Hypocrites or Bigots – We Report, You Decide
Subtitled: Great Britain’s Great Hypocrisy
An item on CNN this morning about how Tony Blair was “outraged” over the idea that the British military folks held prisoner by Iran were being “paraded” on Iranian TV caught my eye – does he not know that the BBC is available outside of Britain?
I watch the BBC news quite regularly, and I’ve seen hundreds of stories over the last 4 years that depicted Afghani and Iraqi prisoners being marched in chains and shackles to/from one place or another with hoods over their heads by coalition and British soldiers.
What is the difference?
Is Blair a complete hypocrite? Does he really believe that it is OK for his military to march prisoners in chains and hoods around on British TV but that it is somehow “outrageous” for British prisoners to be shown eating a meal on Iranian TV?
One of our favorite upper-right-quadrant wingnuts (Glenn Beck) is adding to the hypocrisy this morning by going on about how it is against the Geneva Conventions to parade prisoners around on TV.
Where was his outrage when his government was splashing the images of the dead bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein across the worlds TV screens?
Where was his outrage when his government was releasing images of hooded prisoners in orange coveralls and chains being paraded across America’s TV screens.
Then again, maybe they’re not a hypocrites, maybe they’re simply garden variety common racists. Maybe they truly believe that it is OK to march dark skinned, non-Christian, Arab prisoners in chains across western TV screens, or flash images of dark skinned, on-Christian, Arabs in chicken wire cages to the civilized masses, but that sort of thing should never happen to good Christian white folk?
Could they be a hypocrites and a racists? The chances are pretty good IMO.
– give your head a shake Tony, it’s too late for the poodle to grow teeth, you’re just sounding more and more like Bush, IOW, stupid.
The other part of the story discussed the statement by one British military member that the group had been in Iranian waters, the expert the news desk host was talking to told the world that her statement had been “coerced”, that she was probably isolated from her group, and fed false or misleading information, and, because she “did what she had to do” as a result of all that, the confession held no credence?
WTF?
When the coalition people torture confessions out of their prisoners those confessions are hailed as important intelligence breakthroughs that justify the use of torture.
– but when “the other guys”<sup>tm</sup> coerce a confession out of one of “their guys”<sup>tm</sup> it’s a case of the prisoner doing what needed to be done’ and should not be believed.
Glenn has his thoughts on this this morning as well, he says, and I quote, [begin low, thoughtful, compassionate, voice] “I can only imagine what they are going through right now” [end low, thoughtful, compassionate, voice].
This is the very same guy who made fun of people calling stripping prisoners naked and stacking them up in pyramids for fun and stress relief, abuse. You may recall he is one of the people who likened this to cheerleader pyramids at high school football games — a bit of harmless fun.
Unfortunately for people like Tony Blair and Glenn Beck, and all the good little parrots who hang on their words, the “outrage” and the “compassion” gigs ring hollow, and only serve to show them for what they really are.
Update: Not to be left out of the game Rush Limbaugh has announced that it is against the Geneva Convention for the Iranians to put the female British soldier they hold prisoner into a burka – did they do that?
Although Comrade Google News has a lot of news articles about the British prisoners he can’t seem to find anything about any of them being forced into a burka.
Since we’re talking about wearing things though, I wonder which would be worse… a burka?
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the get up this guy was forced to wear? |
| or the shit this guy was forced to wear? |  |
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Apples and oranges.
I have never seen American or British captives forced to make statements on TV. And a free press taking pictures through a fence doesn’t count either.
The Geneva conventions state that soldiers aren’t to be used for propaganda purposes. If The Brit’s, US or Canada use captives for that purpose it’s deplorable. And you’re right to be critical of it.
Oddly enough I don’t here any condemnation of Iran for mistreating their prisoners.
As for Uday and Qusay? Fuck em’. They weren’t soldiers. If they could show them being analy raped with pitch forks in Hell, they should have it on tv 24/7.
Sorry nastyboy, not apples and oranges. Either showing your prisoners on TV is against the Geneva Conventions, or it is not, you can’t have it both ways.
You’re sounding a bit like George Bush here — ’since they’re detainees not prisoners the Conventions don’t apply’, sound vaguely familiar?
How about if Iran pops up and says — ’since we’re not actually at war with Great Britain these people cannot really be considered prisoners of war, so the conventions don’t apply’.
You don’t think the Iranian version of Tony Snow wouldn’t stand up and say something exactly like that?
How about if Iran pops up and says — ‘yes, we’re showing their images, but it’s not for propaganda purposes, we’re being considerate to the needs of their countrymen, it’s to show their families at home that they are alive and being fed’?
You don’t think that an Iranian Sean Hannity wouldn’t say something exactly like that?
The problem with the quibbling that the west has engaged in is that it comes back to bite them on the ass at times like this.
I’m afraid that a goodly portion of the footage we see splashed across our TV screens is either shot by the military or shot with their consent.
Just a note, you do not have to be a soldier in uniform to be covered by the Conventions nastyboy. As much as I happen to think that Uday and Qusay didn’t quite get what was coming to them if their end was either quick or painless, that does not change the law.
I’m not saying that what Iran is doing is fine and dandy, I’m not saying that they are not breaking (at the very least) the spirit of the treaties they are a party to, and I’m not saying that the Brits (or anyone else who gets captured by them or anybody else) deserves what they get – I am saying that Tony Blair’s “outrage” is hypocritical and possibly bigoted. I am also saying that people like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh (and all the others currently ramping up the outrage over this) are hypocrites (and more than likely bigots) for their current stances.
You’re sounding a bit like George Bush here — ’since they’re detainees not prisoners the Conventions don’t apply’, sound vaguely familiar?
You’re jumping to conclusions.
I made that reference to the conventions not applying in regards to Uday and Qusay. Not detainees in US British or allied custody. They were not soldiers, besides, they were dead, not in custody. Conventions don’t apply to the corpses of dead rapist scumbags.
Sorry nastyboy, not apples and oranges. Either showing your prisoners on TV is against the Geneva Conventions, or it is not, you can’t have it both ways.
Maybe, but there is a difference between whats shown on a government run media outlet and what is shown by a free press.
I’m not saying that what Iran is doing is fine and dandy, I’m not saying that they are not breaking (at the very least) the spirit of the treaties they are a party to, and I’m not saying that the Brits (or anyone else who gets captured by them or anybody else) deserves what they get – I am saying that Tony Blair’s “outrage†is hypocritical and possibly bigoted. I am also saying that people like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh (and all the others currently ramping up the outrage over this) are hypocrites (and more than likely bigots) for their current stances.
Thank you for the clarification on the Iranian Govts actions. However I think you’re being to loose with the racsist card. I think it comes down to a “we’re right they’re wrong.” mentality more than anything else.
There’s alot of hair-splitting over what side is doing being worse than what the other side does.
As an ex-soldier, I’d take being filmed with a bag on my head over being forced to make propaganda statements on camera and in writing any day.
Hinting that there is a difference between what is shown on government TV and what is shown by a free press is quibbling nastyboy, broadcasting is a heavily regulated industry, and for all its’ supposed freedom so is the press. I’m not a lawyer but I seem to recall that knowingly allowing an illegal act to take place when you have the authority to stop it is also illegal.
We can, I suppose, [unproductively] quibble about degrees of illegalness and culpability, but the fact is that from where I sit there is a high degree of blatant hypocrisy happening here.
You may be right, a lot of politics revolves around that sort of divisiveness and hypocrisy , but don’t discount the racist element. There is a huge concern and chest thumping when the soldiers of good, Christian, white, armies are captured and/or abused in any way what so ever that we simply do not see when those dark skinned foreigners are captured.
If you doubt that go looking for any sort of significant and official condemnation about the dark skinned, innocent folks, including kids, who were rounded up by coalition forces and thrown into detention or interrogation camps for years by coalition forces for no other crime than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
More garbage out of another inhabitant of the upper-right-quadrant. Sean Hannity is going on and on [and on) about the horrors of mock executions that were a part of the previous Iran hostage crisis – if it wasn’t so pathetic it would be funny (there’s that potential category again). He didn’t have any problems with them when it was US Marines pulling the triggers of empty rifles, he didn’t even seem to have any problems with prisoners being made to dig their own graves prior to mock executions…. but that was when it was the “other guy”
suffering the horrorsbeing punished, interrogated, or broken.Hypocrisy or bigotry – you decide.