What makes WND different

There wasn't much fanfare to the announcement. It didn't get much
press attention.

But, as WorldNetDaily's roving foreign correspondent Anthony
LoBaido reports,
State Department spokesman James Rubin said recently the U.S. government
had "found no evidence to confirm that the Lao government engages in the
systematic violation of the Hmong minority's human rights as part of a
nationwide policy."

Notice the way Rubin framed that statement. If that isn't
Clintonesque, I don't know what is: "confirm" ... "systematic" ...
"nationwide" -- these are all hedge words. In other words, it was a
non-statement. It didn't really mean anything. But it was issued to lead
people to a specific conclusion: That the exclusive WorldNetDaily
investigative series into the persecution of the Hmong tribe in
Southeast Asia was not accurate -- that there is no genuine threat to
the lives of these people.

There's a fundamental flaw in Rubin's (I'll be charitable)
half-truths. He doesn't know what he is talking about. He hasn't been
there. The information he is getting is based on second-hand reports
influenced more by politics than reality.

One man who does know what's happening today in Laos is
WorldNetDaily's Anthony LoBaido. He's been there. He's spent time with
the Hmong. He put his own safety at risk to be there. He is the only
reporter who has been on the ground there recently to observe first-hand
the persecution of the tribal people who mistakenly, it seems, put their
faith in the American Dream.

"We share the view of the United Nations and the Royal Thai
government that it is safe for those determined not to be refugees to
return to Laos," said Rubin.

I wonder what it must be like to make such moral pronouncements based
on faulty information knowing that the lives of hundreds, thousands,
tens of thousands hang in the balance.

"As for Rubin's comments about 'no systematic violation' against the
Hmong -- hundreds of thousands of them are either dead or living in
exile, not to mention the persecution the Hmong currently face in
Communist Vietnam," explains LoBaido. "It's hard to speak from beyond
the grave -- yet that's what our conscience is supposed to do for us.
It's called morals."

There was a day in America -- not too long ago -- when the intrepid
adventures of a U.S. reporter to expose injustice in foreign lands might
be applauded by government leaders. There was a day -- not too long ago
-- when such exploits would be celebrated by journalistic colleagues.
There was a day -- not too long ago -- when the suffering of the Hmong,
no matter how politically inconvenient, would be addressed, mourned
over, not covered up.

And that, my friends, is the WorldNetDaily difference. Our editorial
agenda is set by no one but ourselves. We don't care what the
politicians say. We don't wait for State Department handouts to find out
what's going on around the world. We don't regurgitate White House press
releases and call them news stories. We dig out the truth -- the
old-fashioned way, with hard work, high standards and a commitment only
to the truth.

We're blessed with reporters like Anthony LoBaido, who will risk life
and limb to shine a little light in the darkness. It's a disgrace that
work like that often plays second fiddle to idle gossip and
disinformation from Washington.

Much has been written about the role of the New Media in America
today. Usually Internet journalism is dismissed as superficial,
rumor-mongering, or worse.

You will notice that such reports seldom mention WorldNetDaily, one
of the very fastest-growing Internet news services in the world. That's
because what we do here doesn't fit the stereotype. We can't be easily
dismissed or ignored because our work is serious.

In the coming months you'll see much more of this kind of reporting
-- the kind of journalism the corporate establishment press, with all of
its resources, chooses to ignore.

We're betting that people are smarter than the Big Media -- the Old
Media -- suspect. We're betting that people will recognize quality,
integrity, honesty and courage.

There's a lot of jealousy out there. There are many companies out to
make a quick buck on the Internet. That's not us. We will continue to do
what we have done for the last three years with this service. And we
hope -- for the sake of people like LoBaido, the Hmong and others
sacrificing quietly and anonymously -- that you appreciate it.

LoBaido's "Apocalypse Now" series:

The great betrayal

Killing Fields, mines and martyrs

Fear and loathing in Vietnam

Apocalypse Now for the Hmong