Photo Credit: The Washington Post
Perhaps it is in our best interest to remain silent on matters of torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
After all, this is old news now and we don’t need to be reminded of the violence of suffered by Iraqis in the custody U.S. troops. However, the release of yet more pictures, videos and testimonies of prisoner abuse makes turning away from this reality increasingly difficult.
Last week, the Washington Post obtained more images, specifically videos and testimonies from detainees and Abu Ghraib – an investigation that should propel this story back into the realm of public discourse.
Scott Higham and Joe Stephens report in, “New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge Abu Ghraib Detainees' Statements Describe Sexual Humiliation And Savage Beatings,” that the testimonies help to explain many of the already iconic images released more than two years ago to the American public.
“The statements provide the most detailed picture yet of what took place on the cellblock. Some of the detainees described being abused as punishment or discipline after they were caught fighting or with a prohibited item. Some said they were pressed to denounce Islam or were force-fed pork and liquor. Many provided graphic details of how they were sexually humiliated and assaulted, threatened with rape, and forced to masturbate in front of female soldiers.”
Even after learning about the extent of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, there seems to be only minimal coverage on the issue in the mainstream media. Other matters, such as immigration reform and the deployment of the National Guard along the U.S.-Mexican border appear to preoccupy much of the reportage. Interestingly, a Google search for news reportage under the heading of Abu Ghraib reveals more than 5, 000 posts between May 19 and April 22.
However, a Technorati search of the Blogosphere provides more than 88,000 hits, many of them just a few days old. What this suggests, something that is speculative at best is that bloggers are actively more passionate about generating and maintaining public discourse about the abuse scandal than the mainstream media is.
In January 2006, Bruce Jackson complains in the political newsletter “Counterpunch” how the reality of the war in Iraq has been squelched by mainstream media’s comfort level with sensitive and controversial images. “The daily press and evening news are so attuned to our sensitivity or sensibility they just don't want to offend us,” Jackson notes.
In other words, much of the mainstream media fail to fulfill their role in society by arbitrating what can and cannot be seen. The press becomes censored not only by the government but also by itself because of the possibility that the images may be too much to bear for the average person.
Now, people are turning to alternative sources such as blogs and Web sites to see these graphic and disturbing images.
How can we find the truth in a world so bombarded with questionable information? If the mainstream media does not tell us what we need to know because they are afraid of offending us and bloggers and Web sites tell us more than we want to know, where is the balance?