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By ABEER ALLAM
Published: May 13, 2004
AIRO, May 12 â?? The videotaped beheading of Nicholas Berg, the young American civilian, by Islamic militants received widely divergent treatment in the Arab press on Wednesday, with most papers playing it up but some ignoring it.
Most newspapers across the Middle East treated the gruesome videotape as front-page news, though generally secondary to stories about the deaths of six Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip .
But in Egypt, Al Akhbar, a semiofficial daily, tucked a 10-line news agency report into its inside pages, while another leading daily, Al Ahram, ignored the news altogether .
The Syrian papers also ignored the killing , though President Bush's announcement of sanctions against Damascus received blanket coverage. A Kuwaiti paper, Al Siyassah al Kuwaitia ran a front-page story with a photograph of one of the militants holding up Mr. Berg's head.
While the news broke close to deadline for many Arab papers, a journalism expert here said concern about protecting Americans from copycat killings was the main reason for the scant coverage.
"It is a responsible decision to avoid giving much exposure to this type of news," said Hussein Amin, chairman of the department of mass communication at the American University in Cairo. "People are highly emotional now because of Abu Ghraib pictures. The government does not want to incite or give ideas to young or extremist people to start taking matters into their own hands."
A Lebanese newspaper, As Safir, published its report on the front page with the by now familiar photograph of Mr. Berg sitting in front of the militants with a headline reading, "Zarqawi Slaughters an American to Avenge Iraqi Prisoners."
The London-based pan-Arab newspapers both led their editions with the beheading reports.
Asharq al Awsat ran the photo of Mr. Berg sitting in front of five militants under the headline "Zarqawi Slaughtered an American." Al Hayat published the story without pictures, under the headline "Zarqawi Executes an American in Retaliation for the Torture."
The main Arab satellite channels, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, broadcast just a clip of the video showing Mr. Berg sitting before his executioners, with anchors briefly reading the report.
"Every time when we have a tape, there is a give and take to run it or not to run it," said Jihad Ballout, a spokesman for Al Jazeera. In this case, he said: "There was no professional reason why we should air it. Showing the beheading scene would be against decency altogether."
Web sites of militant groups expressed joy over the beheading and ran photos from the video side by side with photos of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison. One site mocked President Bush's praise for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, saying, "Zarqawi is doing a superb job." Another wrote, "Please send us a head every day."
In Cairo, some moderate Muslim groups expressed regret that the killing eclipsed the horror of the pictures of abuse at Abu Ghraib.
"I was disgusted, and I felt so sorry," said Dr. Essam al-Erian, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that seeks to establish an Islamic state in Egypt by constitutional means. "They are crazy people who defamed Muslims and Islam and helped only Bush.
"They wasted all the gains the Arabs received from exposing the horrors of Abu Ghraib prison and instead shifted all the attention to this shameful act."
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Originally posted by SAV-ZX2:
Well, sir, if all you believe is that America's only objective is to be full Human Rights Enforcers for the entire freakin' world, then we'll be enforcing human rights far into the future...much further than either you or I will see. And it will last until there is no more oxygen to breathe, because no matter how many "good" people there are in the world, there will ALWAYS be a few bad groups of seeds out there. That has happened, is happening now, and will always continue to happen with the population of planet Earth being as vast as it is. But I'm sure you knew that already. 
Its true. As long as there are humans roaming the Earth, there will always be someone trying to take advantage of someone else. It seems all too common these days. I do not believe that this is our only objective, but it clearly was one used to bring us into Iraq (either by the government of media).
Originally posted by SAV-ZX2:
And why can't there be a comparison? Not everyone in America is "good", just as not everyone in the Muslim world is "bad". I'll wholeheartedly agree that a majority of their population is a source of trouble, but that by no means says that every American existing, obviously including the US Soldiers that were abusing prisoners, is a perfect little angel. Therefore, I see your claim that an American terrorist can not be compared to a Muslim terrorist as false. 
I agree with what you're saying here too. Humans will always continue to take advantage of others, regardless of background, religion, race, sex, or any other characteristic. However the reason I said you cannot compare was because Iraq's entire regime was considered cruel. Not just a few bad seeds. On top of that these people were (and continue to be) governed with an Iron Fist underr an umbrella of fear. You cannot compare the incidents because worldwide we are perceived as friendly and Pro Human Rights, while worldwide Saddam was already perceived as ruler through terror. Perception is the key.
Originally posted by SAV-ZX2:
I'm sure you've witnessed it, but SAYING we must hold ourselves to a higher moral standard is far easier than PROVING we are capable of it. 
Again, I completely agree with this statement. However, I believe we're fully capable of this as long as the individuals involved (no matter how high it goes) are held accountable for their actions. We've been able to do this in the US (again, as a majority), and we MUST convey that same image in Iraq.
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Originally posted by SVT Doood:
"Every time when we have a tape, there is a give and take to run it or not to run it," said Jihad Ballout, a spokesman for Al Jazeera. In this case, he said: "There was no professional reason why we should air it. Showing the beheading scene would be against decency altogether."
That seems like a RARE display of restraint by Al Jazeera...
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well said, Perry, and oh, I got your package today. Thanks man!!!! I have a soldier here who has been dying for strawberry jam. You made his whole day!!!
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Originally posted by sigma:
Quote:
There are people in Iraq that are happy to have freedom; to not have to worry about Saddam getting a bug up his as$ to kill or rape someone. Saddam killed hundreds of thousands of people during his tyranical reign. Put things in perspective before you cry foul on what American soldiers did.
No, buddy, I think it's you who needs to put things into perspective...
You're saying that because someone did something worse what the soldiers did was okay; or at the very least, we should ignore it 'because someone else did something worse'.
So two wrongs do make a right now. Well. I wish I would've known that before.
Just because I sit here 'crying foul' over what the American soldiers did doesn't mean I didn't/don't do the exact same thing over what Hussein was doing.
Quote:
P.S. Oh and right now on Fox News there is an interview with an Iraqi citizen who got out of Iraq before Saddam telling America (I quote) "Wake up, stop worrying so much about the prisoner abuse scandals and put it into perspective..." "These prison abuse scandals have only given them some kind of rationalization to commit these murders..." Exactly what I and a few others have been saying for a while now... -Nick
Okay... Haven't seen anyone disagree with that here.
That doesn't degrade what the soldiers did one damn bit though.
Granted, but there should be at least of modicum of understanding in the world that these were the acts of a few who did not follow their training and do not in any way represent what the US is trying to accomplish in Iraq.
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Originally posted by MarkO:
Originally posted by RT and his SE:
It's war! It's not pretty, it's not fun and it's played by a set of rules that there is almost no way to enforce on the battle field or in a POW camps except by the honor system. If naked hog piling is the worst that happens to these guy's and they have to go home with they're head hung in disgrace such are the fortunes of war. It could be worse.
Terrorist's know this war like the Vietnam war has a weapon that can bring the war home to America. It's TV! Most American's don't have the stomach for war especially in their living room in full color high def and surround sound. The Viet Cong knew this and you better believe that the Iraqi resistance knows this as well. They can't beat us but by using TV and our own outrage they can help us to beat our self's!
By most accounts, there was a lot more going on in Abu Ghraib than piling people up into pyramids. Anyway, enough with that issue. It's being investigated, it will be dealt with.
I dont think this war bears comparison with Vietnam. People wont turn on the troops the way they did then. I worked with a Vietnam vet a couple of years back and he still felt very bitter about the way he was treated when he got back Stateside. People may turn on the President for invading Iraq and sending the troops over there but the troops wont be blamed and rightly so.
No, we don't have the general public turning on the troops, but we do have a war that is prosecuted by micro-management, from the Sec. of Defense (who was here today, I got pics will post when I get a chance) on down. There are strict rules governing off-limits areas (Cambodia/Laos in Veitnam, mosques here) that limit our ability to ferret out the enemy. The parallels go on and on.
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Originally posted by Sandman333:
Originally posted by MarkO:
Originally posted by RT and his SE:
It's war! It's not pretty, it's not fun and it's played by a set of rules that there is almost no way to enforce on the battle field or in a POW camps except by the honor system. If naked hog piling is the worst that happens to these guy's and they have to go home with they're head hung in disgrace such are the fortunes of war. It could be worse.
Terrorist's know this war like the Vietnam war has a weapon that can bring the war home to America. It's TV! Most American's don't have the stomach for war especially in their living room in full color high def and surround sound. The Viet Cong knew this and you better believe that the Iraqi resistance knows this as well. They can't beat us but by using TV and our own outrage they can help us to beat our self's!
By most accounts, there was a lot more going on in Abu Ghraib than piling people up into pyramids. Anyway, enough with that issue. It's being investigated, it will be dealt with.
I dont think this war bears comparison with Vietnam. People wont turn on the troops the way they did then. I worked with a Vietnam vet a couple of years back and he still felt very bitter about the way he was treated when he got back Stateside. People may turn on the President for invading Iraq and sending the troops over there but the troops wont be blamed and rightly so.
No, we don't have the general public turning on the troops, but we do have a war that is prosecuted by micro-management, from the Sec. of Defense (who was here today, I got pics will post when I get a chance) on down. There are strict rules governing off-limits areas (Cambodia/Laos in Veitnam, mosques here) that limit our ability to ferret out the enemy. The parallels go on and on.
Point taken. I don't know how or if that can be fixed.
Originally posted by Sandman333:
Granted, but there should be at least of modicum of understanding in the world that these were the acts of a few who did not follow their training and do not in any way represent what the US is trying to accomplish in Iraq.
Yes. I'm not sure how that sentiment can be portrayed though or even if anybody would be willing to listen.
Bless our servicemen & women overseas.
L.Cpl Ian Malone, 1st Battalion Irish Guards, R.I.P.
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Quote:
Granted, but there should be at least of modicum of understanding in the world that these were the acts of a few who did not follow their training and do not in any way represent what the US is trying to accomplish in Iraq.
I agree with you totally.
But gettig the world to understand this point is about as easy as getting the people here to understand that the abuse that occured was far than just your average 'hazing'.
And, as you can see in this thread, people are very stubborn in their beliefs and once they see something and reach a conclusion on it, no matter how bad their logic may be, they are very stuck in what they think.
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Just so ya'll know, there are ALOT of folks that FULLY get it and can do nothing but shake our heads in disbelief at the cr*p that is the liberal media's slant and the Dem power grabber's blind foolishnes until election day; other than continue to pray for all the people doing what is right to make this world a better place for us and our children. We do NOT take our FREEDOM for granted any more than we want to fight...yet until the lower minded of this world evolve we know you do what you gotta do, man.
Keep on rockin in the free world
my politics are simple...mean people suck
if they refuse to evolve: thin the herd
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Originally posted by Sandman333:
well said, Perry, and oh, I got your package today. Thanks man!!!! I have a soldier here who has been dying for strawberry jam. You made his whole day!!!
Great! That was pretty fast! We just sent it last week I think. McDonald's loves to see him smile!
I saw that PFC England lady on TV yesterday, still claiming that she was just following orders. Of course, the people who gave the orders are just as guilty, but she isn't helping her cause any. Story about her.
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