The Israeli Torture Template
Posted: Tuesday, May 11, 2004

The power of a picture
The world has once again been reminded how much more powerful images can be than words. The outrage expressed by Arabs and the abhorrence expressed by the Bush administration last week over US military guards’ abuse of Iraqi prisoners were certainly justified, but both reactions were oddly belated. They seem to have blossomed on time delay, set in motion not by information — which has been available for months — but by pictures. Or, more accurately, by the publication of pictures.

Blame could reach highest levels of US military

Imagine that-American tax dollars go to pay for torture.

Amnesty: UK troops shot civilians

Amnesty report lists 37 'disputed' killings by UK forces

Human Shields, Fighting, More Bombs

Angry Fallujans Prepared to Resist Renewed U.S. Patrols

Misperceptions Reflect Media Distortion
Now, let us ask what CNN doesn't and won't. Why have so many Americans accepted this "isolated incident" formulation. Given the facts in the DOD's own report, this is another misperception like the ones that had 40% of TV viewers believing that there were Iraqis on the planes that hit the World Trade Center, or that Osama and Saddam were kissing cousins. Why indeed? There is a two-word explanation:
Media coverage!

Blair rejects calls for
independent investigation into Iraq killings

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil
Despite the story fed to the press that Secretary Rumsfeld had not informed the president about the investigations of abuses of the Iraqi prisoner, one cannot believe that it could have been hidden from him for over a year. If that were true, the only course of action would be for the president to fire him and anyone else who might have known immediately.

Just trust us

'Washington Post' Publishes Only a Few of Its Many Iraq-Prison Photos
New Yorker has worse Iraq pix

Racism & Torture as Entertainment

Toll rises in Gaza rampage
Israel destroying more homes than ever

The Israeli Torture Template



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