Page 210 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

200 Chapter 8

who assaulted the women in the presence of American soldiers. One Iraqi jour-
nalist for Al Jazeera was arrested while filming in Samarra, and charged with
assisting resistance forces against the U.S. This reporter recaps his treatment
under detainment:

I was constantly beaten and subjected to different kinds of torture. I was taken
to the military base near Baghdad International Airport, where I stayed for two
days with my head covered by a plastic hood. Often soldiers would put their
guns to my head and threatened to shoot me. I was in constant pain from the
frequent blows I received to my body and from having head knocked against
the walls. Finally I ended up in Abu Ghraib, where I was subjected to similar
experiences, which have now been seen by the world.99
Other attacks on prisoners uncovered in one military report of U.S. transgres-
sions includes the breaking of chemical lights on, and the use of phosphorous
liquid on prisoners, the beating of detainees with broom handles and chairs,
promises from soldiers to rape detainees, and the use of chemical lights to sod-
omize terrorist or "insurgent" suspects.'00
In releasing the 2005 State Department's report on Iraqi human rights, the
New York Times cited "torture, rape, and illegal detentions by [Iraqi] police offi-
cers" as well as the "arbitrary deprivation of life, torture, impunity, [and] poor
prison conditions" as an integral part of the practices of Iraqi police and security
force^.'^' Citing a Human Rights Watch report, the paper highlighted the prac-
tices of police officers in Baghdad who "were systematically raping and tortur-
ing female detainees."'02 Such reporting from the corporate press shows that
American infringements upon Iraqi human rights have been an extensive focus
of American reporting. However, the extraordinary level of documentation of
systematic U.S. human rights abuses against Iraqis has not led American report-
ers and editors to question dogmatic claims that the U.S. remains uncondition-
ally committed to democracy and security promotion in Iraq.
To argue that Iraqi and American use of torture has not been reported in the
mainstream press would be inaccurate. After all, it was the corporate press that
did break the Abu Ghraib story, and granted it extensive coverage, even if a fo-
cus on U.S. atrocities was prolonged due to military pressure and concerns with
appearing too critical of government during times of war. However, the practice
of reporting torture and abuse of prisoners has not led media outlets to rethink
their schizophrenic commitment to claiming U.S. devotion to human rights on
one hand, and explicit admissions of U.S. violations of those rights on the other.
Conversely, Progressive-Left media sources have taken the revelations of torture
as evidence that the U.S. is hurting democratic prospects in Iraq, rather than
furthering them. The editors of the Nation magazine attacked the official an-
nouncement of good intentions in Iraq as follows: "Given that the war in Iraq is,
in part, a war of images, the Abu Ghraib scandal represents a profound and per-
haps irreversible defeat for the United States. Can any Iraqi now be expected to
believe US intentions are good? A more insulting, inflammatory message to the
world's Muslims and Arabs-and a more effective recruiting tool for groups
like A1 Qaeda-can scarcely be imagined."lo3 Similarly, Bob Wing argued in the