Lara Logan - A Courageous Woman From Main Stream Media Gives Powerful Speech Warning About Radical Muslim Threat

[Selene]

Reporter Lara Logan brings ominous news from Middle East

BY LAURA WASHINGTON

LauraSWashington@aol.com

Last Modified: Oct 8, 2012 02:18AM

This was no ordinary rubber chicken affair. That was my reaction to the extraordinary keynoter at Tuesday’s Better Government Association annual luncheon.

Lara Logan, a correspondent for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” delivered a provocative speech to about 1,100 influentials from government, politics, media, and the legal and corporate arenas. Such downtown gatherings are a regular on Chicago’s networking circuit. (I am a member of the BGA’s Civic Leadership Committee, and the Chicago Sun-Times was a sponsor).

Her ominous and frightening message was gleaned from years of covering our wars in the Middle East. She arrived in Chicago on the heels of her Sept. 30 report, “The Longest War.” It examined the Afghanistan conflict and exposed the perils that still confront America, 11 years after 9/11.

Eleven years later, “they” still hate us, now more than ever, Logan told the crowd. The Taliban and al-Qaida have not been vanquished, she added. They’re coming back.

“I chose this subject because, one, I can’t stand, that there is a major lie being propagated . . .” Logan declared in her native South African accent.

The lie is that America’s military might has tamed the Taliban.

“There is this narrative coming out of Washington for the last two years,” Logan said. It is driven in part by “Taliban apologists,” who claim “they are just the poor moderate, gentler, kinder Taliban,” she added sarcastically. “It’s such nonsense!”

Logan stepped way out of the “objective,” journalistic role. The audience was riveted as she told of plowing through reams of documents, and interviewing John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan; Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and a Taliban commander trained by al-Qaida. The Taliban and al-Qaida are teaming up and recruiting new terrorists to do us deadly harm, she reports.

She made a passionate case that our government is downplaying the strength of our enemies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as a rationale of getting us out of the longest war. We have been lulled into believing that the perils are in the past: “You’re not listening to what the people who are fighting you say about this fight. In your arrogance, you think you write the script.”

Our enemies are writing the story, she suggests, and there’s no happy ending for us.

As a journalist, I was queasy. Reporters should tell the story, not be the story. As an American, I was frightened.

Logan even called for retribution for the recent terrorist killings of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other officials. The event is a harbinger of our vulnerability, she said. Logan hopes that America will “exact revenge and let the world know that the United States will not be attacked on its own soil. That its ambassadors will not be murdered, and that the United States will not stand by and do nothing about it.”

In the “good old days,” reporters did not advocate, crusade or call for revenge.

In these “new” days in a post-9/11 world, perhaps we need more reporters who are willing to break the rules.

Copyright © 2012 — Sun-Times Media, LLC

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Adam,

I didn't notice this before I posted my own thread on Lara Logan: This is What Journalism Used to Look Like in America - Lara Logan.

I should merge the two threads, but this lady--this hero--deserves to have two threads open and people talking about her. It's the least we can do to promote the best among us.

I'm also linking from the other one to here.

Michael

[Selene]

Michael:

Completely agree. Isn't it fascinating how she has become a pariah.

The critical issue, that has finally emerged, at some level, in this election, is that "the media," that is"protected by the First Amendment," is, basically, like Pravda and Izvestia, organs of the state.

Which raises an uncomfortable issue in my mind. If, my assumptive statement above is true, how close are we to a seriously real dictatorship?

For example, what if the government pulled the plug on the internet tomorrow?

Adam

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Adam,

I think the governemt could (and probably will) try to pull the plug on the Internet, but I don't think it has a chance in hell of succeeding. The government itself relies too much on the Internet.

And there is an enormous organic balance of power that has developed. It is an innate set of checks and balances. Don't forget that the government is made up of people, including some very powerful people, most of whom have interests outside of government. They all rely on the Internet to keep those interests going.

That, combined with the threat of a popular uprising if they did something boneheaded like pull the plug and a monetary collapse, is the Achilles heel.

Michael

[Selene]

Michael:

I agree with the stupidity of that decision. However, those desperate enough will do insane acts just to hold onto power for another day.

That psychotic scene in Atlas wherein Dr. Stadler takes control of the bunker in the mid west could be replicated by certain elements in the administration without blinking.

The Seven Days In May scenario also comes to mind.

Now, I know that these could be viewed as the ravings of a paranoid individual. However, I am quite clear headed about this and quite worried about my beloved country because we are approaching scenarios that are, frankly, terrifying.

Additionally, I have no comfort zone with the people in power today.

A...

[dennislmay]

Don't forget that the government is made up of people, including some very powerful people, most of whom have interests outside of government. They all rely on the Internet to keep those interests going.

That, combined with the threat of a popular uprising if they did something boneheaded like pull the plug and a monetary collapse, is the Achilles heel.

That assumes the people causing the problems want the US to continue in its present form. That goes back to the issue of internal security which has entirely and utterly failed. Even if a large percentage of people in government have a vested interest - that does not imply those causing the problems have any such interest.

Dennis

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Let's put it this way. I'm not worried about the Internet being shut down for the same reason I'm not worried about supermarkets being outlawed.

I'm more concerned if a nuke hits a backbone--even if by mistake. Or terrorist sabotage to backbones. Now that's a threat I find credible.

But even still, there are so many people involved, I have no doubt the damage would get fixed.

Michael

[dennislmay]

Let's put it this way. I'm not worried about the Internet being shut down for the same reason I'm not worried about supermarkets being outlawed.

I'm more concerned if a nuke hits a backbone--even if by mistake. Or terrorist sabotage to backbones. Now that's a threat I find credible.

But even still, there are so many people involved, I have no doubt the damage would get fixed.

Michael

There are parts of the country where the mentality is such that rioting will occur causing long term

economic destruction. The LA riots of old caused my aunt and uncle to not be able to sell their

house - thus they were economically trapped in what became a depressed market until my

aunt died many years later. They had intended to sell and move to Missouri for retirement.

That was minor compared to food riots that can be expected to follow a major incident. As the

old survivalist adage goes there is 3 days worth of food in the supply chain - interrupt that without

warning and in a few days there will be chaos in all affected urban areas.

There is a tipping point where the economy cannot recover any time soon. Rural areas can

snap back quickly it is not obvious that urban areas can. WWII shows that resourceful people

overseas could recover in a generation or so - but our culture is not like it was.

Dennis

[Selene]

Here is her speech:

[url=http://

 

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/10/10/cbs_lara_logan_slams_obama_admin_for_pushing_major_lie_that_taliban_is_weakened.html