Page 239 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

Catapult the Media 229

military checkpoints," commenting on the mindset that frames the deaths of
Iraqis as "collateral damage" and the death of American and British civilians as
acts of terrori~rn.~'
Fisk also believes that American behavior at Abu Ghraib is related to the
backlash against the U.S.: "Whatever moral stature the United States could
claim at the end of its invasion of Iraq has long ago been squandered in the tor-
ture and abuse and deaths at Abu Ghraib. . . the trail of prisons that now lies
across Iraq is a shameful symbol not only of our cruelty but of our failure to
create the circumstances in which a new Iraq might take shape. . . when this
military sickness is allowed to spread, the whole purpose of democracy is over-
The Iraqi people seem to agree, as an Associated Press poll conducted
after the Abu Ghraib revelations portrays the Iraqi population as not only ex-
tremely hostile to occupation by American and British forces, but interpreting
national dignity as requiring the killing of American soldiers.59
Aside from Robert Fisk and Patrick Cockburn, another prominent anti-war
critic in the British press is Guardian contributor Tariq Ali. A writer of fiction
and nonfiction covering the Arab World, Ali has criticized U.S. foreign policy
as imperialist and neocolonial in nature. Like Patrick Cockburn, Ali attributes
the growing resistance in Iraq to the U.S. occupation. In his piece, "Resistance is
the First Step Toward Iraqi Independence," Ali portrays resistance groups as
driven in large part by a desire for independence from occupation. Resistance
draws its strength, according to Ali, from "the tacit support of the population,"
without which "a sustained resistance is virtually impossible.'"0 Since he con-
siders the "transfer of power" to Iraqis to be little more than a "grotesque fic-
tion," Ali advocates the "unconditional withdrawal of foreign troops" as "the
Ali
only solution" to establishing Iraqi ~overei~nty.~' also agrees with Fisk about
the problems confronting American journalism: "Journalists have accepted the
official version [of war events]. Journalists go to press briefings at the Pentagon
in Washington, and no critical questions are posed at all. It's just a news gather-
ing operation, and the fact that the news is being controlled by governments who
are waging war doesn't seem to worry many journalists too much.'"*
Like many critical Progressive-Left journalists in the U.S., Ali feels that
"alternative information networks" existing outside of the mass media constitute
"one of the most important developments in challenging the weight of the
[mass] media.'"3 Alternative news networks such as the progressive newswires
Common Dreams and Truthout have provided an American audience to British
skeptics like Ali and Fisk, and have likely significantly contributed to advancing
transnational anti-war activism. Independent magazines such as Multinational
Monitor, the Progressive, the Nation, Z Magazine, Extra!, In These Times, and
the New Standard, and television and radio networks like Democracy Now! and
Pacijka make available to the public a variety of anti-occupation viewpoints
from around the world.
Questioning the alleged American push for "democracy" in Iraq, in light of
the 2005 elections has often been a priority of the critical British reporters. Un-
derscoring a point almost totally ignored in the American mainstream, Guardian
reporter Jonathon Steele reported on the U.S. plan to appoint unelected "nota-