Monday, August 17, 2009

Washington Times Needs a Mirror

The Washington Times, the unofficial mouth organ of the Republican Party, has led the way in comparing the Democratic Party's health reform legislation to Hitler's Nazi Party, but it seems they should be looking in the mirror.

Robert Parry at Consortium News has an article illustrating the connection between the Times' owner, Sun Myung Moon, with known Nazis and right-wing Latin American military dictators.

It's a fascinating read and well-researched, like all writing at Consortium News.

Here's a taste:

Indeed, the Washington Times founder and funder, Sun Myung Moon, built his international religious-business-media empire in collaboration with Japanese fascist war criminals and with operational assistance from ex-Nazi SS officer Klaus Barbie, the so-called “Butcher of Lyon.”

The 89-year-old Moon also has had close ties to later generations of neo-Nazis and right-wing murderers, especially in Latin America where Moon-related organizations threw in their lot with brutal military dictators including some involved in cocaine trafficking.

Yet, in the 1970s and 1980s, Moon emerged as a major financier for the American Right. He sponsored lavish conservative conferences, slipped millions of dollars into the pockets of right-wing activists, supported prominent Republicans and – in 1982 – launched the Washington Times, which has been a prime propaganda vehicle for right-wing causes ever since.