LONDON — There is an irreconcilable conflict in the way war is reported, highlighted once again by the allied attack on Afghanistan and the anthrax terror in the United States. Two quotations explain this conflict better than any reasoned argument. A government censor, asked in 1943 what he thought the American public should be told […]
In ’93, biological defense program was misguided, poorly managed
U.S. biological weapons lab locked down, 50 miles from Pentagon By Peter Eisner September 12, 2001 A study by the Center for Public Integrity in 1993 concluded that the United States was ill-served by the nation’s investment in biological warfare research. The report, the result of a year-long investigation, found a lack of accountability in […]
Afghanistan: Inside the Taliban
LAHORE, Pakistan — UNITED STATES and British forces that launched their assault on Afghanistan this week can expect tough guerrilla resistance from a hard core of Taliban leaders who helped found the movement and continue to lead it. Osama bin Laden and his Arab forces, who have become part of the Taliban’s decision-making process, now […]
The disinformation campaign
The way wars are reported in the western media follows a depressingly predictable pattern: stage one, the crisis; stage two, the demonisation of the enemy’s leader; stage three, the demonisation of the enemy as individuals; and stage four, atrocities. At the moment we are at stages two and three: efforts to show that not only […]
How the plotters slipped U.S. net
LONDON — As U.S. forces converge on Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden’s satellite phone has not been cut off. But calls to the terrorist leader’s laptop-size satphone – relayed via an Inmarsat satellite 40,000 km over the Indian Ocean – are going unanswered. His number – 00873 682505331 – was disclosed earlier this year in the […]
Arrested Italian cell sheds light on Bin Laden’s European network
On a cold winter night last January, on the outskirts of Milan, Italian anti-terrorist police intercepted a frantic call between two suspected Osama Bin Laden operatives. “They have arrested our brothers … half of the group,” the caller said. “They have found the arms warehouse in Germany.” That call, monitored in a cell phone wiretap, […]
Authorities question criteria for access to flight simulators
Congress and the executive branch are reviewing the largely unregulated access to the nations 527 licensed flight simulators, and to the unknown number sold abroad, in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. High-end simulators are million-dollar “virtual reality” machines that recreate the sights, sounds and sensations of the cockpit, with the knobs and […]
Will truth again be first casualty?
Methodology Research for this Center report has included examining dozens of books and articles by military officers and civilian Pentagon officials that discuss the relationship between the Defense Department and the press; analyzing thousands of pages of U.S. military documents; reviewing dozens of U.S. and British legal documents; reviewing hundreds of articles by journalists, academics […]
Osama Bin Laden: How the U.S. helped midwife a terrorist
The relentless pursuit of Osama bin Laden changed over 10 years By John Solomon May 2, 2011 About the Author Ahmed Rashid of Pakistan is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a project of the Center for Public Integrity. He is the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern […]
U.S. biological weapons lab locked down, 50 miles from Pentagon
In ’93, biological defense program was misguided, poorly managed By Seth Shulman October 29, 2001 Fort Detrick conducts research to defend the United States against some of the most deadly biological agents in the world. Special protection of the facility is emblematic of the longtime major concern by intelligence officials that biological weapons are potentially […]
New FCC chairman had big telephone player as a major client
As the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael K. Powell can draw on his experience as an FCC commissioner in trying to navigate the arcane world of telecommunications policy and the closely knit group of high-powered, multibillion dollar companies that dominate the industry. Powell has had the opportunity to witness and regulate some […]
Telecom chief could face conflict issues
A key Commerce Department official could face frequent conflict-of-interest issues because her office controls high-tech policies that affect a number of telecommunication and wireless firms for which she and her husband have worked. As the new assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, Nancy J. Victory also serves as chief of the Commerce Department’s […]
Issue divides Bush advisers
Capitol Hill stem-cell backers received health industry dollars By M. Asif Ismail and Christine Morente August 30, 2001 Within the Bush administration, two senior aides, chief strategist Karl Rove and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, were reportedly at odds over whether the government should finance embryonic stem cell research. Thompson was the strongest […]
Capitol Hill stem-cell backers received health industry dollars
Issue divides Bush advisers By M. Asif Ismail August 30, 2001 U.S. representatives and senators who strongly pushed for federally subsidized embryonic stem cell research have received more than $4 million in contributions from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, which stand to benefit from that research, according to a Public i review of campaign donations […]
Internet voting project cost Pentagon $73,809 per vote
A pilot Internet voting project to encourage voter participation by Americans abroad cost the Pentagon $6.2 million and received high marks from its director, although it delivered only 84 votes in the November election and failed to address a key security concern, the Center for Public Integrity has learned. Details about the two-and-a-half-year project come […]
Methodology
Well Connected The business and legislative influences behind our nation’s information networks. Stories in this series Well connected By The Center for Public Integrity May 22, 2003 District of Columbia’s poor pay triple for sub-par Internet service By Laurel Adams February 18, 2011 Billions set aside to bridge broadband gap before creating plan on how […]
When criticism becomes a crime
BUENOS AIRES — Imagine you’ve just broken a story about how the president’s cronies, including members of the Supreme Court, made a mint when the government sold off state companies. You feel pretty good, right? But instead of getting a Pulitzer, you are indicted for “insulting” a Supreme Court justice. During the trial against you, […]
CIA gave at least $10 million to Peru’s ex-spymaster Montesinos
The Central Intelligence Agency gave ex-Peruvian spymaster Vladimiro Montesinos at least $10 million in cash over the last decade, as well as high-tech surveillance equipment that he used against his political opponents, the Center for Public Integrity has learned. Montesinos, who now faces trial on murder, arms and drug trafficking charges, among others, had founded […]
Last bastion of free press
MOSCOW — Surprise, surprise. I landed in Washington in the last week of June just in time to learn that Gazprom-Media boss Alfred Kokh was also in town, doing some more image-polishing. My first thought upon hearing this was: “That’s the end of Ekho Moskvy. He’s here to do damage control in view of the […]
Reporters without boundaries
MELBOURNE, Australia — Most of the reporting we do, even the in-depth investigative projects, stretches only as far as our borders. But the real world isn’t like that. Corporations and crooks electronically shift billions of dollars around the globe in seconds, drug smuggling is an international business, and issues like global warming, sex slavery, economic […]
Commentary: Judiciary should let sunshine in to reduce public skepticism
More than any time in recent memory, the American people have reasonable doubts about the integrity of the judicial decision-making process. When I was a network television journalist, I had the privilege of meeting or covering some of the most respected courtroom lawyers and judges in America, from Edward Bennett Williams and David Boies to […]
Commentary: World’s journalists should collaborate in age of globalization
Thank you. It is a great pleasure to be here. Congratulations to Brant Houston of Investigative Reporters and Editors and all of the individuals and organizations in Denmark and Europe responsible for this terrific conference. It is my honor to speak to you about “Globalization and the Challenge to Investigative Reporting.” Somehow I will try […]
Commentary: D.C. culture: Clean? How about mercenary
With no warning, in the opening paragraph of Richard Cohen’s recent column (“What Price Service?”), there it was, in black in white: “Charles Lewis, drop dead.” Not that I haven’t heard such sentiments before, sometimes in much coarser language. It is an occupational hazard as the head of the Center for Public Integrity. Given the […]
Program to help small farmers now virtually run by industry
When Brad Koetz was told that his impressive sunflower yield was unfit for human consumption, he was taken aback. His healthy-looking, 250-acre crop of confection sunflowers the kind sold as snack food in your local grocery store suffered from a fungal disease, robbing him of a season of work. Because of this pest, Koetz’s crop […]
The day democracy died in Russia
MOSCOW — So, it has happened. The so-called “tough plan” developed by the Kremlin’s top secret analytical group has been put into action. As opposed to the “mild” one that was in use before, this one envisions the quick silencing of any dissident voices — of course, with the aim of making Russia a paradise […]
Bush’s carbon dioxide flip-flop came through staffer who had lobbied for car-exhaust
President Bush’s decision to abandon his campaign pledge to limit carbon dioxide emissions was routed through a key Bush aide who had lobbied for one of the world’s largest manufacturers of automobile exhaust systems. The Bush aide, Nicholas Calio, served as a paid lobbyist and worked extensively from 1996 through 1997 for Tenneco Automotive, based […]
Is there a magic formula to restore the good old days?
LONDON — With newspaper circulation declining all over the world and TV news in crisis, what does the future hold for journalism? Is there a magic formula to restore the good old days? What is it? I was reading the other day the diaries of William Howard Russell, the great journalist who worked for The […]
Marc Rich inquiry highlights strange bedfellows
Buried in the furor over former President Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich is the role the fugitive commodities trader played in supplying oil to South Africa’s apartheid government, in violation of international sanctions against the racist regime. Ironically, two leading congressional inquisitors into Clinton’s last-minute pardon Jan. 20 — Republicans Representative Dan Burton of Indiana […]
States outpace Congress in upgrading lobbying laws
As Congress struggles to maintain public trust in the midst of the lobbying scandal raging in Washington D.C., members could look to the states for ways to revamp the federal system. A Center for Public Integrity survey that evaluated the strength of lobbying disclosure laws nationwide found the federal law to be weaker than those […]
Lobbying, old-time politics block legislation on human cloning
In the spring of 1997, scientists at Scotland’s Roslin Institute successfully reproduced a sheep using DNA from a single adult sheep cell. It was a spectacular breakthrough. But the birth of Dolly, the first cloned mammal in history, provoked outrage among anti-abortion activists and many bioethicists, and triggered a debate on the dangers of human […]