ABU GHRAIB, BERG AND RACISM [Jonah Goldberg ]
I was reading through a very interesting discussion at Instapundit on how the media is obsessed with Abu Ghraib, while Americans are concerned with Nick Berg -- and it got me thinking. Now, I agree with all the people who say that we should hold Americans to a higher standard than we do our enemies. And, I even agree that the American press should be more concerned by the abuses of its own government than the actions of foreign governments or individuals.
But I keep thinking of a point made by Bret Stephens, the editor of the Jerusalem Post, when asked why Israel keeps killing members of Hamas when it's so "counter-productive." He said something to the effect of (paraphrasing from memory):
"I think it's an odd sort of racism which assumes that Arabs are like cockroaches or insects and that they have no regard for their own lives and that we can kill terrorists forever and it will do no good because there's an infinite supply of Arab murderers." He went on to say something like "We don't believe all Palestinians are interchangeably animals who want to murder women and children."
Now, I am butchering what he said but I think I've got the thrust right. At the time, I confess, I thought it wasn't a particularly good argument (and I still think it has some flaws). But when I look at the coverage -- or lack thereof -- of Nick Berg's murder versus the coverage of Abu Ghraib, I can't help but shake the feeling that the American press thinks Arabs are savages and therefore it's not a big deal -- or a good idea -- to remind Americans of that fact.
Indeed, this was part of my initial criticism of CBS's release of the Abu Ghraib photos; it seems like the press is gung ho to make Americans look savage whenever possible and, conversely, to make those they consider to be savages look like decent misunderstood victims.
When it comes to murderous Third Worlders, it seems the press suffers from the soft bigotry of low expectations. |
