Wag The Christian Dogs
This is one of the most detailed counterspin articles I’ve read in a while. During the pre-war media hype, much coverage was afforded to a “young” “antiwar demonstrator”, one “Reverand Kenneth Joseph”, who apparently had gone to Iraq to be a human shield but left in disgust, saying that the Iraqis wanted the US/UK forces to bomb and invade their country to bring them “freedom”. Of course, he now recanted his pacifist views and held that the Bush Gang’s invasion had to be seen as a “just war”.
Apparently it’s a big bag of lies and spin promulgated in large part by the Moonies and compliant conservative media. The Reverand has a long history as an Assyrian Christian agitator and missionary campaigner and has been lobbying for Iraqi “regime change” for years. He’s worked with the US and UK governments in the past to this end and is jockeying for an administrative appointment in Iraq’s post-war “reconstruction”. He’s never been “antiwar” and in fact seems quite vain, stating his age as 9 years younger than it should be.
In an article datelined January, 2003, entitled “The Forgotten Christians of Iraq”, a right wing newsletter emblazoned with the American flag, there is no mention of a planned trip to Iraq to be a “human shield”, nor antiwar sentiment, nor even the missionary relief trip. He did, however, state that he was a delegate from Asia to the recent Assyrian Representation meeting in London, which brought together Assyrians from Europe, the U.S., Asia and the Middle East for the first time, to put together a plan for a post-Saddam Iraq”.
It is obvious that Kenneth Joseph has been involved in long-term policy planning for the future of Iraq, with an eye upon being a key player in post-war reconstruction.