- Just when I had firmly convinced myself that George W.
Bush is the most thoroughly worthless American alive, a friend brought
some information to my attention which not only challenged my belief but
has forced me to change my view altogether. It turns out that the most
worthless American alive may actually be a committee of people, the good
folks who run the news desk at ABC.
-
- My friend lives on the far side of the world, in Tasmania,
and he referred me to a website he had located and asked me a simple question
that was, more or less: "Is it just me, or do these people have no
sense of morals?" Well, Bernie, it isn't just you; and, yes, they
have no sense of morals.
-
- Like many of the United States-based news services, ABC
(which surely must stand for 'America's Best Crap') is running pictures
of the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners by America's best and brightest.
We have all heard by now of the shocking treatment of detainees in Iraq,
particularly at a place called Abu Ghraib. And we are comforted in knowing
that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has accepted full responsibility
for the actions of the American troops, even though we see that 'accepting
responsibility' is meaningless since it carries no consequences.
-
- Americans are forgetting all too easily their own outrage
over an incident that occurred at the beginning of the 2003 Iraq war. One
of their troops had been captured and was shown on Iraqi television in
handcuffs. This prompted cries of outrage from the American side about
violations of the Geneva Convention on prisoner treatment and anger arose
across America about one of their boys being shown on television as a prisoner.
All of that was promptly forgotten, however, when America decided that
televising the killing of Saddam Hussein's two sons might make for some
cool footage and when poking and prodding the man himself for a world-wide
audience prompted peals of glee from Rumsfeld about how "we got him".
[Never mind the fact that he was actually 'got' by the Kurds; no matter,
they don't mind the Yankees misappropriating the glory.]
-
- But now, the whole world is seeing not only how Americans
think nothing of the Geneva Convention on prisoner treatment, but how they
think nothing of basic human decency. It must be that same moral compass
that allows the U.S. to send troops, without any misgivings, anywhere in
the world that they feel the local population needs culling.
-
- There appears to be mixed feelings in the United States
about whether anyone should give a damn about the actions of their troops
in Iraq and whether all these photos and videos are horrible or just entertainment.
Some condemn them and call for legal retribution against the American troops
while others would just as surely pin medals on these brave young men and
women.
-
- Americans were rightly outraged by the slaying of Nicholas
Berg and while there are those who claim the videotape of his alleged decapitation
was a distracting staged event, possibly even orchestrated by the Americans
themselves, the fact remains Mr. Berg met a tragic end. Thinking people
everywhere should be saddened and horrified by his death, no matter how
it occurred or who actually perpetrated it, although it seems likely that
many Americans will canonize Mr. Berg while believing that all those bloody
Iraqis have gotten off far too lightly.
-
- But what got my friend's knickers in a knot about the
ABC news item was not the photos themselves; they are repulsive, but they
are no worse than what any other news outlet has been displaying for the
past couple of weeks. What made him, and me, see red was the warning that
accompanied the photos. The photos in question are, because of the disturbing
and sensitive nature of the photos, prefaced by a warning for viewers which
reads:
-
- "WARNING: The following graphic depictions include
nudity. Viewer discretion is advised."
- http://abcnews.go.com/sections/World/popoff/Politics/iraq_
prisoner_abuse_040503_ssframeset_1.html
-
- Let me quote directly from my friend's email message
to me because he says it as well or better than I would. He wrote that
he sees "something distinctly disturbing about a society that can
show pix of corpses being gloated over by pretty young army girls, of bloody
and battered bodies - the result of torture - and of human beings being
humiliated, abused and degraded ... and this to carry a warning that the
nudity may offend. (Particularly when said nudity is fuzzed out in the
pictures anyway.)
-
- Either that, or this is a way of subtly boosting the
humiliation of the Iraqi people - "only the sight of your bodies offends
us - not what's done to them".
-
- Or both.
-
- Bernie is right. It is a sick group that will find offense
in the sight of a naked body but none in the degradation and torture of
that body. The American media is careful to refer to the actions of their
troops in Iraq as 'abuse' rather than 'torture' although it only takes
a single digit IQ to know that if the prisoners were American and the troops
Iraqi, the U.S. would be screaming bloody murder.
-
- One would have to presume from the warning accompanying
these photos that ABC would have presented no warning at all to viewers
if the Iraqi prisoners had all been fully clothed. In other words, so long
as the prurient minds of the ABC news team warns people that they might
actually see a bare ass on the screen, then there is no need to warn anyone
about objects being shoved up that bare ass. Because either the ABC folks
are not offended by brutality perpetrated on non-Americans, or they know
the American people won't be.
-
- So, sorry, Mr. Bush, you have been dethroned as the most
worthless American alive; the ABC news team is even lower than you. I know
the decent thing would be for me to encourage you to keep a stiff upper
lip and try harder, but I have little doubt that you will regroup.
-
- _____
-
- *Paul Harris is self-employed as a consultant providing
businesses with the tools and expertise to reintegrate their sick or injured
employees into the workplace. He has traveled extensively in what is usually
known as "the Third World" and has an abiding interest in history,
social justice, morality and, well, just about everything. He lives in
Canada.
-
- Mr. Harris also writes for Yellow Times and covers DRC
for News From The Front. Members of the UN Global Security office have
also subscribed to it.
-
- Paul Harris encourages your comments: pharris@YellowTimes.org
-
- http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_8103.shtml
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