The only way for this Web site to survive as an
independent-minded, investigative news organization is with the support
of our readers.
Whenever we approach institutional funders, they
make clear they want their favored issues to be our focus and sometimes
they want a specific “take,” which we won’t do. Our commitment has
always been to our readers and to journalism. We address important
topics, whether they’re trendy or not, and we do so honestly, whether it
makes us popular or not.
That is why – in our 11-year existence – we have
been way ahead of the curve in defining threats to the American Republic
and in describing what key government players are really up to.
We were very early in explaining the dangers of an
unchallenged right-wing media machine. We warned about the risks to U.S.
national security from “politicized” intelligence. We rejected the
fawning “conventional wisdom” about Colin Powell. We challenged the
notion of the well-meaning, patrician Bush family.
We stood up to the unfair press treatment of Al
Gore. We took on the big newspapers for their shameful treatment of
journalist Gary Webb on the contra-cocaine scandal. We explained how
Korean theocrat Sun Myung Moon was using criminal money-laundering to
help finance America’s right-wing media and political apparatus.
More recently, we stood in the path of the Iraq War
stampede. Not only did we contest the bogus WMD arguments, but we
foresaw the military disaster that loomed. In late March 2003, as the
U.S. invasion was only two weeks old, we published an article entitled
“Bay of Pigs Meets Black Hawk Down,” which began:
“Whatever happens in the
weeks ahead, George W. Bush has ‘lost’ the war in Iraq. The only
question now is how big a price America will pay, both in terms of
battlefield casualties and political hatred swelling around the world.
“That is the view slowly
dawning on U.S. military analysts, who privately are asking whether the
cost of ousting Saddam Hussein has grown so large that ‘victory’ will
constitute a strategic defeat of historic proportions. At best, even
assuming Saddam’s ouster, the Bush administration may be looking at an
indefinite period of governing something akin to a California-size Gaza
Strip.
“The chilling realization
is spreading in Washington that Bush’s Iraqi debacle may be the mother
of all presidential miscalculations – an extraordinary blend of Bay of
Pigs-style wishful thinking with a ‘Black Hawk Down’ reliance on special
operations to wipe out enemy leaders as a short-cut to victory. But the
magnitude of the Iraq disaster could be far worse than either the Bay of
Pigs fiasco in Cuba in 1961 or the bloody miscalculations in Somalia in
1993.”
That story appeared at
Consortiumnews.com on March 30, 2003. In many circles, it did not make
us popular.
We also led the way in
exposing the Bush administration’s razing of the Geneva Conventions, the
Nuremberg principles and other pillars of international law. Beyond
that, we described how George W. Bush’s “preemptive” or “predictive”
wars had domestic corollaries that were eroding the U.S. Constitution.
Sadly, our Web site
didn’t have the impact that I wished it had. I regret that we were too
small to prevent or, at least, limit some of these disasters now
unfolding. I wish we could have done more to prevent the tragic loss of
life in Iraq, among both Americans and Iraqis.
As much as we pride
ourselves in delivering an extraordinary “bang for the penny,” we have
always been hampered by my inability to raise sufficient funds. Over the
past five years – even as we’ve provided cutting-edge information on
life-and-death issues to tens of millions of people around the globe –
our budget has averaged only $25,000 a year.
This year, our goal has
been to raise at least $100,000 – still not a huge amount – but enough
so we can begin to give our operation some stability and more
professionalism.
In that view, our current
end-of-summer fundraiser needs to raise $20,000. That would be enough to
keep us operating at least through the pivotal Nov. 7 election. But with
only a few days left in the summer, we have managed to raise only about
$5,000.
So, though I realize
there are plenty of financial demands on all of you – as there are on us
– I need to ask again: If you can afford it, please consider a donation
to our brave little investigative Web site. We will do our best to
stretch every penny.
Or you can consider
taking out a modestly priced ad on our site. Or think about buying one
of my books through secrecyandprivilege.com, with $5 going to
Consortiumnews.com for each sale.
Tax-deductible donations
can be made by credit card at Consortiumnews.com or by sending a check
to Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Suite 102-231, 2200
Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA 22201. Or you can use PayPal at our account,
“[email protected].”
For readers who already
have donated – whatever the size of the amount – please accept my
deepest thanks.
Robert Parry, Editor
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra
stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from
Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at
secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at
Amazon.com, as is his 1999 book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine,
the Press & 'Project Truth.'
