Page 148 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

138 Chapter 6

Bush administration has authorized controversial interrogation tactics and
skirted its responsibility for upholding the Geneva Conventions when it comes
to prisoners detained in times of war.
The Bush administration's labeling of its detainees in the "War on Terror"
as "enemy combatants" rather than prisoners of war (an attempt to circumvent
the protections of the Geneva Conventions afforded to POWs), the Justice De-
partment's 2002 advisement to the White House that the torture of suspected A1
Qaeda members "may be justifiable" under certain circumstances, as well as the
Bush administration's slow reaction to reports that Iraqi prisoners were system-
atically abused by U.S. officers all raise serious questions about the scope of
U.S. human rights abuses in the "War on error."'^ Helen Thomas, a senior
journalist in the White House Press Corps, was one of the few reporters in the
mainstream to point out what she considered to be unfounded attacks on News-
week: "There's a sense of hypocrisy that pervades the huffing and puffing by the
Bush administration officials as they rush to criticize Newsweek. Where was
their outrage when they saw the photographs of the shameful mistreatment of
the prisoners of war at the Abu Ghraib facility, with forced nudity, humiliation,
sexual harassment, brutal interrogation, dogs?"21 Thomas7 skepticism was lev-
eled at a time when official reports confirmed U.S. responsibility for human
rights violations of those held in Iraq under the U.S. A report filed by U.S. Ma-
jor General Antonio M. Taguba charged that between October and December of
2003, there were acts of "sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" comrnit-
ted against detainees of Abu ~hraib."

Chronicling the Assault on Dissent

George W. Bush was not happy during the April 2006 White House Press Cor-
respondents Dinner. Bush had come into the dinner-filled with 2,700 atten-
dees, including noted celebrities, political officials, and White House Press re-
porters-with his own assumptions about the legitimate bounds of criticism of
his Presidency. At the event Bush joked about his own personal difficulties with
the English language, and even had a look alike (Steve Bridges) come on stage
to play his "inner monologue," as the actor mildly poked fun at the President.
What Bush, and most White House reporters were not prepared for, however,
were the serious criticisms that were laid at their feet by Comedy Central come-
dian and host Stephen Colbert. Along with Daily Show host John Stewart, Col-
bert was well known as a caustic critic of the Bush administration, the war in
Iraq, and the general state of corporate media reporting in the U.S. today. His
appearance at the Correspondents dinner offered more of the same in terms of
his biting humor and not-so-veiled criticisms and hostility directed against the
White House and the mainstream media.
Throughout his keynote speech, Colbert mocked the Bush administration
for its low public approval ratings, authorization of NSA wiretaps, failure to find
Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, and the general deterioration of social
order in Iraq. Mockingly, Colbert spoke approvingly of the belief that "the gov-