Perspective

Mark Steyn:

"Just look at the way US army reservist Lynndie England holds the leash of the naked, bearded Iraqi," writes Robert Fisk, famed Middle East correspondent of the London Independent.

"Take a close look at the leather strap, the pain on the prisoner's face. No sadistic movie could outdo the damage of this image. In September 2001, the planes smashed into the buildings; today, Lynndie smashes to pieces our entire morality with just one tug on the leash."

Hmm. Sounds like Fiskie's the one straining at the leash here. You can practically hear him panting. Down, boy.

I did hear him panting. I had the pleasure of listening to CBC radio last night and he was the guest on Dispatches. From what I heard, the CBC was airing non-stop coverage of Abu Ghraib last night. First As It Happens ran a few guests gleefully extrapolating the crimes in Abu Ghraib to be 'most likely' just the tip of the iceberg of what the criminal American military is doing around the world (without, of course, providing any evidence). Then Fisky was introduced to put the icing on the cake. What a vile, nasty creature he is. Hatred of the US just oozes out of everything he says, and the host just egged him on. Conspiracy theories were trotted out, straw men were constructed and efficiently dispatched, and through it all they couldn't conceal their pleasure that they had caught a significant failure by the US.

This is what has giving this story it's momentum. Throughout the past year, there has been the most desperate scramble to make some of the copious amounts of shit they've thrown stick to the project in Iraq. But it hasn't been working too well. But now there's some traction -- time to gun the motor!

Perspective. It's important to remember that these abuses were being investigated before the press got wind of it. This is not the policy of the United States. And it is being treated seriously and the guilty will be punished. I'm shocked and angered by what happened but the world is full of petty men abusing their power.

But what breaks my heart -- and it really does -- is the contempt in the voices that claim to bring the world to us. The lack of balance and objectivity is blatant. There is an idealistic project underway to create a truly democratic and peaceful land where once there was only fear and oppression. It's a huge and difficult undertaking, there will be many stumbles on the way, and it may even fail in the long run. The difficulties and stumbles must be covered. But it's a positive thing on the whole, and we deserve to have the positive aspects covered as well. "But", I can imagine the executives of our public broadcaster saying, "you don't expect us to broadcast American propaganda?" No, I expect you to cover the truth.

Posted by Bruce Gottfred at May 13, 2004 10:40 AM | TrackBack