The Fall of Bagdad VS the Media

[Dreamer128]

The Rest of the West Is Less Than Impressed

By Jefferson Morley
washingtonpost.com Staff
Thursday, April 10, 2003; 8:57 AM


What if they gave a victory party and nobody showed up?

The Western online media outside of North America seem far less impressed by the news out of Baghdad than their U.S. counterparts. Even in countries allied with the U.S. war effort, the toppling of statues of Saddam Hussein is being greeted less as an occasion for joy than an opportunity to comment quietly on the American way of war.

The French are certainly not in a rush to expound on the Bush administration's apparent victory. Today's editorial in Le Monde, the antiwar daily in Paris, was written about the time U.S. tanks rolled into downtown Baghdad yesterday. But the editors' focus was not on the imminent demise of the regime, but on the U.S. attacks Monday morning on the Palestine Hotel and the al-Jazeera offices in Baghdad which killed three journalists.

These attacks, already ancient history in the speedy American news cycle, are symbolic of U.S. tactics in taking of Baghdad, say the editors.

"A flood of fire vis-a-vis the slightest threat or what is perceived as such: air raids and tank fire and heavy machine gun shooting in a crowded downtown. The civilian victims undoubtedly number in the hundreds. A military culture is the cause: the massive use of force against the slightest danger, so much the worse for civilians. The British army gives a contrary example: that of patience and reserve. To preserve the future, even if it requires taking risks."

British critics of the war are subdued but still full of advice.

"On one level the US-British success to date is deeply impressive and on another, troubling," write the editors of The Guardian, the leftist London daily that lead the antiwar campaign in the British press. "Saddam's overthrow is a great boon. But Iraq's 'liberation' must not lead to internal destabilisation or external exploitation. Pre-war promises must be fulfilled; there must be long-term follow-through and a major rethink, too. For George Bush's America must understand that Iraq does not mean future pre-emptive, unilateral, illegal war-making is now somehow OK. Sometimes war proves unstoppable; but it is seldom OK."

Compared to getting the water supply running again, talking about history at this moment might seem a luxury, writes historian Timothy Garton Ash in The Guardian. "It isn't. Dealing rightly with the past is more important even than water for the long-term health of a future Iraqi democracy," he says.

Garton Ash, who made a name for himself writing about transition from communism to democracy in Eastern Europe, warned that against U.S. plans to try Iraqi war criminals under American law.

"There's always the suspicion among the defeated in a war that any subsequent trials are "victors' justice". Nothing could be better calculated to confirm that view than this crass proposal."

Garton Ash says establishing democracy depends on being sensitive to the defeated Iraqis.

"Trials should, usually, be confined to the very worst category of human rights violations and war crimes. They should be conducted by a neutral international court applying international humanitarian law that was in force at the time the crimes were committed. Otherwise you violate a principle of justice by making it retrospective. If you use your own national laws, or make up new ones to fit the occasion, this, to the defeated, does not look like justice at all. "

In Switzerland, victory celebrations get short shrift in favor of the Swiss's favorite topic: banking. The top Iraq story in the English-language edition of the Zurich daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung declares, "Saddam's successor has controversial Swiss past."

The story details how Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon's favorite candidate to run post-war Iraq, ran the Geneva branch of the Lebanese bank, Mebco, which is owned by his family. The story details why the bank was shut down by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission in 1989.

In the Madrid daily El Mundo the lead story reports that the war goes on. Turkish officials are quoted saying the Kurdish advance on the oil-rich city of Kirkuk is unacceptable. The photo of Iraqis holding up a sign that says "Bush: Yes Yes Yes" is relegated to second place.

The front page photo in another Spanish daily, El Pais reports, not on celebrations, but on the arrival of the Red Cross. On the opinion page, the editors write that Hussein's fall "is a reason for satisfaction, but adds, "Although the scent of the victory distracts those who carried it out, this war was avoidable. The world is better without this dictator, but the management of this conflict contributes to debilitation of the already fragile international order."

In Australia, the most junior partner in the war coalition, the Sydney Morning Herald doesn't treat the fall of Baghdad as a big deal. The paper's lead story is about a battle for a palace north of the Iraqi capital that "demonstrates the fighting is far from over."

And the paper's cartoons give a more sardonic Down Under view of the American victory. One shows a U.S. tank pulling down a statue of the United Nations. Another shows three hooded figures, one adult, two children (a poke at the dimunitive British and Australian roles) smashing a bee hive called the Middle East. A swarm of bees is headed for a nearby group of peacefully picnicking Europeans.

© 2003 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

All I can say, is that it was quite a hot topic on the Dutch newsstations.

[Melusine]

Just wanted to say what a cool, poetically correct ( ) title for an article!
The rest of the West is less than impressed... brilliant [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

Edit: oh and yeah, I fully agree that it was a hot topic in the Netherlands.
So take it from people who actually LIVE here to see the evidence, people, in stead of relying on all kinds of dodgy internet sites to tell you what's going on in Europe (like in the Anti-Semitism debate)
My own paper, De Volkskrant (one of the major newspapers here - traditionally a left-wing paper, today it's more moderate) had a HUGE row of photos, all in full colour, that ran the top of several pages, with pictures of Saddam-statues pulled down, Saddam-depictions smudged, ridiculed and torn, and many many other pictures and stories on the liberation of Baghdad.
It is very much a hot topic here.

[ 04-10-2003, 04:01 PM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

[Dreamer128]

Yeah, but I do think the 'Volkskrant' overcovers the war though. They moved all local news from pages two and three to the back of the paper. Now, I can understand that. But I really don't want to know every minor detail regarding this conflict. Especially when these articles are placed at the expence of other interesting facs.

[ 04-10-2003, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]

[Larry_OHF]

My news source disagrees with your's...

Chirac 'rejoices' as Saddam falls
Thursday, April 10, 2003 Posted: 8:43 AM EDT (1243 GMT)

"France, like every democracy, is rejoicing over the collapse of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, and hopes for a quick and effective end to the battle."

His foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, added: "With the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, a dark page has been turned."

The French daily newspaper La Liberation focused on the causes of the war, saying: "The successful military campaign in Iraq can only reassure the powerful U.S. that its vision of the world must be the right one.

************************************************** ******************************

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, who committed his country's troops to war, was quoted as being "delighted" at pictures showing the toppling of President Saddam Hussein's symbols of power.

[Thoran]

The Washington Post isn't going to sell papers with the headline "The Rest of the West thinks we're the Best" now are they? It's conflict that sells papers (even if it's exaggerated and sensationalized, or maybe that should be ESPECIALLY if it's exaggerated and sensationalized)
Agreement is boring.

Can you tell I'm just a TAD cynical about the media [img]smile.gif[/img] .

[Dreamer128]

Aaaah.. I don't think there is a single newspaper in the world that is truly objective. Well, perhaps maybe 'de Duinstreek'

[Melusine]

Originally posted by Dreamer128: Aaaah.. I don't think there is a single newspaper in the world that is truly objective. Well, perhaps maybe 'de Duinstreek'

"De Duinstreek"?? LOL, sounds like a paper Henri could read in "Goudkust" [img]tongue.gif[/img] (sorry, old fan here, I know I should be ashamed [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

[ 04-10-2003, 04:36 PM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

[Skunk]

In Switzerland, victory celebrations get short shrift in favor of the Swiss's favorite topic: banking. The top Iraq story in the English-language edition of the Zurich daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung declares, "Saddam's successor has controversial Swiss past." The story details how Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon's favorite candidate to run post-war Iraq, ran the Geneva branch of the Lebanese bank, Mebco, which is owned by his family. The story details why the bank was shut down by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission in 1989.

That's funny! I already knew about his embezzlement of $70 million from a Jordan bank - had no idea he'd pulled off something similar in Switzerland too! This guy is perfect puppet government material:

"Do what we say - or we will hand you over to Jordan to finish your 22 year hard labour sentence".

[Dreamer128]

Originally posted by Melusine: Quote: Originally posted by Dreamer128: Aaaah.. I don't think there is a single newspaper in the world that is truly objective. Well, perhaps maybe 'de Duinstreek'

"De Duinstreek"?? LOL, isn't that the paper Henri used to read in "Goudkust"? (sorry, old fan here, I know I should be ashamed [img]tongue.gif[/img] )[/QUOTE]Hm.. perhaps. I think 'Henrí's villa' can be found in Bloemendaal. While the Duinstreek is a very, very small newspaper from Bergen. Featuring only local news.

[Timber Loftis]

I can think of nothing more boring than reading a newspaper editorial about how newspapers report. Comparing what makes front page to second page in different countries falls right after picking belly button lint and right before toe clipping on my list of priorities.

Here's some actual NEWS: in response to the US flag that was inappropriately put over Saddam's head -- front page news all over Muslim nations yesterday -- the US has prohibited its troops from displaying US flags as dominating soil or buildings in Iraq. Good call. That soldier was probably just some good ol' Tennessee redneck who wanted to rejoice a bit, but it played VERY poorly in the media. Now, personally, I think put an Iraqi flag over his head would of been symbolic of the real triumph.