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In
light of recent historical events, three important dates mark
this coming weekend. On Friday, October 24th, the world
celebrates United Nations Day, its 58th birthday since its
founding in
San Francisco
. On Saturday, October 25th, tens of thousands of people will
have taken to the streets protesting the continuing war in
Iraq
and the
Israel
wall, and calling on US forces to come home. On Sunday, October
26th, Ramadan will come to the Muslim world. This will be a
markedly new Ramadan, the first Ramadan Iraqis will have under
occupation – an occupier who neither understands nor is
equipped to cope with the cultural implications of this holy
month.
The
choice of October 25th as a day of protest against events in
Iraq
and
Palestine
may have been coincidental but is poignant nonetheless.
In
late 2002 and much of the first quarter of 2003, millions of
people around the world protested against the then-imminent
invasion of
Iraq
. They came from all walks of life: housewives, pastors,
priests, clerics, imams, heterosexuals, homosexuals and
bisexuals, paupers and princes, actors and thespians, mechanics
and taxi-drivers, children and elderly, military servicemen,
women, members of the hippie generation, and former United
Nations weapons inspectors.
They
clogged up subway systems and transportation lines; they brought
the cities of
Rome
,
Madrid
,
London
,
Paris
and countless others to a standstill.
They
protested at what they saw an unjust cause, an untenable war and
a belligerent alliance of Anglo-Saxon leaders and the oil
consortiums that backed them.
They
burned figures in effigy, chanted peace songs and used their
naked bodies to spell out the word PEACE.
The
anti-war movement, which spanned the globe, was joined at the
hip, thanks to the Internet. It was the first time in history
that the people of the world came together under one banner –
peace – and for a common cause – attempting to change
foreign policy.
They
failed.
Their
failure, however, is a far more important lesson to journalists,
historians, academics and policy-makers. It proves beyond a
shadow of a doubt that public opinion can be steamrolled by a
negligent and often stoic media.
The
media proved it was hostile territory for those wishing to speak
out against the drivel coming from the pro-war Bush
administration. To the shock of most in
North America
, free speech, the right to refuse and the right to object all
of a sudden became social offenses. Those in the media who dared
ask the right questions were ostracized. Some were fired. Some
have been effectively excommunicated. Those who touted the
official anti-Iraq stance hook-line-and-sinker were given
promotions
Actors
who proved to the world that they were not petty were labeled
idiots. Even worse, some were labeled anti-American or
“unpatriotic.” Labeling someone unpatriotic became akin to
labeling someone anti-Semitic; and everyone shuddered.
The
memories of the pain inflicted by the tragic events of 9/11 were
regurgitated through every media outlet. You can’t question
Bush, look at 9/11. You can’t say Iraqis may be telling the
truth, look at 9/11. Look, 9/11, nuke
Iraq
. They hit us in 9/11, let’s kill those bastards.
Despite
the hostility, the taunting and the ridiculing by the media, the
anti-war activists plowed on. Despite the censorship, the
pulling down of websites with alternative views who dared
publish pictures of Iraqi strife, many continued to deliver
their anti-war message.
They
warned of a travesty in
Iraq
. They pointed to horrendous civilian deaths, a breakdown in
civil society in
Iraq
, the potential of a civil war, and the threat of cantonization
and balkanization.
The
media made it easy for those confused and undetermined to loathe
the anti-war activists. Hackers and anarchists, they were
called. Communists, flag-burners. All of a sudden McCarthyism
was in full swing.
And
so the military onslaught pushed through, and with a
bloodthirsty battle-cry of shock and awe,
Iraq
was invaded.
The
short war was a success; the media screamed the first few weeks
after the Saddam statue fell.
More
than 9,000 Iraqis dead is not a success.
America
chokes every time someone mentions 9/11 where some 3,000
innocents died, but 9,000 Iraqis is a joyous celebration. Today,
human rights organizations estimate some 20 Iraqis killed a day.
Add to that the two or three US soldiers killed, and dozens
wounded every day; and
Iraq
looks like a meat grinder.
Iraq
is potentially on the verge of civil war. The weapons of mass
destruction for which the war was fought with such righteousness
and clamor are nowhere to be found. They were destroyed, we are
now told. Or moved. Or beamed elsewhere by Scotty.
But
this war is one of freedom, we are then told.
Rape
is the freedom that awaits the women of Iraq. During the Afghan
military operations, First Lady Barbara Bush spoke about the
plight of Afghan women and the need to liberate them. Today,
much to her shame and discredit, she is mute over the plight of
Iraqi women, who were the most liberated in the Arab world.
Today they hide; they don’t go out. Iraqi women who long to
return to their country from exile are warned not to. But these
are not the stories the media wants you to know.
No,
many stories go untold. A BBC reporter spoke up at a recent CPA
press conference, carried live on Arab news networks, saying he
had witnessed an elderly Iraqi man get run over by a
US
soldier driving an Humvee. The soldier did not stop. Iraqi
civilians begged other soldiers to take the man to a hospital.
The
US
soldiers balked for an hour. The man then died. Untold story.
Definite tragedy. And then they say Al Jazeera is inciting Arab
masses.
Lawlessness
is God and Bremer its apostle.
This
is the
Iraq
all the anti-war activists warned us about. This is the
Iraq
many marched to help save. They did not march for Saddam, nor
Tariq Aziz, nor Ali Baba. They marched for the people of
Iraq
, for human civility and morality, and for world justice.
Now,
the Bush administration admits they never linked Saddam to the
perpetrators of 9/11. How dare they! How dare they speak out now
after countless deaths! What of the Iraqis who died, the
American and British soldiers who died needlessly?
Where
is the media? Why does it not question, investigate, explore and
vindicate?
The
media owes every one of the millions of anti-war activists and
demonstrators an apology. The Bush, Blair and Howard
administrations should apologize for lying to the world, and
then collectively resign into the dustbin of history from whence
they came.
Now,
we hear talk of
Iran
and
Syria
, and their threat to world peace. Complacency, ignorance and
intolerance are the greatest threats to world peace.
Do
not be swayed by the media once more.
Think.
Read. Speak. Act. Inform. Educate. Empower. Emancipate.
God
Bless.
Firas
Al-Atraqchi is a Canadian journalist of Iraqi heritage. Holding an MA in
Journalism and Mass Communication, he has eleven years of
experience covering
Middle
East
issues,
oil and gas markets, and the telecom industry. You can reach him
at firascape@hotmail.com.
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