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  • From: machett AT ibiblio.org
  • To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] disturbing photos from Al Jazeera
  • Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 13:17:40 -0500


First off, I don't want to stick my foot in my mouth, so I'll ask if anyone
has seen images or footage of the KIAs or POWs? If so, please describe to me
in detail what they consist of. I haven't been able to get to al-Jazeera
online, neither Arabic nor English; and I haven't been able to find any of
these so-called horrific images. I did see a very brief and censored bit of
video on one news station. I'd like to see these pictures for myself, or at
least get a decent description of them, so I can make an informed decision.

Now, in the absence of solid evidence, I make an educated guess at events:
Images of the dead and dying and of POWs, although terrible to behold, are a
fact of war. Anyone who thinks such images should be withheld from public
scrutiny is just deluding themselves. My only caveat is that the Western
media (at least the US media) should adhere to mass communication law
concerning the privacy of the families; but I don't believe there is any such
limitation in these cases (I'll refer to my mass. comm. law text this evening
and get back to you...)
Secondly, this crap about displaying such images being against the Geneva
Conventions is just that -- crap. As an interrogator with the US Army I was
required to study the Geneva Conventions; although not an expert, I do have a
certain familiarity with the subject. The section being quoted by the
military and regurgitated by the media has nothing to do with images of POWs
being broadcast by the media. The Conventions were created in response to
WWII, and that particular passage was intended to protect POWs from public
display and ridicule, such as marching Nazi POWs through a town and allowing
the townspeople to curse at, spit upon, throw objects at, or strike the POWs.
Photography and cinematography existed in 1949, at the time of the
Conventions creation, so if this were truly an issue of concern then the
creators would have addressed it then. Furthermore, this issue, as far as I
know, has not previously been raised. We've seen footage before of KIAs and
POWs from Somalia to the first Gulf War to Kosovo; why is it suddenly an
issue?(answer below) And it hasn't seemed to stop the media from presenting
images of Iraqi POWs in US camps. I've seen videos from times past of
incinerated Iraqis hanging half-way out of their burning vehicles and of poor
souls on the streets of Haiti being set ablaze by angry mobs. Why wasn't the
issue raised then?

I am disgusted and disappointed with the media's kow-towing to the military.
"Shock and awe" is right; but it describes the effect on the media, not on
the Iraqi people. I suspect that the Powers-That-Be don't want any fuel
added to the fires of dissent; they learned their lessons from VietNam and
Somalia, wherein images of dead and dying US troops swayed public opinion
back home. But these are the sort of truths the public needs to know in
order to make an informed opinion on the matter. It's painful, but it has to
be done; the sterilized images of precision bombing must be accompanied by
the grotesque reality. It will hurt some; it will relieve others. Since
yesterday I have read and witnessed two interviews of wives of former POWs.
One said it traumatized she and her daughter; the other said it was a welcome
relief to know that her husband was indeed alive.

my $0.02,
Alan




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