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The transcript read like a limp handshake. And it
was very much on the sweet side - a CNN master spin:
"A little boy... Ali Hamza (sic) [whose] story has
touched hearts around the world..." CNN's Kyra
Phillips was interviewing Ali Ismail Abbas' doctor
in Kuwait via video-link.
I didn't watch the interview nor have I ever seen
Kyra Phillips. But going by that transcript, I
imagine she herself must be a terribly sweet
person - sugar-coated like a doughnut. Anyway,
she was very upbeat about that "little boy". Ali,
it appears, had once expressed the hope that
other war children will be spared his suffering.
This message was conveyed to Phillips. And she at
once came up with an antidote to such sombre
feelings: All Ali has to do is close his eyes
and think of... 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'. Ponder
the meaning of this noble enterprise, and all is
well, Ali, she seemed to be saying. A sweet person,
is Ms Phillips. And God bless CNN, one of the great
shapers of the American public mind - or so I'm told.
'Operation Iraqi Freedom' is Washington's euphemism
for the invasion of Iraq. It's not the most grandiose
ever coined for such purpose - that honour goes to
the short-lived 'Operation Infinite Justice'. Bush's
script writers replaced that fine phrase, ostensibly
because it had upset Muslim clerics for theological
reasons. Actually that dazzler had upset a great
many people because of its staggering impudence -
not regards God but regards US foreign policy. Bush
has the chutzpa to talk about _Infinite Justice_!
Uncle Sam, remember, has been the most ruthless
meter-out of worldwide injustice. The US is known
as the patron of 'friendly dictators' who have
caused death, mayhem, and destruction among their
people - aided and trained by the US. 'Infinite
Justice'? What hypocrites! - That's how it went.
But while 'Infinite Justice' was merely arrogant
and hypocritical, 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' is
obscenely cynical. As a euphemism, I feel it's
even worse than 'collateral damage' because it
glorifies the very act that causes 'collateral
damage' - the act of wholesale, state-sponsored
killing, maiming, and destruction.
The Bush regime's idea of 'Iraqi Freedom' is to
'free' Iraq of its oil, its culture, and its over
6000-year-old history. The liberated Iraq is then
to be turned into a US protectorate - enhanced
with MacDonalds and military bases. From these
bases other 'freedom operations' may be launched,
starting perhaps with "Our Enemies, the Saudis" -
the "kernel of evil".
So today we own (oops, free) Iraq... then the
Middle East... the whole of Asia.
>From a 'liberated' Iraq, "there are a lot of
possibilities", a US official ventured. "The road
to the entire Middle East goes through Baghdad",
he said. And in his "Grand strategy for the Middle
East", Perle chum, Laurent Murawiec, painted this
scenario: "Iraq is the tactical pivot"; "Saudi
Arabia the strategic pivot"; "Egypt the prize".
Liberating thoughts, that...
During 'Operation Iraqi Freedom', thousands of
Iraqis lost life, limbs, and home. But 'collateral
damage' was to be expected. Think big, is Bush's
motto. Besides, Iraqis had plenty of experience:
They are used to being bombed to smithereens by
US missiles. They are used to having their
livelihood wrecked by a US-instigated siege,
ie, embargo. And they are used to dying: short,
violent deaths by US bombs or lingering, painful
deaths from the depravations of the brutal
sanctions regime. - At least 1.5 million Iraqis
were killed in these 'freedom operations'.
(So, yes, Mr. Garner, the US has cause to be
proud: 1.5 million Iraqis killed, but Iraq's oil
fields have been saved. You "ought to be beating
our chests every day" for that.)
"Mass murder is now called Freedom!", Arundhati Roy
wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, April 3.
'Operation Iraqi Freedom' is good for you, thinks
CNN's Kyra Phillips.
It's even good for the victims: Phillips suggests
that orphaned, traumatized Ali Abbas, whose scarred
and maimed body bears the marks of the US liberation,
ponder the meaning of 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' to
make him feel better. The mind boggles at such
cynicism and callousness.
As a CNN news anchor Kyra Phillips will have used
this euphemism many times. She's also used
it when covering the invasion for CNN as an
embedded reporter aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Then, ensconced again as CNN anchor, Phillips
interviewed Ali Abbas' doctor in Kuwait on
April 16, 2003.
Before the interview with the doctor, Phillips'
CNN colleague in Kuwait briefed her on Ali's
condition: the burns affect 30 percent of his body
and he is suffering from infections because the
hospital in Iraq had no means of treating him
properly. Now in Kuwait, they had to peel off the
burnt layers of skin - a very painful procedure.
This will be followed by skin grafts later. But
right now, Ali is recovering from surgery.
"No doubt one incredibly strong little boy", was
Phillips comment, looking on the bright side for
the benefit of her viewers. It wouldn't do to
burden the public conscience, or tar the image
of 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'.
The history of this "incredibly strong little boy"
would be familiar to Ms. Phillips: 12-year-old Ali
had both his arms blown off and his body burnt black
when a US missile hit his house. He lost his family
and his home. Twelve family members were torn to
bits and burnt to death: his 5-month pregnant mother,
his father, three brothers, cousins, and other
relatives. Ali, as the sole survivor, was pulled
out of the burning house barely alive.
Phillips would also know what Ali first said about
this 'operation' at the Al-Kindi hospital:
"We didnt want war. I was scared of this war;
our house was just a poor shack, why did they
want to bomb us?" [Salon news, 17 April 2003]
Ali was moved from Al-Kindi to Saddam City Hospital,
I believe, when the former was abandoned by staff
after it got looted. And he would have been left to
die by the liberators Bush and Blair had it not been
for the SOS his nurse sent out:
"Our hospital is not sterile enough and before
long he will get blood poisoning here. We want
him to be taken to special facilities overseas
so he will have some chance. Here we could lose
him at any moment." [Telegraph, 14 April 2003]
All this, Phillips would have known when she spoke
to Dr. Al-Najada in Kuwait City on April 16, 2003.
First, the doctor explains in detail Ali's medical
condition. But Phillips seems more interested in
Ali's views on the USUK 'liberation'.
Phillips: "Doctor -- what has he been saying to you,
.... Tell us what this little boy has been
saying to you.
Al-Najada: "Actually, today he was in good condition
after the operation and started speaking
with a journalist... The thing which he
was... [asked about was] what the message
he wants to reflect from the war [was].
He said, first of all, thank you for the
attention they're giving to him, but he
hopes nobody from the children in the war
they will suffer like what he suffer."
Phillips: "Doctor, does he understand why this war
took place? Has he talked about Operation
Iraqi Freedom and the meaning? Does he
understand it?"
Al-Najada: "Actually, we don't discuss this issue
with him because he is -- the burn cases,
and the type of injury, he's in very bad
psychological trauma."
Apart from the insensitivity of this, I wonder if
Ms Phillips and people of her ilk _really_ believe
such propaganda: Given only a fair amount of verbal
intelligence, anyone should be able to see the
incongruity between the suggested meaning of the
euphemism 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' and the actual
reality of this 'operation'. - Are people being
fooled or do they want to be fooled?
And what about her logical intelligence? Does she
_really_ believe that a capitalist country teetering
on the edge of bankruptcy would spend billions of
dollars on a war to democratize a foreign country?
Is she that stupid? Are people that stupid? I
don't think so.
And has Phillips ever thought about the "meaning
of Operation Iraqi Freedom"? Does _she_ understand
"why this war took place?"
Ali, of course, has thought about the _why_ - he
is a victim. And since reporters have taken a
keen interest in Ali's thoughts, we all know:
Ali thinks "Bush is a criminal who is fighting
for oil."
Dr. Al-Najada then told Phillips that he had
discussed "this issue" with Ali's aunt and uncle
(his only surviving relatives). They said they
couldn't understand why the Americans would hit
them with missiles since they lived far from US
and Iraqi military. (Aunt and uncle are alive
because they were absent when the house was hit.)
Phillips ignores this - she changes the subject.
Do people like her have a conscience? Or is she
denying reality to preserve her illusions - and
those of her viewers?
To keep CNN viewers safe for hypocrisy, Phillips
then closes the interview by saying, "We salute
you, sir, for what you've done." And she assures
Dr. Al-Najada that "our thoughts and prayers" are
with "little Ali".
This CNN interview caused not even a ripple
of outrage, let alone a tidal wave. Public and
media saw nothing amiss. Notable exceptions:
a leader in the Times of India and a brief
comment by ABC (Australia). There may have been
others I didn't catch.
Here is the link to that CNN transcript:
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0304/16/lt.11.html
---
Well, you all know about the sickening circus by
the warmongering media - all wanting to help
"little Ali". The Daily Telegraph, Mirror, et al
in Britain running campaigns. And Murdoch's
newspapers in Australia getting in on the act -
and claiming credit for organizing Ali's rescue.
Tony Blair apparently begged the Americans to
fly Ali out after he read the "heart-rending plea
for help" from Ali's nurse". - Has he got a heart?
And remember, these are the same people who want
to decimate peace proponents - calling them traitors,
anti-Americans, etc. If peace were the way, Ali
wouldn't need a campaign.
Someone from the Miami Herald hopes that Ali may
"ease Western consciences". This man writes:
"If we can just help him [Ali], maybe it will make
up for all the ones we couldn't help. People around
the world open their wallets for Ali. They seek to
save a ruined boy. I tend to think he is saving us
as well."
Who is "we" and "us"? Which West? Which consciences?
Do warmongers really think they can _buy_ their way
out of the brutality they create?
Still, there is an Achilles heel - a scope for
resistance. Make them look bad in unexpected ways.
salut,
Elga
P.S. Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar said something about Western
consciences during that Henning discussion. They are
all going to be washed squeaky-clean, he said. We
mustn't let that happen. - I wonder how Ghazwan is...
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