Word: smokescreen
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...junta blames former colonial power France for the shooting, a time-honored way to distract attention and temporarily mend internal strife. Keeping up a smokescreen about Camara's condition also buys time. If Konate can command enough respect from the various factions to hold the military together, then he may emerge as the new leader. Crisis Group, a Brussels-based watchdog that closely follows the situation in Guinea, believes that's a real possibility. But Guinea's opposition is skeptical of his chances. "Right now, there is no government in Guinea," says a prominent politician by telephone from Conakry. "There...
Much of the world was shocked and titillated by news of alleged fat-stealing murderers in the Peruvian jungle. But the story may have a much more sinister underbelly. Could the allegation of homicidal liposuction possibly be a smokescreen to distract attention from other crimes, including, some local journalists say, the existence of a death squad that may be operating within the country's national police...
Carlos Basombrio, who served as a Deputy Interior Minister mid-decade, speculated that the fat-stealing episode could actually be a smokescreen cooked up in the Interior Ministry to steer attention away from the explosive Trujillo case. Spokespeople in Salazar's office said the minister could not comment on the pishtaco case because it was part of a police investigation. However, they added that all the talk in the media about a cover-up fed into a political climate heating up with the approach of the 2010 local elections. Still, one of Salazar's predecessors, Fernando Rospigliosi, called the pishtaco...
...America Foundation, gave little weight to the announcement, saying that the policy has essentially been in place since early this year. An opponent of medical-marijuana laws, she said the policy may provide "free rein" to prosecutors previously unsure of whether those who used medical-marijuana laws as a smokescreen for trafficking should be prosecuted, which she would support...
...later added, “The sheriff’s department is pulling up a smokescreen. They were caught with their britches down and now they are trying to cover it up by turning the blame on Kennaugh and Amadio...