-Caveat Lector- http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=65014&d=7&m=6&y=2005
Shooting the Messenger Linda Heard On this weird topsy-turvy planet, truth is not only a disappearing commodity, individuals and news outlets are not only being condemned for telling it, they are also being forced to make apologies. On the other hand, veracity evaders get pats on the back. In this case, shouldnt we revise old ways and set up mendacity schools to enable our children to perfect the techniques of misinformation, dissemination, spin and spiel as required career-launching assets? Currently in for a beating is Amnesty International, which dared to call Guantanamo the gulag of our times and condemns the US for running an archipelago of secret prisons. But according to the Bush administration, which has often quoted Amnestys reports when they have focused on the perceived transgressions of its foes, Amnestys latest accusations are absurd, offensive and reprehensible. Rushing to the administrations defense over and above the usual propagandist suspects is the Washington Times. Its June 6 commentary titled Amnesty Astray makes no mention of more than 500 men being detained indefinitely without charge in Cuba, let alone the US administrations policy of rendering whereby prisoners are being deliberately flown to torture-friendly countries. Further, the paper ignores the horrendous physical and sexual abuses at Abu Ghraib, prisoner deaths at Bagram along with ghost jets, whose tail plates have been linked to the CIA and which carry ghost prisoners to ghost facilities. Ghost prisoners have had their identities and locations withheld from relatives, the International Red Cross and even Congress, reported US human rights lawyers attached to the Center for Constitutional Rights. So those whose ire has risen over the term gulag should perhaps think again. The scale may not be the same but the principle certainly is. But the writer of the Washington Times column Michael OHanlon, who says he is a former Amnesty activist, is in no mood to investigate, analyze or process the resultant evidence. As far as hes concerned, Amnestys accusations are false because on the merits, they are wrong (no whys or wherefores) and they foster unwarranted anger against the United States and its friends and allies that is, they risk aiding jihadism. What OHanlon seems to be advocating here is the burial of truth to ward off anger against his country when surely his patriotic duty is not to emulate the three wise monkeys but rather to work on exposing documented wrongs, surely the best diffuser of spiraling anti-American sentiment? A victim of the exact same warped thinking was Newsweek, which published the Quran abuse story. A formerly respected publication, it morphed into an inciting rag almost overnight even though there have been numerous reports of similar desecrations from various human rights organizations and more than 20 direct from the mouths of released detainees. When White House spokesman Scott McClellan blamed Newsweek for the Afghan riots and the ensuing deaths, its editor retracted the story, deemed appalling by the State Department. But that wasnt enough. George Bush wanted his pound of flesh and urged the publications editor to do more to foster his administrations reputation throughout the Muslim world. In other words, Newsweek should change its name to Pentagon PR. Then much to Bushs embarrassment out pop the results of a military investigation citing various Quran desecrations, which when added to NGO and detainee reports make Newsweeks findings, albeit based on a single source, a lot more credible. Newsweeks credibility is in tatters, however, following its obscene willingness to keel over at the first sign of pressure from the White House. Judging by the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conferences insistence that desecrators of the Quran must be punished, the Muslim world is not impressed. To be fair, Newsweek isnt alone in this. Britains BBC turned out to be just as willing to hang Mark Gilligan the reporter on its Today program who said the government probably knew it was wrong to claim Iraqs weapons of mass destruction could be deployed within 45 minutes. Gilligan was fired along with the corporations popular director-general. Given there were no WMD and today it is generally conceded that the British governments Iraq dossiers were full of exaggerations and deliberate omissions then who was right and who was wrong? Yet another victim of veracity was CNNs Eason Jordan, who was given a swift booting after he claimed the US has deliberately targeted journalists in Iraq. Yet several journalists, including veteran BBC reporter Kate Adie, have suggested as much, while the Paris-based Reporters without Borders went as far as to petitition the International Humanitarian Fact-finding Commission to launch an investigation. A climate of shoot the messenger within the US is evidenced by the current debate over Mark Felt or Deep Throat, the former FBI employee who blew the whistle on Richard Nixons nefarious goings on. Is he a hero or a traitor is the question de jour in the US media? Surely, there shouldnt even be such a debate given Nixons corrupt presidency. A letter penned by Richard D. Curtis published on the June 2 readers page of the Los Angeles Times perfectly sums this up: I am amazed at the discussion as to whether Mark Felt is a hero or a traitor. To me it comes down to: Should he be loyal to a crooked administration or loyal to his country? Many complain about the method he used to expose this mess. It seems it was the only avenue open to him, as direct confrontation with the administration could have been dangerous to him. These people were capable of anything to protect themselves...We can only hope that there are other Mark Felts in the current administration who would expose all the secretive dealings... Call me a naive old-fogy if you will, but even if exposure of the truth has unpleasant consequences in some cases, without it we are doomed to a world where hypocrites rule and where the end justifies the means, however ugly and brutal the means employed might be. The defense of truth is a moral imperative of which journalists and their editors should be the gatekeepers, not the undertakers as is so often happening today. Sadly, those of their readers and viewers who believe silence is a manifestation of patriotism are complicit in the nurturing of a culture of denial. And one only has to re-read last centurys history books to know where that road can ultimately lead. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=65014&d=7&m=6&y=2005 www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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