Independent Progressive Thought

So why the incredible amount of censorship among the mainstream media to not show the photos of the coffins returning from Iraq ? Evidently, this is against the rules imposed by the Pentagon. Conveniently, the Pentagon claims that this is to put the families of the dead before the news. I can understand not releasing the names of the dead but photos of the coffins ? I think it is the duty of journalists to report back with powerful pictures that would cause a visceral reaction towards peace. When someone does gather the courage to let the world know what is going on, she loses her job. Interestingly, she was not really trying to be an activist of any kind but felt that people may want to see what she saw.

One of the reasons that the Pentagon does not want this pictures published is due to the fact that rather than just numbers, people get an idea that there are dead bodies in the coffins that are returning. This is far more devastating than simple count that is published everyday. And in order to ensure that what their wishes are complied with, they do not hesitate to use threats, such as economic threats in the case of the woman who was fired along with her husband who was not involved in the photography or distribution of those photos.

posted by Nashib @ 11:08 PM

In paragraph 4, of her comments on the 4th summit of Nobel Peace Laureates , Jody Williams talks about terrorism and about the need of the nation-state to defend itself. As she points out, and I quote, we must ask ourselves at what point does some line get crossed when actions carried out under the guise of “self defense” are used to mask state terror ? It asks very good questions about the US and its stance in 2003 towards the United Nations when the multi-national body refused to blindly endorse the Americans' eager call for enemy blood.

And speaking of the UN, I have been reading arguments all over the news media lately talking about the mismanagement of the oil for food program in Iraq. First of all, it should not be a complete surprise to anyone that some branch of a government is corrupt. I mean after all the Americans stand as a shining example of exactly what corrupt corporations can achieve in terms of influencing governments or forming corrupt governments. In a conversation with Saharsha over the weekend, he made a good suggestion that all lobbying should be allowed, just that it should be overseen by media and public scrutiny. This would allow corporate lobbying without the incredibly corrupt back room dealings that go on currently. It would at least serve to reduce them. Getting back to the original point, the incompetence of the UN in one area does not render its opinion useless in its core competency, mediating international disputes.

In A Vision of Power by Paul Krugman, the New York Times, April 27, 2004 Paul Krugman asks some very good questions about the relationship of Dick Cheney to the companies that were meeting with him as part of the highly secretive energy task force. Both Cheney and Bush have been extremely well compensated by their energy industry friends. As Bill Maher put it, Bush is so stupid that he was the only one to ever run an oil concern in Texas and lose money. It is not unimaginable that the energy policy is something that may be kept private, however meetings with industry reps should only have happened with some oversight because of the obvious conflicts of interest of the executive branch.

posted by Nashib @ 9:36 PM