As much as I like to criticize the media for being lazy – which they are – I should probably add a word or two in praise of having such an open, independent press in this country in the first place.
Such a declaration of the obvious seems hardly necessary – particularly in light of recent events and their constant reminder of how “our freedoms are what the evil-doers hate”.
And yet, it too often seems to be those freedoms precisely which are ironically enough under attack these days from the Bush Syncophants on the Hard Right Wing in the Blogosphere, on Talk Radio and elsewhere.
Instead of speaking out vociferously against the appalling treatment of Iraqi Prisoners, these Right Wingers have — all too predictably by now — chosen to use their time, incredibly, attacking CBS instead for having aired the story in the first place (after first holding the story for two weeks at the request of the Pentagon, I should add).
As this week’s Newsweek article including an interview with Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski (the commander who over-saw the guards at U.S. detention facilities in Iraq, including those at Saddam Hussein’s former torture center at Abu Ghurayb, where these photos were taken) reminds us, we are very lucky to have a free and independent media in this country to keep our Leaders in check. Especially when they are running so wildly adrift with dangerous and self-destructive American Policy.
It has been suggested, by at least this one Rightwing Blog (which ironically calls itself “The Blog of Truth”, I might add) that CBS should have informed the Administration of what they learned and then simply “shut up” in light of and apparently in support of current American Policies in Iraq. The Blog’s author claims not that CBS is biased — the usual tribal rallying cry — but more revealingly, that “they are neutral” and he finds that to be the problem.
But Karpinski’s own words underscore the need for the independence of a Free – and yes, “neutral” – Media willing to whistle-blow in service to our country – even with the possibility that such reporting may cause short-term damage to existing Administration policies.
Karpinski’s words, taken only at face value to be sure, since she is currently being held responsible by the Military, along with the soldiers who actually committed the alleged atrocities at Abu Ghurayb, once again underscore the reasons why such a Fourth Estate is so necessary in this country.
Taking her statements at face value, and there should be a paper trail from which to verify them, such behavior, when kept In-House, out of the Media and thus Public Opinion only allows that such behavior to continue unchecked. It was, of course, only after CBS went to the Pentagon with the pictures to prove the allegations, that the Pentagon seemingly and finally sprang into action. Since they had already presumably heard the warnings from Karpinski previously, it was only the threat of Public Disclosure that seems to have forced them to take action.
Of course, CBS could have warned the Pentagon about going public with these pictures, and then not done so after the Pentagon supposedly took appropriate action. But, as Dubya might say, a threat is only good if you follow through with it. If CBS hadn’t then released the pictures, after appropriately giving the Pentagon time to adquatelly respond, it would simply send the message to the Pentagon that they needn’t worry about being embarrased in such a way in the future. They’d have the Media in their pocket, which seems to be precisely what the Extreme Right Wing is calling for.
If the Right hopes to remain anywhere within the American Mainstream after all of this nonsense eases up, they would be wise to re-examine their own self-proclaimed set of “American Values” as they continue to perpetrate reprehensible attacks on the Messenger instead of the Message.
Such behavior surely points up the weakness inherent in their own current positions, but that point must be lost on them, as they continue the same drum beat with every bit of media disclosure that they simply don’t care for.
If they continue to avoid such sage advice however, hopefully they will soon find themselves relegated to the same extreme margins of American Public Policy where they — mistakenly — assume American Liberals with Real Patriotic Values currently reside.
Proceed at your own peril, boys.
moral relativism rears it’s ugly head again.
thanks, brad, for bringing to the light of day stories that would otherwise be buried under the avalanche of partisanship. the political attack machine of the conservatives is trying to reframe the debate and turn it into a liberal media problem, instead of addressing a larger and far more disturbing question:
who are these people? they are Americans, yet they gleefully tortured and sexually abused other humans in their charge.
we expect that behavior from other countries — it’s disgusting, of course, but i wasn’t surprised to hear how Saddam Hussein’s regime treated their prisoners. are we no better?
apparently not. we are only as good as the weakest among us. seems to me that some self-examination is in order. how is it that we, the nation that loudly prides itself on fairness, find ourselves in this place…?
because the actions of a few Americans reflect on us all.
how old are these soldiers, where are they from? why did these acts of torture even occur to them in the first place? why did no witnesses speak up to stop the abuse, or offer assistance? why has nothing been done until the media forced the issue? what does this say about us and how we raise our children – the ones who will become our soldiers, our "ambassadors on the ground" overseas?
yes, this is hopefully an isolated incident and not the tip of an iceberg of widespread abuses.
but the fact remains that it did happen, and this kind of abuse doesn’t just spontaneously erupt. it comes from somewhere.