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Sustaining Crumbling Myths
By Hwaa Irfan
11/12/2001
The non-Muslim West has an agenda in sustaining the myth of Muslim as barbarians, even in the face of substantial evidence that the myths themselves are crumbling. When the war on terrorism was first launched, the public was told about the forthcoming liberation of Afghanistan from the "barbaric, stone-age" Taliban.
The Taliban Myth
The Taliban collapsed within a short space of time leaving 18 countries struggling for control over Afghanistan (Independent, p.1). The ease at which this was obtained challenges the image of the Taliban perpetuated by Western media. Labeled as being "associated" to al-Qaeda, the implication was of a united force capable of attacking America and more. However, U.S. experts' findings do not reflect this image. No chemical, nuclear or biological weapons on the 40 sites investigated across Afghanistan were found. General Tommy Franks, commander-in-charge of U.S. operations in Afghanistan indicated that the materials found could only be used as fertilizers or conventional explosives (Kemp, p.1).
The "barbarian' Taliban" are not the Taliban referred to at a recent Pashtun council of local leaders. The aim was to elect a new governor. They also discussed the problems of Afghanistan. Military commander Ajap Khan Masud referred to the pre-Taliban anarchy of 1992 and 1996. "I was a commander here then, but I did not rape women, I did not oppress people." Commander Izatollah Kouchai reminded them that "The Taliban were not foreigners. They were our brothers. We have to retain our humanity. Whoever says the Taliban were pagan is not Muslim himself" (Cockburn, p.1).
The Hunt for Sleeper Cells (Read: Arabs)
Disregarded by both the public officials and the news hungry public is the fact that stewardess Amy Sweeney on the United Airlines flight 93 to Boston communicated by cell phone the seat-numbers of the hijackers. The occupiers of those seats were not Arabs (Bangash, p.4).
Now there is pursuit of Arabs in the U.S. with new legislation allowing for "indefinite detention" without explanation. Hundreds of Arabs have been sent letters requesting "voluntary interviews" with the police. A "leak" from the Justice Department to the
Detroit Press, seeks information on their movements, finances and details of everyone they know in America. Approximately, 5,000 young men on temporary visas have been earmarked for interviews with 1,100 detained but un-indicted. Imad Hamad of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, who was himself a victim of secret evidence, said, "Plans to interrogate young Arab men identified on the basis of age, gender and national origins sends the clearest message to both the Arab-American community and to the society at large - the government believes that young Arab men are, by definition, suspicious and possibly dangerous" (Gumbel, p.2).
The Justice Department has refused to provide the names and charges of 1,200 people and President George W. Bush has signed an order for an unknown number of accused terrorists to be tried and potentially executed in secret by military courts (Pittman, p.2). The rising anger of detainees has resulted in a threat of a hunger strike. Soheil Mohammad - immigration lawyer who represents several detainees stated "They say, 'We have wanted to be with our families for the holy month, and now that's not going to happen.'" They continue to be held despite the fact that the FBI has cleared them of any role in the attacks (Parry, p.1).
Media Upholding the Myths
Any unnatural death is a loss to humanity. However, the continuous reference to the 5 - 6,000 deaths on September 11th in order to substantiate the loss of Afghani lives is immoral. As initial duplication and errors are being corrected, as of 21st November, the U.S. death toll from September 11th stood at 3,899. Of these, 624 have been identified with 3,275 remaining on the missing person's list (Linton, p.1). The Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting called CNN's casualty coverage policy perverse as CNN Chairman Walter Isaacson in a memo stated: "It seems perverse to focus too much on the casualties or hardship in Afghanistan." Reports are limited using World Trade Center casualties to justify the killings (Pittman, p.4). A warning from chief copy editor of Panama City, Florida's
News Herald stated, "DO NOT USE photos on Page 1A showing casualties from the U.S. war on Afghanistan. Our
sister paper in Fort Walton Beach has done so and received hundreds and hundreds of threatening e-mails and the like. DO NOT USE Wire
stories which lead with Afghanistan. They should be mentioned further down on the story. If the story needs rewriting, to play down the civilian casualties, DO IT." ABC's Weston also got a stream of complaints for an interview with a PLO spokesman (Pittman, p.4).
After Vietnam, the media was blamed for turning the tide of public opinion. Learning from the British control of the war in the Falklands, a U.S. Naval College publication stated that a government should sanitize the visual images of war, control media access and censor information that could upset readers and viewers." As a result, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld serves as the only source to the U.S media on the Afghan war. With a public opinion of 80% in support of the Bush Administration, Hollywood has been asked to contribute to the propaganda war (Pittman, p.2).
Does the government represent the people or do the people represent the government? Everyone's rights along with human rights, democracy and the freedom of speech are compromised. Only with these fundamentals in place will the lost lives of the Afghanis' and Americans be of any value. But no one seems concerned that much of the public officials' efforts, as well as those of the media, are directed towards sustaining a crumbling myth.
Sources:
Bangash, Zafar. "Hundreds Dying as US Missiles & Bombs Hit Afghani Cities and Villages."
Crescent Int'l. 10/16/01. 1-5. Muslimedia.com. 10/15/01.
Cockburn, Patrick. "Detainees Start Hunger Strike." Associated Press. 11/16/01. Beliefnet. 1. News. Beliefnet.
Gumbel, Andrew. "Fears of Witch-Hunt as Police Question Arab Men." 11/28/01. 1. World: Americas. Independent.co.uk.
Independent Argument. "The Future of Afghanistan Can Only Be Decided by the Afghans Themselves." 11/27/01. 1-2. Leading Article. Independent.co.uk.
Kemp, Danny. "US Examines Afghan Weapons Sites." 11/28/01. 1-2. World: Asia. Independent.co.uk.
Linton, Leyla. "Death Toll from New York Attack Reduced to 3,900." AlterNet.org.
Independent. 11/22/01. 1-2. World: Americas. Independent.co.uk.
Parry, Wayne. "Detainees Start Hunger Strike." Associated Press. 11/16/01. News Beliefnet. 1.
Pittman, Alan. "Stop the Presses." Eugene Weekly. AlterNet.org. 11/21/01. 1-6. 27/11/01. AlterNet.org.
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