(Deutsche Version am Ende des Beitrags)
(Translation by Hartmut Lau)
Here’s a neat little example of biased reporting the German media have developed into an art form.
The following AP Germany report appeared in numerous German print media over the last few days (our translation):
New Allegations of Prisoner Mistreatment in Iraq
Portland/USA (AP) U.S. soldiers have made new allegations against their own supervisors. …
First impression? Abu Ghraib continued. New allegations have been made, old suspicions are being confirmed. They’re torturing again, and doing it because of directives from on high.
A report published Sunday in the American newspaper The Oregon (sic) indicates that the abuse of numerous prisoners by Iraqi policemen was tolerated by U.S. commanders.
This sentence finally makes it clear that it was Iraqi policemen, not - as in Abu Ghraib - American soldiers who were responsible for mistreatment. However, the insinuation is obvious – US commanders are complicit in the Iraqi policemen’s deeds. (An aside – the newspaper is The Oregonian, not The Oregon).
And only in subsequent sentences do we find a more precise description of the incident:
The newspaper’s sources are Oregon National Guard soldiers who had tried to help the mistreated Iraqis. They had, however, been ordered to leave the prisoners to their tormentors.
Here, by contrast, is the original American AP report, upon which the German AP report is based:
Soldiers' Rescue Attempt in Iraq Rebuffed
PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon National Guard soldiers attempted to stop Iraqi jailers from abusing dozens of prisoners, but were ordered to return the prisoners to their abusers and leave, according to a published report. (...)
Neither a direct relationship between the Abu Ghraib abuses nor a claim of any conspiracy between Iraqi policemen mistreating their prisoners and US commanders is mentioned in the American AP report.
Why? Because the facts are these: American soldiers became aware of - presumed – mistreatment of prisoners by Iraqi policemen and intervened in the prison and gave the prisoners first aid. After checking with their commanders they left the prison. The reason? It was the first day after the transfer of sovereignty from the occupation authority to the interim Iraqi government. There was no legal basis for the American soldiers’ intervention. The American authorities wanted to avoid a conflict with the brand new Iraqi government. Rather than continue a direct intervention on the ground the American chain of command elected a political-military approach. They informed Iraqi authorities responsible for supervising the policemen in question.
Apparently this effort was successful, as reported in the original article in The Oregonian:
Guardsmen interviewed for this story said they've watched the detention facility closely since then, and that many of the prisoners were released soon after the raid on the detention facility.
The soldiers said they have not seen any further prisoner abuse occur there.
Doesn’t necessarily sound like “New Allegations of Prisoner Mistreatment in Iraq.” The German AP’s report, that the abuse of numerous prisoners by Iraqi policemen "was tolerated by U.S. commanders," is clearly wrong.
How skillfully the German media have associated this incident with the Abu Ghraib abuses can be seen in the following extracts:
Frankfurter Rundschau:
Allegations against Senior Officers in Torture Scandal
US Soldiers Alleged To Have Been Ordered To Abandon Prisoners To Iraqi Tormentors
US soldiers have solidified allegations concerning the treatment of Iraqi prisoners against their superiors. A US military court postponed the hearing in case of Lynndie England, a soldier involved in the torture scandal at the Baghdad prison.
Focus Online: Torture In Iraq – Orders To Look The Other Way
SPIEGEL ONLINE:
Torture Hearing
Judge Considers Subpoenaing Rumsfeld
According to a media report, US commanders consciously tolerated abuses in Iraq. A Tunisian released from Guantanamo Bay spoke of confessions obtained under duress. The hearing for a female soldier accused of serious crimes has been suspended so that a subpoena to US Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld can be considered.
Handelsblatt:
Abuses Tolerated
New Accusations Against US Troops in Iraq
We really don’t have to comment on this technique any more.
By the way, while searching for the original story in The Oregonian I found this article about a soldier returning to the USA from Iraq in another Oregon newspaper:
Mission accomplished
Roseburg High grad returns after 15 months serving in Iraq
(...) Despite the hardships -- being away from family, witnessing countless deaths and enduring intense heat and dehydration -- Clegg said he and the other soldiers kept their spirits. (...)
Clegg never doubted the reason for fighting the war, and he said the military's presence after the war is just as important as the fight.
"Whenever you take the army out of power ... you still have to stay there to rebuild the country," he said.
He said overall the Iraqi people appreciated the soldiers being there. People would stop them in the street and tell them they were doing a good job.
The unit was patrolling Baghdad in December and hadn't heard that Saddam Hussein had been captured. They found out because of gunshots in the streets.
"It was pretty amazing," he said. "That was one way they celebrated, was with gunfire."
After six years in the Army, Clegg's stint could have been up while he was in Iraq, but he decided to re-enlist for another three years.
"Being in the Army and being able to do my job, that's a fun thing to do," he said.
Tamie Clegg-Wedge was surprised that after more than a year in Iraq, she hasn't noticed any big changes in her son.
And we’ve noticed hardly any reports like this one in the German media – no abuse of Iraqi prisoners, Iraqis that thank the US soldiers, no delayed psychological trauma to the US soldiers. The article simply didn’t have the type of material that German journalists use to weave their Iraq reports.
(Hat tip Gabi)
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