- The images of carnage and severed bodies are quite telling.
On Wednesday, coalition fighter jets bombed what they claimed were missile
launchers located 'near' civilian areas in Baghdad. Instead, they hit a
bustling marketplace in the heart of Baghdad.
-
- The BBC's Rageh Omar was one of the first western journalists
to reach the area: "I saw human remains, bits of severed hands, bits
of skull. Al-Shaab is a residential district. I saw people in apartment
blocks throwing out their belongings attempting to leave. It was a scene
of confusion as emergency services tried to rush to the scene.Our correspondents
were unable to find an obvious military target in the area."
-
- ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2888429.stm)
-
-
- Al Jazeera also made it to the scene and was able to
film dead bodies being removed from the rubble, some dismembered, others
covered entirely in dust and blood.
-
- Images that were broadcast into the homes of more than
50 million Arabs in the Middle East and around the world.
-
- CNN would not budge. They refused to acknowledge that
such civilian deaths had occurred. Instead, they persisted in one of their
banner headlines that "Iraqi civilians are being killed by Iraqis,
not coalition".
-
- They didn't show footage.
-
- Al Jazeera reports that some 40 civilians have been killed
with 300 wounded.
-
- No such report from CNN. Instead, we are privy to regurgitated
reports from 'embedded' journalists.
-
- Finally, by the afternoon CNN dedicated a whole four
seconds of coverage to the marketplace massacre.
-
- Nevertheless, Al Jazeera continues to bring the impact
of coalition 'precision' bombing on Iraqi civilians. An Al Jazeera crew
in Basra filmed women and children being brought into a Basra hospital
for treatment. Most were covered in blood. One child had his shoulder severed.
This is the uprising the coalition has been talking about.
-
- (Someone is irked by Al Jazeera. The Al Jazeera website
has come under heavy hacker and denial of service attacks and effectively
shut down. There are unconfirmed reports at this time that certain agencies
may have been involved in the Al Jazeera attacks)
-
- These images are incensing Arab public opinion, turning
Arab populations against their leaders, and directly threatening U.S. and
U.K. interests in the region.
-
- For their part, the Pentagon says: "Any casualty
that occurs, any death that occurs, is a direct result of Saddam Hussein's
policies".
-
- The Iraqis who once opposed Saddam, but have now vowed
to oppose the coalition forces might disagree.
-
-
- Firas Al-Atraqchi can be contacted at firas6544@rogers.com
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0303/S00253.htm
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