And in Washington, Colin Powell heaped more criticism on Al-Jazeera by saying that it “has an editorial line and a way of presenting news that...tend to portray our efforts in a negative light.”

Is this not taking Bush’s “you’re with us, or else” a bit too far?

The American public has been mercifully spared the daily shower of weapons of mass destruction over the city of Baghdad since this incursion began. The US networks readily broadcast the bombings over the city the first couple of nights in an effort to pacify the conscience of those who questioned the morality of this aggression. Scenes of government buildings being burnt, while the city went about its normal life were a sure way to pound that theme.

But as resistance increased, so did the bombs over the city — and in increasing intensity and numbers. And the bombs were not smart enough to distinguish between friend and foe. And many innocent civilians died: Men, women, and children. Burnt bodies and mangled limbs came courtesy of US bombs and cruise missiles.

The nightly bombardments of Baghdad are sickening the civilized world. The so-called “smart” bombs have killed and injured hundreds of civilians. But that was not readily shown on US networks. Instead, they shifted their focus to battlefields in the desert where there was less of a chance to show the sufferings of a people who Bush was going to set free.

This is not a war. This is not liberation. The script written by George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfield which had predicted that the advancing coalition troops would be welcomed with flowers and open arms has instead turned to one of resistance, with bullets pitched against bombs.

This is a conquest by a superpower of a helpless people caught in the middle of a grand design whose roots are in greed and lies. Charges by Bush of weapons of mass destruction, disclosures of false and doctored evidence presented to the UN by the US, of healthy contracts being awarded, smack of deceit, deceit of a domestic public by and large carefully orchestrated away from the truth.

The scale of lies and deceit by the Bush administration who has waged an act of “war” against the people of Iraq in contempt for democracy and public opinion, and its war propaganda rely heavily on the support of the American media, which not only fails to challenge the lies and get to the truth, but repeats and reinforces them endlessly. Earlier this year, Halliburton was chosen as one of the companies to rebuild Iraq’s dilapidated oil fields following a US-led attack on the country. UN documents show that Halliburton’s affiliates have had controversial dealings with the Iraqi regime during Cheney’s tenure at the company. And Cheney is vice president today. But very few front pages of the US press carried such stories.

What other financial rewards will this aggression bring to the orchestrators of this on-going tragedy?

Rest assured, Powell. We do not get our news from Al-Jazeera alone. There are scores of brave journalists from places like Britain, Germany, Japan, and Australia who are reporting from the sights of “collateral damage,” aka accidental and incidental massacres. And in their words and faces, the true reality of this slaughter cannot be disguised.

No, Powell, I cannot be a vocal organ of appeasement for your administration’s agenda. I will seek and search for the truth, wherever it may be. Ban me on Wall Street if you will. But I will not accept your charge that in telling the truth, your government’s efforts tend to be portrayed negatively. The senseless death of an innocent life, of a civilian who meant no harm to America or its people, no matter how negative that may appear, is the sad truth.