WAR OF IMAGES

RAGE IS THE RESPONSE

IS KOPPEL AMONG YOUR “FALLEN?”

There is an INTENSE war of images underway. In America, it swirled briefly around Nightline’s decision to show the pictures of, and read the names, of dead US military members last Friday night. In Iraq and throughout the world, other images are making people furious — those photos documenting the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.

DETERMINING RESPONSIBILITY

For the full story, read this week’s New Yorker account by Seymour Hersh, the man who helped expose Vietnam’s My Lai Massacre. As usual, his account is impeccably reported. It concludes that there is going to be some hell to pay:

“As the photographs from Abu Ghraib make clear, these detentions have had enormous consequences: for the imprisoned civilian Iraqis, many of whom had nothing to do with the growing insurgency; for the integrity of the Army; and for the United States’ reputation in the world.”

“Captain Robert Shuck, Frederick’s military attorney, closed his defense at the Article 32 hearing last month by saying that the Army was ‘attempting to have these six soldiers atone for its sins.’ Similarly, Gary Myers, Frederick’s civilian attorney, told me that he would argue at the court-martial that culpability in the case extended far beyond his client. ‘I’m going to drag every involved intelligence officer and civilian contractor I can find into court,’ he said. ‘Do you really believe the Army relieved a general officer because of six soldiers? Not a chance?’”

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040510fa_fact

General Richard Myers was on BBC this morning denying suggestions of systematic human rights abuses in US run prisons in Iraq and at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Cuba. “We don’t torture,” he said. The New York Times reports: “An internal Army investigation found a virtual collapse of the command structure in a prison outside Baghdad.” Amnesty International had called for an investigation into this prison LAST YEAR. Where were our trusty media correspondents? On July 23, 2003, Amnesty International published an Iraq Memorandum warning of “allegations of torture or ill-treatment” for those in US detention, including at Abu Ghraib. They stated then “the organization has received a number of reports of torture or ill-treatment by Coalition Forces not confined to criminal suspects.” Note the date again: July 23, 2003!

WHY THE PICTURES?

Tom Englehardt writes on Tomdispatch.com: “The Bush administration will undoubtedly opt to deal with the photographed acts at Abu Ghraib as isolated incidents, but they were simply the ones where the participants felt so sure of themselves, so cloistered from any sense of possible retribution, that they evidently wanted snapshots, souvenirs to remember it all by. This is, however, part of a developing system, a global Bermuda Triangle of injustice and such acts, or their equivalents, are likely to turn out to be ‘routine’ elsewhere as well.”

We must, for instance, now return to the wildest of the tales of abuse told by British prisoners recently released from Guantanamo with a new respect for their possible validity. (And here’s a little indication of where we’re headed: Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who ran our offshore prison system in Guantanamo, has only recently been reassigned to ‘overhaul’ our sprawling detention system in Iraq.)

THE IRAQI RESPONSE: RAGE

Tom praises Iraq expert Juan Cole for his assessment of this war of images. Cole writes on JuanCole.com

“The graphic photos of abused Iraqi prisoners released on CBS’s 60 Minutes II news show on April 28 have been reproduced as stills and transmitted all over the internet, showing up, as well, on Arab satellite television and in the Arabic press. The footage shows US military personnel forcing nude Iraqi prisoners to simulate sex acts. In others they are made to form a human pyramid. One photo now circulating shows a man badly beaten. Another shows a corpse. Sexual humiliation may be the least of the indignities inflicted on some of the prisoners.”

“Several of the scenes show an American woman in uniform, gesturing lewdly and prancing before the hooded, nude Iraqi prisoners. One wonders if she is playing out her insecurities as a woman in the U.S. Army, looked down on by some of her male colleagues, by lording it over Iraqi prisoners of war. Was she compensating by playing dominatrix to Muslim men she imagined to be the ultimate male chauvinists? Although the main purpose of the abuse was to soften up the prisoners for interrogation, the precise forms of humiliation appear to have been shaped by the insecurities and prejudices of the reservists, who had been given no training in the Geneva Conventions. The reaction to the photographs in the Arab world was, predictably, fury and humiliation?”

SAMPLE THE REACTION

Here’s the flavor of some of the response. Arwa Mahmoud of IslamOnline: “As an Arab Muslim, watching and hearing news on what went on in Palestine and Iraq had gotten to a nauseating point with me. There had been too much repetition, too much unintelligent jargon, and too much vulgarity for even devout Middle East addict to take. My and many others’ intelligence gets insulted everyday with not much done about it. God forbid I should forget that those who insult are the ‘mighty’ ones with the black suits and the fancy ties, the ones with their sophisticated toys, ready to knock the hell out of anyone who misbehaves.”

Our friend Riverbend, the Baghdad ‘girl’ blogger is her usual eloquent self, but also in a rage: “The pictures are horrific. I felt a multitude of things as I saw them…the most prominent feeling was rage, of course. I had this incredible desire to break something- like that would make things somehow better or ease the anger and humiliation. We’ve been hearing terrible stories about Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad for a while now, but those pictures somehow spoke like no words could….All anyone can talk about today are those pictures?”

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Bear in mind that US strategy has for the most part sought to sanitize what Americans saw and knew about the war. Commentator Charley Reese explains why:

“?the Bush administration doesn’t want you to see the bodies — not the bodies of our men and women, and not the bodies of Iraqi men, women and children. The administration wants you to see the war as an electronic game with bright lights in the distance and good sound effects, or close-ups of our brave warriors firing their guns at an invisible enemy. It doesn’t want you to see the torn flesh, blood, intestines, feces, urine. If you did, you might not support the war, and billions of dollars depend on your support?”

http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese67.html

TED KOPPEL JOINS THE FALLEN

After he finished reading the names of the Fallen, ABC’s Ted Koppel reported there were fresh corpses to add to the list. His Nightline program focussing on the names and images, (where they existed) of 721 deceased American service men and women stirred controversy.

Thousands and thousands of Mediachannel readers came to Nightline’s support last Friday demanding that Sinclair Broadcasting-owned ABC affiliates run it. Only one of eight did because the company accused Koppel of doing the show for political reasons, a charge that Nightline denied. The Emails from Media for Democracy members were part of a national campaign in which MoveOn.org and other groups joined.

The program was moving. How could it not be, but to me Ted is now among “the fallen” — fallen in my esteem, at least, because of his waffling on the one hand, on the other conclusion at the end of the show

Ted Koppel doesn’t like to have his patriotism questioned or any suggestion offered that he is against the war. In an afterthought to the reading of the names, he made clear he does not oppose the war. (Anyone who watched his Embed reporting from Iraq already knew that). Koppel said the goal was to “elevate the fallen above the politics and the daily journalism.”

Interesting isn’t it, how cautious he is and how anxious to depoliticize a war which is, of course, political in the sense that war is now and always was politics by other means? As often is the case, Koppel only rides his horse down the middle of the road.

TALKING WITH TED

CNN’s Anderson Cooper spoke with him about the program. He seemed oblivious about the debate swirling around it:

COOPER: Lisa de Moraes, the TV columnist of “The Washington Post,” I was actually most surprised by what she wrote. She basically said, “It is a cheap, content-free stunt designed to tug at our heartstrings and bag a big number on the second night of the May ratings race.”

KOPPEL: Yeah. Well, as, you know, I — I have to confess that when it comes to thinking of all the things we could have done to bag a huge rating on the second night of sweeps, I have to admit, I’m not proud of this, that I didn’t realize the May sweeps began in April. So I didn’t even know…

THE RIGHT PILES ON

In the rightwing fog machine, critics snapped, what about the dead in Afghanistan, the men and women who died earlier in Iraq, the 911 victims, those that died in earlier wars, etc etc and so forth.

The Associated Press reported: “Sinclair Broadcast Group, a Maryland-based media company whose holdings include 62 TV stations, told its eight ABC affiliates not to air the program, which prompted criticism from some families of war dead and Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, a veteran.”

“‘There is no valid reason for Sinclair to shirk its responsibility in what I assume is a very misguided attempt to prevent your viewers from completely appreciating the extraordinary sacrifices made on their behalf by Americans serving in Iraq,’ the Arizona Republican said in the letter Friday.”

“Instead of ‘Nightline,’ seven of the Sinclair stations aired a 30-minute program where viewers could call in and have their opinions heard about Sinclair’s decision.”

SUPPORT FROM THE FAMILIES

Local newspapers like the Home News Tribune reported that: “Central New Jersey servicemen and their relatives yesterday applauded Ted Koppel’s plan to read the names of all soldiers killed in Iraq during his ABC ‘Nightline’ broadcast last night.”

One resident was quoted as saying: “Niederer, who lives in Pennington, said those who have criticized the ‘Nightline’ episode, ‘The Fallen,’ are ignorant people who have blinders on and who are ‘not facing the reality of what’s really going on the lives of the families of the deceased.’”

She said her 25-year-old daughter-in-law, Kelly Harris Dvorin, is doing terrible. “Her world has been shattered,” she said.

INVESTIGATE SINCLAIR, SENATOR DEMANDS

In Minnesota, the Star Tribune reported that “Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., called on federal regulators Friday to investigate whether one of the nation’s largest owners of television stations, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., unfairly denied the public access to ABC’s ‘Nightline’ program.”

Aaron Barnhart of TV Barn wrote: “I watched and listened. I noted, in particular, the ages of many of “The Fallen” — teens and twentysomethings, mostly. I noted the unusual — two casualties named Bush, one named Uday, the almost complete absence of paid advertising during the commercial breaks?”

“I noted the irony, probably intended, of ‘Nightline’ using a shot of flag-draped coffins as placeholders for the dead who had no photos — the same flag-draped coffins that were the heart of the last media dustup before this one.”

Muck is also being raked about our friends at Sinclair. This just in:

http://www.atrios.blogspot.com/2004_04_25_atrios_archive.html#108335351404593578

“Head of Sinclair Broadcasting Arrested on Sex Offense in 1996 — (”Republican Values” [Republican Hypocrisy] from BuzzFlash)”

YOUR LETTERS: THOSE PHOTOS

David Traynier writes from the UK: “I’m sure you’re aware for the furor over pictures of alleged crimes committed by both US and UK forces (the latter now being disputed in the British press as fakes). However, others are now coming to light that I don’t think the mainstream are covering. Several have been submitted to this site (http://www.albasrah.net/images/iraqi-pow/iraqi-pow) which (seem to) show at least two Iraqi women being violently raped. I think attention should be drawn to them if it has not already been.”

DS: WARNING: Apparently some porn site with staged explicit sexual acts is getting into the act as well and being taken seriously in some quarters. I will spare you the link.

Amnesty is charging a deeper pattern of abuse. Brutality reports are ALSO not new. Robert Fisk reported brutalities like this last January: ie:

“Eight young Iraqis arrested in Basra were kicked and assaulted by British soldiers, one of them so badly that he died in British custody, according to military and medical records seen by The Independent on Sunday.”

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_4626.shtml

SPINNING KOPPEL

D.A. Blyler an Author/Journalist, writes from Bangkok:

“Considering Bill O’Reilly’s recent comments regarding Ted Koppel, I thought you might find this letter of interest which I just forwarded him. It will be interesting to see if he responds to the letter on Monday’s show.”

“Dear Bill,”

“You often call on viewers to cite examples when they accuse you of spinning. Well, here is a recent example. This evening you publicly chastised Ted Koppel for not appearing on your program to explain his reading of the Americans killed in Iraq, while also implying that Mr Koppel was somehow being politically motivated by stating that he did appear on a far left radio program. What you failed to mention (as is your usual rhetorical tactic) that Koppel also appeared on Sean Hannity’s far right radio program and dismissed all the comments of your on-air guest as outright lies. Seems to me you were spinning against Koppel, in a very dishonest way, simply because he wouldn’t appear on your program. Please tell me and you viewers where I am wrong? (And please don’t blame it on shoddy research by your producers)”

REMEMBERING VIETNAM

“Read with great interest your history on the Viet Nam war. My life was changed by the war also. Joining the USMC at seventeen as a rebel with no desire for school by August 1965, I found myself in a place called Da Nang. I was assigned to a transportation company whose responsibility was to haul equipment and bodies to where the battles were raging. Our casualties were 40% by the time I rotated home.”

“The Tet offensive saw a change in policy, and my company was sent back.”

“By 1968, I saw the insanity of the war, having been exposed to anti war literature. This lead to fragging the gung-ho officers and fraternization with the so called enemy. If you do not shoot at me, I will not shoot at you.”

“As the snipers said ‘Every time we get to kill somebody, he is no longer shooting at the Marines,’ said Sgt. Dennis Elchlinger, 31, of Encampment, Wyo., who is one of only 500 scout-snipers in the Marine Corps.”

“The entire country has become the enemy. We have lost the war. Sun Tzu: the moral strength and intellectual faculty of man were decisive in war, and that if these were properly applied war could be waged with certain success. Peace…”

SOUTH AFRICA RESPONSES

Ed Devitt writes from Texas: “I’m glad that you enjoyed your trip to South Africa. I would like to say that all is well in Texas, but I’d be lying. I’ve been working with the Nader for President campaign in the Dallas area since its inception. We must be pissing someone off because in ONE WEEK: 93.3 The Bone ( a ClearChannel station) told their listeners that Nader dropped out of the race; a petitioner was almost arrested outside a courthouse because they petitioned and the COURT CLERK GAVE PERMISSION; we have been evicted from Community Colleges; four petitioners were given citations for petitioning; we have banned from most PUBLIC gatherings with threats of arrest; etc. Why in a state that the GOP has wrapped up anyway? Isn’t this OVERKILL? I would appreciate it if you could let people know just how bad it is down here, Texas isn’t any place for a free thinking individual! Please try to have a good day.”

Boaz Gosher writes about South Africa. It sounds like he is there.

“At long last you are seeing some light. Visit S.A. more regularly, talk with Zulus, Bapedis, Tswanas, Vendas etc. and you will begin to realise that things run very much along tribal lines, even in politics. Forget your romance with the liberation struggle and all your comrades in arms. The honeymoon is over. The true test is for the ANC to uplift ALL the peoples of S.A. One of the great tragedies of S.A. is that each successive govt. only gave real benefit and empowerment to their own tribes (the English for white English speakers, the Afrikaaners to white Afrikaaners and now the ANC for blacks, except you will probably notice the disproportionate number of Xhosas in powerful and influential positions).”

“How does Mbeki reconcile his R90,000,000 inauguration bash with eradication of poverty? Far more people have died or are suffering from AIDS since the ANC came to power compared to the ‘apartheid’ regime. Does this not beg some questions from the dissector? Whilst Mugabe’s antics drag the whole southern African region economically downwards (and starves his own people in the process), only one leader had the balls to speak out against him (Masire of Botswana). Most of these leaders have such huge chips on their shoulders, so they blame colonialism, apartheid, globalization etc. for all their ills.”

“Yes, there are some good things too, but its time that you called a spade a spade.” DS: A “spade a spade?” — I don’t like that formulation one bit, and your “Yes there are some good things” doesn’t suggest what they are, does it? Sounds gratuitous.

Moucci Tong writes: “I liken the team of Cheney and Bush to the inimitable team of Paul Winchell (renowned ventriloquist) and Jerry Mahoney (his wooden sidekick). As we all know, the dummy cannot speak without his master.”

“So how did the show in the Oval Room go? Well according to the news sources, the ‘dummy’ did most of the talking, and his master kept his mouth shut. Hmmm?I wonder, did they do the water trick? Have a good day and keep up the great Media Channel news!”

Larry Houghteling comments:

“I thought you’d be interested by this historical exercise by Billmon at the Whiskey Bar website:”

“Puppet Acts”

“The Bush administration’s plans for a new caretaker government in Iraq would place severe limits on its sovereignty, including only partial command over its armed forces and no authority to enact new laws, according to administration officials.”

New York Times “White House plans limits to Iraq sovereignty” April 24, 2004

“In 1932 Manchukuo was proclaimed an independent state. The last Qing emperor was brought out of retirement and made Manchukuo’s ruler, but the state was actually rigidly controlled by the Japanese, who used it as their base for expansion into Asia, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia ‘Manchukuo’”

David Brock, the conservative turned anti-conservative has a new website: “Media Matters for America, a new Web-based, not-for-profit progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. We will invite the site to join our network.

http://mediamatters.org/

THE NEW WEEK BEGINS

With familiar stories — more violence Israel’s occupied territories?I had my big shot on Saturday on the CBS Evening News, commenting on the Nightline controversy. Only had one letter — from someone looking for another Danny Schechter?Great turnout on Sunday for the relaunch of Greg Palast’s “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy” at a benefit for WBAI?my brief remarks were generously welcomed?.See Greg’s latest mind boggling article on the new voter fraud in this week’s NATION magazine?

The news just pours in. Please keep your items, opinions and info coming. Write dissector@mediachannel.org. If you like what we do, tell others and give them free subs to Mediachannel newsletters.