They hate us for our rape rooms.

[pinto]

http://www.juancole.com/

It is remarkable how the US press allows themselves to be manipulated by the government. When the Abu Ghuraib story broke, Bush just issued a statement that he was disgusted, taking no responsibility. The headlines the next day? "Bush Disgusted by Photos." The proper headline would have been "Permanent Damage to US Image in Muslim World; Bush Fires No One."

I have also been struck by the absence of any Arab or Muslim voice on all this on American television news. The only talking heads who have been allowed to speak have been Americans, most of them conservative Americans. The story broke on CBS Wednesday night. With three 24-hour cable news channels, that equals something like 250 hours of news programming. I haven't seen it all, but if an Arab voice hasn't been excluded altogether, it has certainly been miniscule. Why does Wolf Blitzer hear from US senators and military men about this, but doesn't invite on any Arab commentator? (He did have on Jalal Talabani, a pro-American Kurdish leader). Wouldn't the reaction of Adnan Pachachi or Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, some Iraqi politician in Iraq (put in such power as they have by the US) be worth hearing? Or how about an ambassador from an Arab state? Some reaction from the Arab street? What is it about the American system that so often degrades television cable news into propaganda and baby-sitting, and makes it an Iron Curtain rather than a window on the world? (I know that by now Gramscian hegemony is a hackneyed concept, but can anything else really explain this extraordinary situation?)

Of course I exempt from this rant a handful of highly professional news anchors on US television.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International now has a report out claiming that the torture at Abu Ghuraib was systemic and not an isolated incident.
posted by Juan Cole at 5/2/2004 05:37:14 PM

[Sandpiper]

1. Bushco and the top military brass

Are in full plausible deniability mode. Their biggest concern isn't with bringing the war criminals to justice, but rather, finding out who spilled the beans and made them look bad.

[Political_Junkie]

2. Sickening isn't it?

The press should be all over this story, tearing it up, but instead they just say, Well, the president doesn't approve of it so I guess that settles it.

[FreakinDJ]

3. Cheney's Office of Special Plans must be working overtime

Phoning all the lead editors demanding they scrub the media of negative reports stemming from this mess.

Does anyone know if the phone records of this office come under the freedom of information act

[PurityOfEssence]

4. They hate us because we kill their children

and steal their resources...and bring missionaries to their door at times of great suffering...and won't fix their electricity...and poison them with depleted uranium...and support uppity women...and lie about everything.

They hate us because we think we can paternally save them from their primitiviness, when we've never bothered to even assess their culture.

We tell them they're inferior, help Saddam crush them under his heel, and then invade when we see fit.

They hate us 'cuz we suck.