聞工作者」已死,至少在國家安全議題上是如此。 1996年,反毒品非法交易的爭論重新出現,華盛頓郵報、紐約時報和洛杉磯時報都強力抨擊對揭露醜聞有興趣的記者蓋瑞‧韋伯。即使1998年中情局終於承認犯下罪行,各大報仍對這事件採取輕輕帶過的處理方式。 2001年共和黨重新掌政,新聞界主要人物和普通記者都明白,想要保住工作就要聽命行事:「愛國的」記者當道,「懷疑精神」的記者鐵定出局。911後這種趨勢愈演愈熾,布希政府外交政策的正當性更加不容質疑。 2002年布希從阿富汗的賓拉登轉移焦點到伊拉克的海珊身上,「愛國」記者如影隨形。少數仍維持「懷疑精神」的媒體名人都沉寂無聲,如MSNBC節目主持人菲爾‧唐納胡的節目,就因為訪問過多反戰份子而宣告停播。紐約時報記者茱蒂斯‧密勒報導伊拉克製造大規模毀滅性武器的細節,像是伊拉克購買鋁管以製造核彈等親政府報導。 2003年鮑威爾在聯合國指控伊拉克擁有大規模毀滅性武器,美國全國的新聞媒體都臣服在其言論下。華盛頓郵報專欄版整版如獻禮般進貢給政府,然而這在事後證明只是誇大與徹底的謊言。有懷疑精神的新聞工作者可說是一個也不剩。更別說開戰後媒體全部一面倒歌功頌德,半島電台播出美軍被俘的畫面令人髮指,但是沒有人覺得美軍俘擄伊拉克人的畫面有什麼不對。伊拉克大規模毀滅性武器並未現形,這批新聞工作者也沒人提出嚴正的質問,新聞工作者豈不該為2千名美國士兵以及數萬名伊拉克人的性命負責?如今,這場伊拉克戰爭以被預測將會是美國歷史上最大的政策錯誤,然而這場災難的核心就是愛國新聞工作者和政府之間的友好關係所致。(資料來源/亞洲時報) |
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