:: Diary of an Aging Protester ::

:: 4.12.2003 ::

An Unbelievably Really Sad Day
The liberation of Iraq has come to this--ransacking the National Museum full of Mesopotamian antiquities--and Rumsfeld and Co. still don't seem to think it's a problem. His remarks to the theft and destruction was: Stuff happens.
:: posted by Doreen on 11:00 PM [+] ::
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More Scary News out of Britain
Britain and the United States have bypassed the United Nations to establish a secret team of inspectors to resume the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It is a sign of the desperation in London and Washington to find a "smoking gun" to justify the war that the Anglo-American team has already conducted three inspections in the past two weeks. No banned weapons have so far been found. Reported in The Guardian, 4/12/2003.


:: posted by Doreen on 1:50 PM [+] ::
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Shopkeeper as youths helped themselves to everything in his small hardware store:
"Is this your liberation?"

Pedalling Compassionate Colonialism
What is coming out of the mouths of this administration is truly astounding. Not even the Onion can really attempt to parody the administration's cavalier take on the unravelling of civil society in Iraq. I thought my ire had reached its peak back in February when the big dogs consistently dismissed the work UN inspectors had done with a 'pshaw, what do you know about WMD?' but now after 3 weeks of the most intensive bombing campaign against an incredibly underprepared military force, the US cannot muster the energy to take the reins and admit they have now conquered Iraq and must take responsibility for bringing law and order, food and water, human services to the country. Instead we are told by Donny Rumsfeld that the reports of looting are 'overstated'. Overstated? Read this report from BBC:

Medical equipment such as heart monitors and incubators have been stolen and even the laboratories ransacked - centrifuges and microscopes smashed.
"I am desperately looking for someone to co-ordinate the situation with the hospital directors in various parts of the country, but I haven't found anyone, " said Mr Bonamy.
And he stressed that responsibility rested squarely with the Americans.
"You entered a city. Civil society broke down.
"It is your responsibility to guarantee at least minimal operation of infrastructure -- hospitals, police forces, firefighters, water, electricity," he said.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has denied Iraq was falling into chaos.
"Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things," he told reporters.
"I don't think there is anyone in those pictures or any human being who does not prefer to be free and recognise that you have passed through a transition period like this and accept it as part of the price of getting from a repressed regime to freedom."

Pride, ego, bloated sense of self--this man will surely witness his own fall and I can only hope that I will witness it. The 'untidiness of freedom' is what he calls it, but what I'm calling it is a soft pedalling of colonialism that means we can destroy the infrastructure of Iraq, kill its people, take control of the oil fields, but when it comes to providing structure again, well, we'll just step aside and let the Iraqi people decide what to do because if we did it, we'd show our cover as the neo-colonialists we really are. The incredible deviousness that permeates this adminstration stinks. They have no concern for human welfare, little cause to consider Iraqis' concerns after a traumatizing 3-week raining bombs campaign that must in some way have contributed to this unruly outburst. Think about it--I get pissed off when I have to put up with obnoxious dogs barking non-stop next door but what about several thousands, tens of thousands of bombs dropping all over your city? Right now the anger is directed for the most part against Hussein and his regime, but soon enough it will turn towards us, the other perpetrators of terroism and violence.

:: posted by Doreen on 9:46 AM [+] ::
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Complex Thoughts from Robert Fisk
After reading Fisk's latest article, I think it's important that the brevity of the situation in Baghdad should not be forgotten when 'victory' is announced. From the perspective of many independent journalists, this war has taken a grave toll in death, injuries, and devastation of property on the Iraqi people and there is no real reason to celebrate the US occupation although I'm sure the news media here will only show the pretty picture of Iraqis kissing US soldiers' feet. I'm sickened when I read Fisk's articles about the many individual lives affected by one of the most intense, if not the most, bombing campaigns ever. Oh yes, but there were all those WMD's we had to fear. In case anyone's interested, the US has 14,500 nuclear warheads in its defense system, and we think North Korea is paranoid?
:: posted by Doreen on 9:40 AM [+] ::
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Just for the Record
In a recent Time poll, 1200 Europeans were asked what country was the greatest threat to global security and 83% said the United States.
:: posted by Doreen on 11:07 AM [+] ::
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Being Mischievous
This afternoon rather than grade the 60 odd projects that are stacked in various small piles in my living room, I penned off a letter to NBC about the Peter Arnett scandal. Here is my original letter, the response I received shortly after, and my response to its response.

I am writing to express my deep concern about the firing of journalist Peter Arnett. Regardless of the inappropriateness of the interview (and as far as I could tell he reported only what was already known), to fire a dedicated reporter who has put his life on the line, who has done more to provide an important communicative link to the current crisis in Iraq by being in Iraq than many other TV journalists, and who, by establishing trust with the Iraqi gov't, has provided you with opportunities and stories that you would not have had otherwise, is very disturbing. Transgressions such as his happen during one's career--to not give him the benefit of the doubt, to accept his apology, slap him on the wrist, and move on, is unconscionable.

We in the United States live in a very grim age; I am not referring to the terrorist threats, but to the crackdown on free speech in the public sphere since 9/11. The current administration has been incredibly effective in co-ercing mainstream media outlets to do as they say--to be with them or against
them--and your firing of Peter Arnett exhibits both the force in which this message is being relayed and the adherence to it by major broadcasting networks.

Sadly enough, after this most recent illustration of my point above, I have tuned out all US mainstream media and find that British media, despite its often overt political partisanship, conveys a much better
balance of critique, reflection, and objectivity than any news sources in the US today.

Thank you for your time.
All best,
Doreen Piano

Response from NBC as follows:

Thank you for taking the time to write to NBC News. Your comments are always appreciated. We're working hard to provide complete, accurate and responsible coverage of the war in Iraq. We're proud of the efforts of our journalists positioned around the world covering this conflict. We also want you to be aware of our position regarding Peter Arnett. Enclosed is a copy of the statement issued today by NBC News.

NBC News President Neal Shapiro spoke with Peter Arnett via telephone early this morning in an attempt to fully understand the circumstances of Arnett's interview on Iraqi TV. After their discussion, NBC News issued the following statement:

It was wrong for Mr. Arnett to grant an interview to state controlled Iraqi TV -- especially at a time of war -- and it was wrong for him to discuss his personal observations and opinions in that interview. Therefore, Peter Arnett will no longer be reporting for NBC News and MSNBC.

Mr. Arnett later appeared on NBC's Today program and offered an apology. "I want to apologize to the American people for clearly making a misjudgment."Mr. Arnett's ties to NBC and National Geographic Explorer have now been severed.
Thank you contacting NBC News.

My response is as follows:
Dear NBC PR Person:

Thank you for taking the time to write to me. Your response is always appreciated. I'm working hard to find complete, accurate and responsible coverage of the war in Iraq. I too am proud of the efforts of many
journalists positioned around the world covering this conflict especially those who do not work for US mainstream news affiliates.

I want you to be aware of my position regarding your statement about Peter Arnett. Other than the fact that you state that it was wrong in a time of war for Arnett to do what he did, you do not explain why he was fired, especially considering that he publicly apologized for his bad behavior. Thus, I find your
response to my email utterly ineffective in convincing me that there was good reason for him being sacked.
Best,
Doreen Piano

Response to my response was first: returned mail--recepient unknown. I guess one cannot respond to the response. So I re-sent it to the original email address: Nightly@nbc.com, and predictably received the same response as above. So much for dialogue!
:: posted by Doreen on 8:50 PM [+] ::
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Fighting the Good Fight
Of course one of this blog's motivation is to argue (through illustration) that there is good media out there. Most recently is Arundhati Roy's passionate plea in a recent Guardian column (see my 4/2/03 entry), BBCs Rageh Omaar's insightful analyses, John Fisk of the Independent, and his colleague John Pilger, whose column today--We see too much...--spoke angrily on issues of representation of Iraqis, the coalition's inability to see the damage it has done, and the complete lack of sensitivity to the many lives already ruined in the name of freedom. Lastly Hilary Andersson writes poignantly of being implicated as an embed in the invasion of Iraq by US and British military forces.

On Friday I was pleased to find during my morning media trawl a few familiar names among the crowd. The first I came across was a letter in the Economist by an old work colleague Mark Lattimer who currently is director of Minority Rights Group in London. Mark and I worked at the Directory for Social Change, a non-profit organization that published books and gave seminars for NGOs and charities who are seeking various kinds of funding. We've shared many a syrupy Guinness at lunchtime with our fellow workers who were some of the most intelligent and informed people I've ever had the pleasure to work with. It was the 80s; we were a cynical lot, full of hatred for the Thatcher/Reagan duo, despairing over the poll tax, a city beseiged by conservative politics, broken in its infrastructure, an obsolete left; now fifteen years later we are besotten with another disastrous across the pond alliance, although this one does not seem to be as cozy, and in fact appears to be fissured over the future of Iraq, the Palestinian question, and whether or not to invade Korea, Iran, Syria, or Lebanon next.

We knew Mark was destined for big things (and we never kept it to ourselves, the churlish worker bees we were) as he always managed to convince the directors he was that much brighter than the rest of us. Or rather he had the credentials that made him appear that way--cambridge educated, articulate, well-manner, clean cut. I had other aspirations at the time and was content with a lowlife position, doing mostly admin and editing work, while pursuing dreams of being a full-fledged writer, but I had a savage wit, and thus took my job frustrations out on him whenever the chance presented itself. Being Mark, he seemed to enjoy the attention regardless of its bite. However, I must admit that I admire his steadfast ability to stay convicted to progressive politics. Here's to Mark!

Anthony Shadid is the other familiar name. I attended Anthony's wedding to Julie four years ago in Milwaukee. I know him really more as an acquaintance although he is a close friend of my my ex. Anthony has been a reporter in the MidEast for quite some time now, working for AP, The Boston Globe, and now The Washington Post. last year he was shot in the West Bank during the invasion of Jenin and Ramallah. I thought he'd take a desk job after that but it seems he is back in the field reporting from southern Iraq. You can read his most recent posting here: an attempt to give voice to the lives being affected by this invasion. there are definitely good people in the field working with what they can, that slight window of opportunity, to provide a fuller picture of this desperate situation created by the US gov't.
:: posted by Doreen on 8:38 PM [+] ::
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