Paris Hilton & Iraqi Prisoners
American cable news has been fixated on the jailing of socialite Paris Hilton for the past week, on grounds that she twice violated the probation sentence she earlier received for drunk driving. They interrupted coverage of world leaders at the G8. They briefly spliced in Gates's decision not to reappoint Peter Pace as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. A new frenzy broke out with every tiny twist . She was brave, she was weeping, she was mentally fragile. She was released, she was rejailed, she shouted it was unfair and cried, she was undergoing psychiatric evaluation.
Just for a little perspective, we could consider the news from Iraq on Saturday. Incoming mortar fire from guerrillas hit Bucca prison, killing 6 inmates and wounding 50.
The US military is holding 19000 Iraqis, 16000 of them at Bucca. Although most are guerrillas or their helpers, a lot of them were picked up because they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Once arrested, an inmate often cannot clear himself for months or years. I don't think they have access to attorneys. No one cares if they are depressed. At Abu Ghraib earlier on, some inmates were systematically tortured. It is unlear if all such practices have ceased.
Some Iraqi women have been held in this way. Some were essentially hostages, taken to make them reveal where their husbands or fathers were or to guarantee their good behavior. Their reputations were shot, since Iraqis think Americans are sex fiends and wouldn't trust the virtue of a woman who had been in their custody. The unmarried among them are likely doomed to be spinsters.
American television never mentions that the US has 19000 Iraqis in jail, or that some have been women, or that some are innocent, or how they feel about being in prison.
So is Paris Hilton being given special treatment by our media? We all are, folks.
posted by Juan Cole @ 6/10/2007 06:29:00 AM
18 Comments:
Why might Iraqis, Filipinos, and Okinawans, and Thais - for starters - think that Americans are sex fiends? Aren't these the people who gang-raped a 14-year-old girl, like those who gang-raped the 12-year-old in Okinawa, in both cases protected by their chain of command? And what kind of barbarians take wives and daughters hostage anyway? Didn't they used to think the Nazis were such awful people because they did such things?
Why does Paris Hilton have more traction with American audiences than Iraqi prisoners? That's easy, and it has nothing to do with the nefarious media.
Paris Hilton is foxy, and slutty, and rich. Men can fantasize about having her, and women can fantasize about being her, or maybe not being her.
It's not nearly as entertaining to think about Iraqi prisoners, because that means to think about just what you're supporting when you "support our troops," nearly half of whom actually say that they approve of torture, and who shamelessly sing songs like "Haji Girl" - and all with the hearty approval of their chain of command, who for the most part are even perfectly OK with their own women soldiers being raped and abused. To paraphrase Roger Taney in the Dred Scott decision, how much more then do Iraqis have no rights that any American is bound to respect?
You can be sure that the real support for torture and other barbarities is even higher than stated in the polls of American soldiers, since nobody says yes to such questions who believe no, while many will say no when their true answer is yes.
Barbarian nation?
Terry Gross' Fresh Air on Wednesday June 6 had excellent sections on U.S. torture techniques and on interviews with Iraqi survivors of U.S. imprisonment (http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13&agg=0&prgDate=06-06-2007&view=storyview).
Off the topic, but: Dr. Cole, will you comment on the June 9th article "IRAQ: Lawmaker Confirms Kurd-Shia Clashes in Baghdad" by "Ali al-Fadhily" appearing at http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38113 ?
Apparently clashes at the end of May between Peshmerga and Shiite militia in southwestern Baghdad were resolved by some kind of deal between the al-Maliki government and the Kurds, according to which the Kurds will support the "dissolving " government, al-Maliki will concede Kurdish claims to Kirkuk, and the Peshmerga did withdraw from the neighborhoods in question, which are apparently Sunni, and were replaced by Shiite militia.
This paints an extremely volatile picture of Baghdad and makes last week's estimate of Green Zone control of 1/3 of the neighborhoods of the city seem optimistic. Moreover the clash between Peshmerga and Shiites occurred more than 10 days ago but seems to be only now emerging into English-language coverage.
Well said Prof. Cole and had to be said. Many thanks.
However imagine that it was in Iran, Zimbabwe (and now Russia) or any other "developing country" were a convicted prisoner was freed and then recaptured after a media brouhaha, we would have never finished. We would have laughter, disbelief and ... Amnesty International and all other pundits teaching us how "democracy" and a proper judicial system function.
I work in mainstream TV press, and was shocked by the level of Paris coverage on Friday. We didn't mention 3500 KIA Iraq, the CIA secret prisons in Poland, G-8, etc. I also saw the lead up to the Iraq war inside a TV newsroom, and recall like-minded colleagues and myself being marginalized when we asked for more balanced stories, and some level headed coverage.
If the government regulates baby food, pills, etc - don't you think we need some kind of OVERSIGHT, or just basic STANDARDS for the American News Media? I mean, we've lost 3500 soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis - and of course its not just the media's fault - but we were one of many fail-safes our society supposedly has in place to prevent GENOCIDES like the War in Iraq from happening.
Do you think if the Press covered dissenting opinions on the Iraq War lead up in a serious way, that Bush would have the balls to invade?
No, because these neo-facists understand only two things: violence or public humiliation.
They don't have souls, but the news media should.
Sorry to be leaving an anonymous identity: I don't have a web page or google account. Posting comments has not previously been one of my activities.
However, I was very impressed by Juan's apt, intelligent and straight forward article. The lead-in from a current tabloid media story to a wider and deeper subject was seamlessly done.
Additionally, the lack of "spin" and sensationalist rhetoric is refreshing. Juan has not isolated himself on moral high ground - he has provided a perspective that cannot easily be disregarded.
Juan, thank you for your article.
[For your amusement, mostly. Below is something I concocted for Henican @ Newsday to chuckle over. Somewhat corresponding to your comments, it is a stark constrast to what is going on in peoples' live who are actually supposed to be 'freed,' especially in a culture that has quite different views on women and incarceration in general. R]
Went to see whatchoo were up to and found that Paris is on your mind (I won't ask what she does for your Eiffel Tower)!
Anyway, cheap levity aside, we need to think of Paris as a 'freedom fighter,' the kind that puts herself into unbelieveable situations only to become the lightning rod for social issues. We would have expected that she would get some preferential treatment given her connexions but inasmuch as she has been locked up, freed (sort of), then hauled off to court, then ordered to be reincarcerated, she can only stand for the
'equal treatment under the law' crowd.
While she is indeed quite demonstrative about her plight (close quarters, dykes, poor food, lights on, noise, et cetera), she is only highlighting what everyone else goes through (and, yes, I was once the tenth man in an eight man cell due to a DUI some 25 years ago)(I know about no sleep and over cooked burritoes (to be eaten with - ugghh - plastic utensils) and a
lack of privy privacy!!!). Aside from the environmental and acclimatisation issues, she should be the poster girl for moneyed mettle, bringing some class into the cell block, not unlike The Pelvis did with
'Jailhouse Rock,' but where Joan Rivers canNOT sell her mystery mettle wares!
While the Law written by Murphy seems to have addressed Missy Paris quite aptly, we need to understand - and be understanding about - how every issue that has arisen has put preferential treatment under the spotlight, not unlike that which she has so arduously cultivated as being a 'Simple Life' star or an A-List model. Under all of that make-up and those flimsy-flirtsy clothes, she is - after all - a woman, human, and an American! She should be encouraged to fulfill her societal
responsibilities, duties, and obligations to stand up for the Robert Downey, Jrs, the Ricky Dreyfusses, the Nick Noltes, and so many others for whom - and, oh, yes, 'Cecil B. De' Mel Gibson - stardom and pardigmatic notoriety should extend to all facets and venues of high society, even
going to the slammer!
As she is no different from any other red-blooded (or is it 'blue-blooded'?) American girl, she should forget the 'Troop Beverly Hills' facade and get into the 'Private Benjamin' naturalness. After all, she is but a chrysalis, yearning to complete her tranformation into a beautiful
butterfly that will have its day of fame and glory. Given the proper period of incubation and ideal conditions, she can emerge to be the woman she always wanted to be. Mind you, it canNOT be hemimetabolism but MUST be holometabolism, not mimicking her adults but going through a complete
metamorphosis.* We can see that former pupa, now chrysalis stirring inside the cocoon, the wings being formed just awaiting the right time (upon completion of 40+ days in her 8 X 12 chamber) to fly free and flit and flutter flightily and flatteringly.
To this end, perhaps there should be a drive to acquire and forward to
Mlle Paris copies of 'Private Benjamin' (and it is all about the 'Benjamins,' no?) for her and all of her friends, pals, cohorts, succubi, and other assorted hangers-on to have and to watch, allowing them the
chance to see how they all, too, can be all they can be! While the Hawn
character might NOT be an exact role model for Paris et ses amies (and, my
gosh, WHO is?!? (pardon the 'Musto' and pass the mustard)(or cut 'em both), there is enough of the spirit of the occasion for the Judge to give her (them) the option - jail or Iraq/Afghanistan! If 'Private Benjamin'
is not their cup o' noodles, then perhaps another Hawn vehicle might be, that of 'Joanna Stayton/Annie Proffitt' as Hawn portrayed them in 'Overboard' (and who can deny that M'amzelle Paris has not gone 'overboard'?).
FREE Paris! Paris Libre (we'll leave it to La Ducessa Michaela Musta to find the recipe, sort of like a 'Cuba Libre')! The cocoon must open! Must mature! She must find out what it's like to be a 'liberated' Paris!
All of the potential in those GIs can't be wrong! Better than Baghdad, with real flowers strewn and kisses (and whatever else) galore! Duty, honour, cuntery! Papa Razza, the bloodline of the father(s), their
telescopic whatevers taking all of her (them) in! In for a litre, in for a litter! When she becomes the Razza Mama, with a little more meat on her bones, she'll settle down and settle in. And, you know what? She'll be able to bond more completely with the little prisoners serving those nine month sentences!
We must guide her and her ilk! We don't want a Rodney King wannabe riot on the hands of the L.A.-la Land County Sheriff! Can you see it now? All of those roosters and chickens strutting down Rodeo Drive, midriffs bared, calves tensed, creating mayhem, running riotously riot through all of the shoppes and boutiques, Winona (née UHaul) Ryder-style, the jingling of
navel-piercing jewels and the clatter of open-toed mules, all up and down
the ritzy-schnitzy districts, demonstrating their disapproval for Paris's sentence by charging only knock-offs and imitators' faux Diors and Chanels. Quel débâcle! Zut alors! Sacré bleu! Nothing like it ever
seen since the dawn's early light at the after Thanksgiving earlybird sale
at Bloomingdales!
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis_(biology)
Alamaine, IVe
Wow, if Paris Hilton can grab the attention of a history professor, the deans of media must be doing something right.
Celebrities, like the weather, are one of the few "shared experiences" that one can discuss at work or in social gatherings without inciting rancor or creating division. Sports and music also qualify, except that not everyone follows a particular team or composer.
Most audiences tune out to any sort of "heavy news." Intractible topics such as war, abortion, or immigration draw sighs and groans, not good to promote viewership or advertising. In much of the world, it takes a headline and picture of a soccer story or a celebrity scandal to sell a paper or keep a listener. If the items sold at supermarket checkout lines are any indication, a good share of the world cares about nothing else, except maybe weight loss, recipes, or astrology.
The average Hilton-entranced, tabloid-reading, lottery-playing, news-indifferent person has every right to ask what I or anyone else would do differently in Iraq. They might nod if I say, "Just get out." But this would not be especially virtuous or significant. There is no one to hand the keys. I see zero reason to believe that such an action would make the situation prettier. Those who say it is "none of your business" what goes wrong afterwards will be the first to blame the US for all that does go wrong. Ironically, some want the US to intervene in Darfur. Ah, yes another religious war to mediate with guns.
It does not good to label the military ghouls and rapists. Liecthenstein and maybe Costa Rica get by without one, but most places depend on some "legitimate monopoly of force." This is precisely what Iraq lacks.
An army is often the most inclusive organization a country has. But if composed mainly of young males with spotty records, given guns, and placed in a remote and hostile place, do not expect pure chivalry and decency. Rules that can fail in the best of circumstances will almost certainly fail in the worst.
Officers do protect their ranks and may lie rather than uncover a demoralizing or criminal scandal. A few may be goons themselves. But, as a group, they do not savor theft, murder or rape.
When it appears that Iraqis want some melange of the Mahdi Army, the Badr Brigade, the Pesh Merga, the Interior Ministry, or AMS militias to run Iraq, that might be fine. Hand the job over. But I don't think any of them will manage to rule with just whistles, smart jackets, and white gloves.
The Broadway Musical "Chicago" is currently on a nationwide "revival" tour and has much to teach about the state of US media sensationalism and why it persists in much the same way as it did 100 years ago: "Murder is the most popular form of entertainment in Chicago," is one of the lines. Those who've seen the film or statge production will remember the lawyer and his "razzle-dazzle 'em" because the public wants a good story, not the truth. And so forth.
I noticed change, however. Some of the original "laugh-lines" related to murder, mayhem, lurid sex scandals, and the US public's seeming penchant for them based on the media's representations were not laughed at--not at all--just "dead" silence. This was the reaction of a Portland, Oregon audience, a city where almost 4/5s are very much against the war and very much want the criminal Bush administration in chains, so their "sophisticated" silence may not be the norm for the US.
I must thank you for allowing Peter Attwod's comment regarding our society's "Nazi equivalence," which I tried to put forward in a much less elegant manner and you declined to post. The quest for objectivity demands we hold the mirror before ourselves and our country to see--and understand how--we came to become a bestial empire and imperial automatons.
“…….Most audiences tune out to any sort of "heavy news……"
They did tune in very well when the media was selling the Iraq war to them, they even bought all the lies despite many saying it is lies. I remember in the Senate there were only 2 votes against the war. So the lawmakers knew their constituent bought the war.
The media can grab the attention of the audience if they wanted too. It is not that most people tune out as someone here said. In this case, the media is desperately seeking stories to deliberately tunes the people away from serious matters and busy them with frivolous one. This is by design and under total control of the media and the masses.
No wonder so many countries in the world bans foreigner from ownership of the media establishment among other National Security matters such as ownership in Electric companies.
Ownership of the media is the larger issue.
However, trying to develop a diversity of voices outside of the mainstream media is the most pressing challenge.
Undermining the "authority" of the mainstream media is the task at hand... sites like this give one hope.
It is as if the wrong "type" of patient has been brought to the emergency room, such as an Iraqi or a Palestinian, and rather than treat the patient, or be honest about it and deny the patient treatment (due to bigotry), someone on the hospital staff directs attention to the deplorable condition of the flowers in the gift shop.
Allow me to carry this analogy further. It is as if a victim of a violent assault is ignored for political reasons.
Iraq, the nation, has been raped by the neo-con driven US military, and the US media abandons its responsibility in favor of trivial Paris Hilton.
Will the US feminist movement kindly step up to the challenge?
Actually, 23 Senators voted against the Iraq war resolution -- not 2.
The Red Cross reports that 70% to 90% of Iraqi prisoners in U.S. custody are INNOCENT. See link...
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0511-04.htm
A former U.S. Army interrogator said 90 percent of the Iraqi prisoners in U.S. custody are innocent...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10882510/
The U.S. military admits that the evidence against prisoners is justified in only one in four cases....
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/11468
But the military is torturing these Iraqis everyday....
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/03/28/2003248098
And the U.S. military is torturing Iraqis TO DEATH....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4355779.stm
Iraq's prime minister said U.S. troops “habitually” kill unarmed civilians. He said that violence against civilians by coalition troops was a “daily phenomenon”.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2233566,00.html
I happened to be sitting in front of a TV with CNN playing today and I had my laptop with me. There was no mention of the bridge bombing/collapse in Mahmoudiya, even an hour after AP picked up the story. Curious, I went to the CNN website and no link was provided on their home page. The US media is truly pitiful.
Totally off track but should sound familiar to Professor Cole
A DePaul University professor who has accused some Jews of improperly using the legacy of the Holocaust to get compensation payments has been denied tenure after a drawn-out public fight.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070611/ap_on_re_us/depaul_professor;_ylt=Alh2qj6maqSnUld._aoHU0BvzwcF
"They can deny me tenure, deny me the right to teach," the 53-year-old Norman Finkelstein said. "But they will never stop me from saying what I believe."
Finkelstein's most recent book, "Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History," is largely an attack on Alan Dershowitz's "The Case for Israel." In it, Finkelstein argues Israel uses the outcry over perceived anti-Semitism as a weapon to stifle criticism.
I don't see the Hilton brouhaha as an avoidance of the issue of Iraqi prisoners. The injustice to the latter, in terms of procedural due process and everyday treatment, has been egregious since the beginning, and no new scandals have come to light. Indeed, I rarely see anyone even ask, much less try to answer, how many Iraqis have died since 3/03, and how many have been permanently injured. Most Americans care only about American blood and treasure, not the number of orphans, amputees, and ghosts to whom they might have to explain how it was all worth it.
On the other hand, the sentencing of Scooter Libby IS news. I believe he will not ever have to defend his nickname with his manly prowess at any of our Club Feds, and this is the outrage from which the public is being distracted. Hilton's reimprisonment is supposed to assure us that the rich do not receive special treatment.
"No wonder so many countries in the world bans foreigner from ownership of the media establishment among other National Security matters such as ownership in Electric companies."
Sorry, Mr. SNP (Snoopy?). National control of media is no protection against hysteria or nonsense, but it does tend to promote authoritarian rule and quietism. Consider China. Exclusive control of the media by local government or oligarchy is the worst solution of all. Good journalism cannot flourish where one leader or his cronies can brand a person ineligible to report because of nationality. If a local crony or lobby locks up exclusive control of any utility, it usually assures inferior service, higher cost, and wealth of a few. Consider TELMEX or PERTAMINA.
Post a Comment
<< Home