Some Arab writers criticize the Arab media for taking the Iraqi side in an unethical, unequal and unjust war. They are accusing the Arab media of not being objective. The only thing needed for the media to be fair, it seems, is for them to support the Anglo-American invasion and ignore the suffering of the Iraqi people.
What kind of game are these people playing? Can’t they see that this war is unfair and unethical and the whole world, with all its civil and international bodies, stands against this war? They do not want innocent people to suffer for the interests of the West. Many even in the West itself are against this war because they believe that there is no good reason for it. The real interests behind it include a new strategy by the American government to redraw the map of the region, protect Israel and steal Iraqi oil. Don’t these Arab journalists and political analysts feel strongly about the genocide the Iraqi people have twice suffered under the Iraqi regime and now from the Tomahawk cruise missiles and Apache helicopters and thousands of bombs that fall on them daily?
What kind of objectivity do these commentators expect? The Arabs working on these channels are Arabs. Does objectivity mean showing Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell and all the Anglo-Americans generals spouting lies? Or does it mean showing images of Iraqi victims who die because of American and British aggression in their country? It is enough that the American media is accusing the Arab media of taking the Iraqi side in this rotten war. Do they expect the Arab media too to look for excuses for the American and British troops when they kill more innocent men, women and children?
Everyone dreams of a free Iraq. No one can ignore the hundreds of dead and disfigured bodies. This insane bombardment humiliates Iraqis and destroys their lives. Please stop misleading us in the name of objectivity.
Arab News From the Local Press 3 April 2003
