Between U.S. military action in Venezuela and the Trump administration’s threats of U.S. action in Iran and Greenland, the term “international law” is all over the news. Unfortunately, Big Media have no clue what is.
So they’ve been quoting and booking guests who spew a ton of terms at you, including references to charters and agreements most people have never heard of. And the news agencies themselves don’t bother to explain these things.
Unlike them, I talk you through all this. Listen to the latest episode:
Sometimes, the media’s cluelessness and bias show up in ways so obvious that they’re tragicomic. Enter the BBC, which is racking up votes at the Media Fail Awards for being one of the most disastrous news agencies.
Recently, the network had an “interview” with an “expert” who argued that any kind of U.S. military action in Venezuela — even without the capture of Maduro — was definitely illegal, a violation of another country’s sovereignty. Then came this:
Before we go, just one more developing story. The British Ministry of Defence has said its aircraft joined France in striking Syria on Saturday night. They said they targeted an underground weapons cache north of Palmyra that was used by the Islamic State group. Western powers have been conducting patrols to stop a resurgence of the Islamic State group, which has ruled parts of Syria until 2019.
They may as well have said: “As you just heard from our expert, the U.S. attacking Venezuela at all is totes illegal. Oh, and by the way, on a separate note, the UK and France just attacked Syria again. Okay gotta go, bye.”
It literally doesn’t occur to the media to explore or explain why that military action is or is not illegal under “international law.” Yet the same media falsely states, as though it’s a fact, that just about anything Israel ever does is “illegal.”
It’s also worth noting that under Maduro and his cronies, Venezuela has become a cesspool for, many of the world’s most corrupt, murderous organizations, including both narco- and Islamist terrorist groups.
To be clear, these situations are also very different. But it’s the job of the media to explore and explain why.
They don’t. Let’s show them that they stand corrected.
JL
P.S. New episode coming tomorrow, correcting coverage of Minneapolis, Iran, and a battle over 60 Minutes at CBS. Be sure to subscribe so it pops up in your feeds!
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