Disinformation : 22 Media Myths That Undermine the War on Terror

by Richard Miniter

Bin Laden was trained and funded by the CIA. The Bush Administration killed 100,000 civilians in Iraq. The Jews who worked at the World Trade Center were warned not to work on Sept. 11. These are just some of the myths that have appeared in mainstream media outlets. Collectively, these myths undermine wartime U.S. morale and confuse the discussion of vital issues. Here Miniter debunks the myths of the left (and the right) with hard evidence, high-level interviews and on-the-ground reporting in more than a dozen countries.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Journalism

275 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Violeta]

Its about the 22 media myths that undermine the War on Terror.

Nice quotes from this book:
1. You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
2. The war against terrorism is a war of accountants and auditors, as well as war of weaponry and solicitors.

3. There are two things a brother must always have for jihad, the self and the money.

4. How hard can it be find a 6-foot-8 inch Arab with a kidney problem? Just find the camel with the dialysis machine, and follow it.

5. The Iraq war is another Vietnam: "the parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable."

6. There were no weapons of mass destruction.

7. Its not a lie when you are ordered to lie.

8. "What you've seen here is the manipulation of intelligence for political ends..."

9. "We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror."_ George Bush

10. It is the duty of Muslims to prepare as much force as possible to terrorize the enemies of God. -Osama bin Laden

11. Bin Laden's final act could be nuclear attack in America -Graham Allison (Washington post)

12. "One hundred suitcase-size nuclear bombs were lost by Russia"- Gerald Celente Professional Futurist

13. Its scary when you think fifteen years ago the government was aware of Osama bin Laded and his potential threat to the security threat of the world. - un-named email writer

14. Some ask how urgent this danger is to America and the world. The danger is already significant, and it only grows with time. If we know Saddam Hussein had dangerous weapons today-- and we do-- does it make sense to the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?"- George Bush

15. "This story is too good to check."

[Hugh Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here Miniter presents the follow-up to his great work Shadow War. He delivers a point-by-point rebuttal of twenty-two myths or pieces of propaganda, many of which people have adopted ignorantly, such as Osama bin Laden's need for dialysis. Others appear to be efforts at discrediting the American war effort, such as the extremely flawed and biased Johns Hopkins study on civilian deaths. Every American who wants to know the truth behind the pundits' rhetoric should read this book.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 4 stars, but this is a book about mainstream media's complicity, incompetence and/or laziness before, during and immediately after the Iraq War (sometimes called Gulf War II). This book is very helpful understanding the attitudes toward the Iraq War at the time, but the mainstream media have moved on to other issues to become complicit, incompetent and lazy about. What is needed is an updated version of this book... a Disinformation 2. Maybe "Shadow War" is it, but with a different title.

Richard Miniter documents well, and is as objective as possible, pointing to the areas where his data might be flawed or where better information is unavailable at this time. I always like it when an author is pointing out the flaws in his own book.

This is my second reading of this book. I may read it again, but there are a lot of books out there that point to media complicity or foolishness. I may not have enough time to return to this book. There seems to be no end to them.

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author examines urban legends that have cropped up such as was Osama ill?, was 9/11 know to be coming, and my personal favorite SUITCASE NUKES? There are other topics, insightful.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shoots down 21 of the biggest myths surrounding the war against terrorism. Fast, easy read without placing too much blame against any one side or the other. Kinda like a book giving the origin and background of famous urban legends. Interesting book.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated, but still relevant and well researched and well argued. I wish I read it years ago, but I had some trouble finding it until recently.

[Anthony Colozza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it is a pretty good book. It is interesting to read this now that quite a bit of time has passed since these events took place. But you can see similarities with the headlines of today. Things have not changed much. Distortions and half-truths put out for whatever reasons by various so called news sources take on a life of their own. Even after the real facts are known. Things have not changed much with today's headlines, although now it is termed fake news, which I suppose is appropriate. Although the book presents some interesting falsehoods perpetuated by the media at that time it does seem to get repetitive and its easy to loose interest in some of the topics. Overall I enjoyed the book but the main points and contrary evidence to what was presented in the media could have been written in a much more concise and engaging manner.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a more general discussion of media myths when I got the book, then found it was limited mostly to myths believed and disseminated about 911 written before Osama Bin Laden was killed. The book is still well worth reading because it does reveal the untruths behind much of the background we think we know back of the tragedy. The book is well researched, tracing where many of the myths came from as well as the truth contradicting each myth.

[Timothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some facts are skewed (Myth #7 9/11 didn't make the world more dangerous or Myth #22 The US Mexican border is safe from Al Qaeda terrorists). The book is a little outdated in this respect. Myth #7 doesn't mention that 30,000 global terror attacks have been documented occurring after 9/11 (as of 2017). More people may die from car wrecks, but this doesn't diminish the threat of, yes, increasing terror attacks (What with calls form ISIS to murder unbelievers by knife, car, etc.)
Myth #22 also seems skewed. The author documents terrorists entering Canada, why not America? Many Pakistanis and other terrorists have since made their way into the US via the Mexican border. Iran is helping Hizbullah just below us in Central America financing thru drugs. ISIS also wants to flood Europe and the world with 500,000 jihadis.
Other myths, such as Poverty Causes Terrorism, and Iraq had no WMD's are brilliantly picked apart by Miniter as being myths and have been showed to be correct through subsequent research and opinion.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clears up many media myths about September 11th and how our culture misinterprets the dangers of Islam.

[Ernie Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guys on the right track for the most part. He sees a pretty big picture, one which is not seen by the average Joe on the street.