Bill O'Reilly... Fear-mongerer.

While recently opining about the elite media's continued coverage of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Bill O'Reilly had this exclusive scoop for the world:

In Iran, thousands of people have signed up for suicide attacks on coalition forces and possibly on the U.S. mainland, according to the Reuters news agency. A group called the Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign sponsored a conference and signed up the killers, all with the apparent approval of the Iranian government.

"The New York Times" did not cover this story. And most other American news agencies ignored it as well.
Source: The OReilly Factor:Talking Points Memo:June 15, 2004

I don't have access to any of the commercial news databases, so I can only do my best with free services like Google. But here's what I found...

This Reuters UK article from June 5th mentions the Campaign, and quotes a spokesman who claims "some 10,000 people" have enlisted to be suicide bombers. This article is not quite as chilling as O'Reilly's rant. It's delivered with a deadpan, matter-of-fact tone that doesn't leave you wiping O'Reilly's spittle off your face.

But notice this Knight-Ridder article cached on Google, which portrays the Campaign almost as a publicity stunt:

For now, her group is mostly a paper exercise with as many as 15,000 volunteers but no money and weapons, said Rejaeifar, a former newspaper publisher who heads the group.

No training or missions are planned for the foreseeable future, Rejaeifar said, adding that she hopes the shock value of her brigade will be enough to send the Bush administration and its allies packing.

There are some doubts that all the recruits would do what they signed up for. According to the moderate Iranian daily newspaper Shargh (or "East"), some recruits had mixed feelings as they filled out their applications.

Privately, some Iranian government officials rolled their eyes when asked about Rejaeifar's group. The movement isn't publicly endorsed by the elected government, which under the leadership of President Mohammed Khatami has sought to moderate the tone of Iran's revolutionary fervor to the outside world.

It took O'Reilly himself about a month to acknowledge what few mainstream media outlets picked up on... a non-story? And then he's outraged that no one but him seems to be worked up about it?

Nice try, Bill. You may have given you're audience one more reason to sweep out the old fall-out shelter, but those of us who live in the real world aren't going to forget Abu Ghraib anytime soon. While you're crying "WOLF!," we're looking for solutions... and the first will be implemented in November.

:bounce:

Put the misinformation on page one where everyone reads it. Put the retraction a few weeks later on page 10, where it's completely ignored. Guess which one sticks?

I think that he could use a good vacation with plenty of sun.

O'Reilly routinely insinuates that not voting for Bush will mean the terrorists will kill your family. This from someone who claims to be backing neither guy in the race.