Thanks to ChomskyKnows, i got a chance to see the video that was aired on the Australian TV, regarding the pictures in possession of the US Army and Govt. ACLU has been trying to fight the Govt, to release the photos under the Freedom of Information act.
First, the video has some shocking images. The first set of images that you had seen when the Abu Ghraib torture story broke out, were a selected few, and if you found them outrageous, then you havent seen anything yet. What is amazing or shocking, and not completely unexpected from this Govt and the US army, is the argument in the case to stop the release of these photographs. The Govt lawyers argue that releasing the pictures "would stir up anti-american sentiment". But it is ok to indulge in these acts, these acts wouldnt ??
Today is sunday, and sunday is the spin time on TV, with the different news shows, where the left, right, repbulicans, democrats, the Govt, the congressman, the senators, the spin doctors etc, all come out of their sheels to put the out their theory of a story that creating news. And so the spin from the Michael Chertoff, about the UN report on Guantánamo Bay, was that, in the past prisoners released from Guantánamo, have gone back to fight against the US soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq etc., and so the US is not going to shutdown the illegal camp. Well, how can you blame them ? If you torture them and dont give them a fair hearing, why wouldnt they want to retaliate ? Is the right to strike back, a god given right to the US alone ?
It is a sad commentary of this country and land. For years, the US has adopted a dual policy of democracy and capitalism, where profit and money always determined the direction of fight for freedom and democracy.
So, back to where i started....a few newspapers in the US considered re-publishing the recent controversial anti-muslim cartoons, and claimed that they were protecting the right to free speech. Yet.... yet, not one of these have gone about publishing these Abu Ghraib pictures, which if you watch the video was available long back with the press in the US. Like i said before, free speech is a right and duty, only when it is convinient.
What is even sadder, is that almost half of this country and the world, dont really care !!
First, the video has some shocking images. The first set of images that you had seen when the Abu Ghraib torture story broke out, were a selected few, and if you found them outrageous, then you havent seen anything yet. What is amazing or shocking, and not completely unexpected from this Govt and the US army, is the argument in the case to stop the release of these photographs. The Govt lawyers argue that releasing the pictures "would stir up anti-american sentiment". But it is ok to indulge in these acts, these acts wouldnt ??
Today is sunday, and sunday is the spin time on TV, with the different news shows, where the left, right, repbulicans, democrats, the Govt, the congressman, the senators, the spin doctors etc, all come out of their sheels to put the out their theory of a story that creating news. And so the spin from the Michael Chertoff, about the UN report on Guantánamo Bay, was that, in the past prisoners released from Guantánamo, have gone back to fight against the US soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq etc., and so the US is not going to shutdown the illegal camp. Well, how can you blame them ? If you torture them and dont give them a fair hearing, why wouldnt they want to retaliate ? Is the right to strike back, a god given right to the US alone ?
It is a sad commentary of this country and land. For years, the US has adopted a dual policy of democracy and capitalism, where profit and money always determined the direction of fight for freedom and democracy.
So, back to where i started....a few newspapers in the US considered re-publishing the recent controversial anti-muslim cartoons, and claimed that they were protecting the right to free speech. Yet.... yet, not one of these have gone about publishing these Abu Ghraib pictures, which if you watch the video was available long back with the press in the US. Like i said before, free speech is a right and duty, only when it is convinient.
What is even sadder, is that almost half of this country and the world, dont really care !!
Tags: iraq, abu+ghraib, guantanamo+bay, illegal, prison, torture, US, war, wmd, lies, free+speech
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