From: "Rich Gauszka" 


"Phil Payne"  wrote in
message news:442d3c58$1{at}w3....
>> I don't disagree that it's happening now or that it was one of the
>> propaganda items used to convince that this war was 'righteous'.. My post
>> was only meant as a reference that it happened in the past and that there
>> were 'embittered relatives'. I don't know if the current 'embittered
>> relatives' exceed the Saddam 'embittered relatives' yet.
>
> Not if the Marines have anything to do with it.  They kill the relatives
> as
> well.
>
>


http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=4313


The American 'Time' magazine had revealed recently the massacre of Iraqi
civilians at the hands of U.S Marines in Haditha, November 2005. This
crime, which follows many others, occurs daily in Iraq. However, what is
significant about this particular offense is the identity of the
perpetrators on one hand and those who revealed the crime to the public on
the other.
The magazine was thorough in the eyewitness statements that it published as
well as in its follow up of the case with human rights organizations. It
was careful in its details of an explosion that targeted an American
military patrol that left one American soldier dead and was followed by the
exchange of gunshots that caused the deaths of a number of Iraqi citizens.
A videotape showed the crime scene where bloodstains and the corpses of 15
Iraqis including women and children lay. The case is currently under
investigation in American courts. Responsible for the disclosing of the
case was an American magazine similar to the party responsible for
revealing the violations that took place in Abu Ghraib that were also
American.

Despite the regular objective criticism of the American media and its role
in the encouragement of American administration, as well as hiding the
truth of the Iraqi and Arab status quo, the American media has uncovered
many of the country's violations.

What is notable from the disclosure of the Haditha massacre is that the
video was taped by a student of journalism. As soon as I read the news, the
immediate question that came to mind was, "Why wasn't the tape
broadcasted by an Arab channel or published in an Arab newspaper?"

During the war in Afghanistan, the American magazine 'Newsweek' disclosed
that a number of pro-American Afghan militias had committed numerous crimes
by order of Afghan forces allied with the United States. These forces had
transported a number of Taliban and 'Al-Qaeda' captives through tunnels in
which many had suffocated and died. The British press has also exposed
violations of British soldiers in Iraq.

The examples above reflect the importance of reporting in the United States
and in other Western countries. The lack of this practice in Arab media is
a complete deficit. Media work entails absolute meticulousness in following
up eyewitness and victim accounts, sources of information, the comparing
between statements and the analyzing of pictures. These in addition to many
other details are missing from the process of the Arab media and do not
receive the concern and attention that it deserves.

When Time magazine revealed the crime of the Marines, it realized that
publishing this news could increase the number of revenge operations on
American soldiers, but this did not stop the publishing of the report. I
believe that the problem with Arab journalism besides lacking
professionalism is that we are captives of the ruling regimes and public
opinion that is never relentless with the violations are committed by
parties and movements that are meant to be key members of our society.

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5