You just have to love the hypocrisy of the reports from Haditha residents demanding "justice" now that the Marines have officially been charged in the November 2005 incident. It's hard to imagine our media publishing stories of Iraqis calling for the soldiers be turned over to Iraq for punishment. The very same Iraqis that aided and harbored terrorists responsible for countless deaths of American military members. The same Iraqis that have no problem killing their fellow countrymen for a little propaganda push.
Is it too much to ask that the media do a little background research on their "outraged Haditha residents" before they push their sob stories? Take Dr. Waleed Al-Obeidi interviewed by "an Iraqi employee of the New York Times". Did the Times bother to give its readers full disclosure of Dr. Al-Obeidi's ties to the incident? Of course not - that would impact the message his statement sends. Here's a little bit about Dr. Al-Obeidi from one of my previous posts about Haditha...
The Medical Director at Haditha General Hospital has been identified with various names. All are similar but make searching the Internet for his statements extremely difficult. Here are the various nom de plume's of the infamous Medical Director...
Walid Abdul-Hameed al-Obeidi - the hospital director
Dr. Waleed Abdul Khaliq al Obaidi, Manager of Haditha General Hospital
Dr. Walid Abdul Khaliq - the Haditha General Hospital Director
Dr. Walid Al-Obeidi - the director of Haditha General Hospital
Walid Abdul Khalak Ubaidi - Hospital Director
Walid Abdel Khaliq - the doctor of the Haditha morgue
Dr. Walid - Haditha General Hospital director
Dr. Wahid - director of the local hospital in Haditha
Dr. Walid (or whatever his name is) was featured in the testimony of the Brussel's Tribunal which was part of the World Tribunal on Iraq sham conducted by Ramsey Clark and his Clarkettes at Code Pink, et. al. A man with a very similar name, Abdul Wahab Al Obeidi, was a member of the Brussels Tribunal and represents the "Freedom Voice Society for Human Rights".
Wait - you mean he hated Americans BEFORE the Haditha incident? You mean he was in cahoots with Ramsey Clark's communists? Damn that kinda impacts any opinion he offers up about the Marines doesn't it?
Then there is another irate Iraqi, Abu Ali, a 29 year old shop owner from Haqlaniya. Abu Ali was quoted by the Times as saying...
"We don't want them executed in the US. Let them bring them here in Haditha and we will tear them apart."
First of all, someone needs to remind Mr. Ali that his comrades have been tearing our soldiers apart in Haditha. That's what started this whole incident - an IED killing a Marine. How about Mr. Ali sending some of his comrades here so we Americans can exact some "justice"?
Then there is the issue of who exactly Abu Ali is. The name is extremely common and turns up lots of hits on an Internet search. But this article about Jill Carroll's abduction, written by Ms. Carroll, was the most interesting...
One afternoon in the first week after I'd been taken - and been moved to yet another house near Abu Ghraib - Abu Ali called me into a big sitting room with green velveteen couches. On the far wall, above the TV, was a gigantic poster of waterfalls and rocks and trees.
So Abu Ali - the captor with a stubbly beard - sat me down and showed me the videos. They were in Arabic and were stamped with the symbols of various insurgent groups, and included audio overlays of mujahideen chanting in low, somber tones.
Abu Ali would glance over at me as I watched the videos, asking me what I thought of them. I couldn't say anything good, but I tried to say things that were true, like "Oh, this is the first time I've ever seen this. I didn't know this was out there." To Abu Ali, though, this was their mission, a righteous path; this was their work for God.
While I sat there watching them, I felt the insurgents were sending me a message: They hate Americans so much, they're proud of these attacks. It's normal to them.
Hmmm... a Sunni terrorist and kidnapper with the same name? Nah...it couldn't be. Certainly the NY Times would have told us about the similarities...
The final and most glaring example of hypocrisy comes from Al-Reuters (surprise). Reuters posted its own Iraqis bashing Americans story Friday. The article, "Iraq Town has little faith in US trial of Marines", was written by Majid Hameed. But there is quite a history with Majid Hameed and the US military...
Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya has demanded that US forces in Iraq release an Iraqi reporter who has been held without charge since last week. Majid Hameed, who worked for al-Arabiya in the city of Ramadi and also worked on a freelance basis for Reuters, was arrested along with several other men at the funeral of a relative.
In a televised interview with Al-Arabiya, US military spokesman Captain Eric Clark said: "We have credible evidence that led us to apprehend your correspondent.
Several months later, Hameed was released...
"An Al Arabiya reporter was finally freed in January, four months after US troops arrested him without charge in Baghdad. Majid Hameed, a 21-year old Iraqi journalist who also works for Reuters, was released a day after Brigadier General Mark Kimmit, deputy director of US army operations in Iraq, visited the Dubai-based news station for an interview."
"US forces had arrested Hameed along with 15 others last September during the funeral of a relative that was allegedly killed in insurgent-related activities. Hameed was never charged or allowed to seek legal counseling, and was reportedly questioned over his unfavorable coverage, according to a letter addressed to the US ambassador to Iraq by Al Arabiya general manger Abdulrahman Al Rashed."
I can't imagine Majid Hameed writing anything slanted negatively against the US Military - can you?
Sometimes there is much more to the story than just some "angry citizens" and the journalists covering the stories. It's just a shame that this crap is being lapped up by a complacent public and vomited back as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment