Page 129 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

Railing Iraqi Resistance 119

too has the U.S. been implicated in torturing and executing Iraqis, and in sup-
porting and training militias that, in targeting the "insurgents," have killed thou-
sands of innocent civilians. The lack of a consistently applied definition of terror
is evident within media framing. "Insurgents" are labeled terrorists when they
kill Iraqi civilians while targeting the U.S.; conversely, U.S. forces are not con-
sidered terrorists as they kill Iraqi civilians while targeting "insurgents."
The lack of ideological consistency in defining terror constitutes a signifi-
cant roadblock to an evenhanded discussion of the escalating violence in Iraq.
Classifymg those who resist occupation automatically as "terrorists" does not
deal with the underlying reality of what terror really is; rather, it blurs the differ-
ence between radical anti-Americanism and terrorism as seen in the actions of
groups like A1 Qaeda, and attacks directed primarily at the U.S. military, rather
than civilians. Clearly, a single standard for defining terror, regardless of who is
involved in targeting civilians, is needed when reviewing the activities of U.S.
forces and resistance groups.

A New Kind of Resistance Neglected

The extraordinary amount of commentary over Iraq's violent resistance groups
has also led to a massive imbalance between the reporting on different forms of
resistance to occupation. Scarcely has Iraq's mass anti-war movement been re-
ferred to as a nonviolent resistance in the American mass media. Nonviolent
resistance is not often referenced in mainstream reporting, at least not on par
with more sensational violent opposition to the U.S. All this, despite the fact that
tens of thousands of Iraqis have shunned violence in their protests of the Iraq
war and the American occupation. In cities like Najaf, Kufa, and Nasiriyah,
Iraqis joined together despite ethnic differences, Sunnis and Shiites together, to
protest the u.s.~* In support of Moqtada a1 Sadr, tens of thousands of Shiites
demonstrated in Baghdad demanding a specific timetable for withdrawal of coa-
lition troops, despite media claims that Sadr is not supported amongst many Shi-
ite~.~~
Nonviolent Iraqi resistance was antagonistic to American government ap-
pointees as well. Protests in cities such as Najaf opposed the interim government
of former Prime Minister Ayad ~llawi."~ Rather than supporting the "transfer
of power" under the interim Iraqi government established in 2004, Iraqis non-
violently demanded direct elections, a stipulation in which the Bush administra-
tion stridently opposed until Iraq's Shia revolt forced the administration to re-
cant.''' Anti-occupation demands were often inspired by religious leaders such
as Ali a1 Sistani, who issued a widely followed fatwa against the Bush admini-
stration's plans to handpick a new government rather than allowing for direct
elections of Iraq's political leaders. Iraq's growing labor movement has also
made claims of its own in favor of improving the conditions of Iraq's workers.
Working through the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions, various industrial unions
began to organize worker committees in numerous Baghdad factories in opposi-
tion to the repressive labor laws originally passed by Saddam Hussein, and later