Use of US news as misinformation

[Warlord]

pedro2112 said:

A few days ago I would have agreed with you, but not anymore.

ditto

[Sylvaner]

Sil :

yeah, I know what this is about : there is some kind of hypocrisy (sp?) in all our democratic countries, on that subject.
Do you really think that the military labs are busy looking for cures against known diseases as anthrax or smallpox, against which some cures have been known for ages ?
And do you really think that to find a cure, one need to develop the "extra pure" quality of anthrax powder which have been detected ? (you know, the quality is so high that "only Russia, Iraq or the US could have made it".)
No, the truth (if things are like in france) is that military scientists are also scientists, and go on working on what they do even if it's politically unlikely, or even impossible that their work will actually be useful.
As far as I know, the excuse "we are only developping it to see what the bad guys could be making, so that we can find a way to counter it" is quite lame. Although it's official.

What surprised me was not the fact that the US have potential bio weapons, but more the fact that facing a crisis, they admit it without the slightest shame, and without anyone noticing it. And I am merely being surprised, not shocked or anything.

Now,  landmines are quite another story...
No, EM, I don't think France would ever use them on european ground, as we are talking about anti-personal landmines, and not anti-tank. These things are not designed for war, they are made to cripple civilians and bring terror to a population. They are either hidden or brightly coloured, looking like toys for children. And yes, in some countries (note that I don't speak about the US anymore at all, there) this "toy-like" design is on purpose.
General belief around here is that the US refused to ratify that treaty (I'm not sure about what France actually did : I know our government accepted the treaty but I'm not sure our parliament has signed it yet) merely for economical reasons.
And the fact that countries don't respect treaties is not a reason, to me : just because some people will do it anyway and go unpunished, does it mean that pedophilia on the net should be legal ? (I'm sure I'm going to be bashed for an unproper image here...)

And back to the original topic, misinformation by the US news is kinda general anyway, on some topics, as these media have a tendency to tell people what they want to hear.

Let's see : (I'm really kinda curious about these points, I'm not assuming anything)
how many of you know what happened in Honduras, Nicaragua and San Salvador in the 1980's ? in Panama ?

how many know the exact number of american victims of Vietnam ? how many know the approx. number of vietnamese victims ?

And more in actuality, have you heard about the resolution that any civilian victim in Afghanistan should not be shown on TV without a reminder that it's a consequence of Al Qaeda deeds ? this is pure propaganda, even if it can somehow be justified.

OMG this post is a total mess, I'm going to bed.