Media should stop bashing America: Newsday

[jbfam4]

PRISON ABUSE SCANDAL

Media should stop bashing America
News coverage placing undue emphasis on Abu Ghraib hurts the U.S. war effort


http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpjun263819035may26,0,2929761,print.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines

BY ESTHER JUNGREIS
Esther Jungreis is president and founder of Hineni, an international outreach organization. She is the author of "The Committed Marriage" and a commentator for NBC News.

May 26, 2004


How, you might ask, could a responsible media in time of war publish those photographs, knowing full well that such publicity could jeopardize the entire war effort as well as the lives of innocent people? And more, how can responsible leaders of the American government, like Sen. Edward Kennedy, make the most obscene analogies, comparing the unmitigated evil perpetrated by Saddam Hussein to our valorous American troops?


That much of the world is jealous of America and enjoys defaming our great republic and our democratic way of life is to be expected, but why should our own people turn against their own country?

Well, for one, it is an election year, and those who want to see George W. Bush defeated will stop at nothing. As for the media, they'll do anything to improve ratings and to sell papers. But America is the only force in the world that combats terrorism. If the U.S. Army is emasculated, if our president and secretary of defense are denigrated and compared to Hussein, then we will indeed create a global vacuum and the bin Ladens will take over.

If we don't put a stop to this America bashing, the only power ruling the world will be terrorism and the bin Ladens will have a heyday. Think for a moment: Is there any country in the world - any nation other than America - that is prepared to take on the battle against global terrorism?

These savage terrorists succeeded in overturning the government in Spain. The question is, Will we allow them to succeed in the United States as well? This is a time for all those who believe in America, who cherish freedom and democracy, to rally around our armed forces, our government and our flag.

[Richardo]

1. NOW I remember what I had for dinner last night...

:puke:

[enki23]

2. what the f**k is this tripe, and why did you bother posting it?

.

[jbfam4]

5. write to the editor

[email protected] I was hoping people would be as upset as I was when I read this and flood Newsday with letters to the editor.

There are a lot of good people on DU who get involved when articles like this appear.....please be one of them.

[myopic4141]

10. I sent this to newsday

Apparently, Esther Jungreis is a believer in moral relativism. That we should not criticize or take the leaders of our government to task because the sins committed in our names are the lesser of two evils in a war designated by Bush as good vs evil. It is not the emphasis on what happened at Abu Ghraib that is hurting America in the war effort, it is the event itself. The event happened and what happened is against all that America stands for. As more and more information comes out, the actions are not just those of a few; but, seen to permeate through out the intelligence gathering sector of the military and that such actions were sanctioned by those high in the command chain. This is the result of an attitude which permeates the top echelons of government, namely that the end justifies the means and damn the peripheral consequences of those means. Our leaders are responsible for such an attitude and individuals such as Esther Jungreis only aid and abet in our leaders destroying all vestiges of moral authority this nation stood for. What Esther Jungreis fails to understand is that our leadership and individuals such as herself are the reason America is losing the war, not the taking to task of these leaders by the media or anyone else.

[jbfam4]

12. excellent letter

Hope to see it in the paper tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully, there will be a lot of people who respond to Ester's article.

[myopic4141]

13. Thank you.

I hope it gets printed as well. The more who respond the merrier even if they do not live in the area which I do not.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. How Dare We...

Question Dear Leader?

Shut your piehole, Esther.

[Fenris]

4. Oh, finally, an original sentiment!

Some, if not all, of what this woman writes is borderline obscene, and reads like something you would see in editorials in the 1950s.

That much of the world is jealous of America and enjoys defaming our great republic and our democratic way of life is to be expected, but why should our own people turn against their own country?

Is the rest of the world jealous, or is America arrogant?

Surely, these media people and politicians realized that it is an obscene travesty to compare what occurred in Abu Ghraib to the horrific evils perpetrated during Hussein's despotic regime. The inmates at Abu Ghraib are not Boy Scouts. They are not innocent civilians, but include vicious killers who made a career out of torture. This is not to say that there is any justification for what transpired at Abu Ghraib, but at the same time, let us not forget that we are at war and those Abu Ghraib prisoners are a threat to the civilized world.

Prove it. In fact, I defy her to prove anything she just said.

These savage terrorists succeeded in overturning the government in Spain. The question is, Will we allow them to succeed in the United States as well? This is a time for all those who believe in America, who cherish freedom and democracy, to rally around our armed forces, our government and our flag.

Utter nonsense. This woman has just made an argument against democracy. "If you believe in freedom and democracy, don't try to change anything. If you do, the terrorists win."


This, by the way, is Esther Jungreis.

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. "... overturning the government in Spain."

It's called an 'election', shithead.

We used to have them in this country too, if I recall correctly.

[Journeyman]

7. I saw on television last night. . .

that CDs of the prison attrocities are being sold for 50 cents each in the markets of Iraq. From whom does Newsday wish to keep these images secret? I expect they'll be splashed all over the web within a fortnight.

[CJCRANE]

8. Pseudo-patriotic drivel.

"The terrorists" aren't a tribe of people like the Orcs in Mordor that can be wiped out.

Attacking people (particularly pre-emptive attacks, collective punishment, collateral damage) creates terrorism, it doesn't diminish it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. A polite version of Rush Limbaugh

and with just as big an ego, if her website for "Hineni, an international outreach organization" is anything to go by, on which she tells you how to be a good Jew. Modesty does not appear to come into it, judging by the number of pictures of her, and the self-promotion.

[writekid]

11. the founding fathers' response

i can just imagine the founding fathers standing at the docks during the boston tea party saying, "hey guys, if you dump that tea, you're really gonna mess things up for the king."

[Soup Bean]

14. Deutschland Uber Alles

They hate us for our freedoms.

[KG]

15. wow - is newday now in the business of printing high school level essays?

what adolescent tripe.

[struggle4progress]

16. She can't tell the difference ...

between telling the truth in a free country and bashing the country?