The Dish

They’re already burying the Nick Berg story to follow the prison abuse issue. Glenn Reynolds has some data to show how out-of-touch big media is.

“It was interesting to hear about the jump in hits on blogger web-sites. Let me suggest that it is due not so much to the Nick Berg video, but to the combination, or sequence, of the Abu Ghraib photos AND the Nick Berg video. For me, the Abu Ghraib photos acted as slate clearer. Like you, after I first saw those photos I fell into a deep funk where I started to question everything that had made me a staunch supporter of the war. While in this funk I realized that much of my rationale for going to war was underpinned by an unformed, yet felt assumption that it would go well. Those photos yanked that all away. So then what happened? Into this void gets poured the images of an innocent civilian being savagely beheaded. Now unencumbered by unspoken assumptions that this would be easy, I see the true nature of what we are up against, and am more committed to winning this thing than ever before. I wonder if many in the blogosphere are experiencing the same phenomenon.” The guy’s right; and count me among those in this emotional whiplash. I feel more committed this week to getting this liberation right than I have for months. That doesn’t mean I think we shouldn’t prosecute the perpetrators of the Abu Ghraib abuses as forcefully as we can. It merely means I feel emboldened to carry on, thanks to the reminder of Zarqawi.

Reasons to be more cheerful.

THE RIGHT-WING UNHINGED: Tim Noah collects a few of the more nutty far right attempts to explain away, ignore or just duck the issue of Abu Ghraib. No surprise that the religious right is well represented. But none goes as low as National Review’s John Derbyshire.

In the blogosphere, we are sometimes in tune with national moods. My gut tells me that the Nick Berg video has had much more psychic impact in this country than the Abu Ghraib horrors. I even notice some small evidence for this. Every political blog site has just seen an exponential jump in traffic – far more than anything that occurred during the Abu Ghraib unfolding. My traffic went through the roof yesterday, and, according to Alexa, so did everyone else’s. People who have tuned the war out suddenly tuned the war in. They get it. Will the mainstream media?

“My mental state these past few days: 1. The Abu Ghraib “scandal”: Good. Kick one for me. But bad discipline in the military (taking the pictures, I mean). Let’s have a couple of courts martial for appearance’s sake. Maximum sentence: 30 days CB.” – John Derbyshire, rejoicing in the brutalizing of Iraqi prisoners. “Kick one for me?” Is that a sentiment National Review endorses? I’ve seen conservative attempts to belittle the abuses at Abu Ghraib, but this is the first time I’ve read anyone actually endorsing them. For Derbyshire, the only problem with abusing, torturing and humiliating prisoners is that it might get out. He’s depraved.

As U.S. soldiers slowly decimate his militia, Moqtadr al Sadr is also losing the propaganda war. Just as interesting as the apparently decisive attack in Karbala is the following news:

Special Forces soldiers led teams of Iraqi commandos to the area and drove the insurgents from the shrine during an intense firefight. The two dozen or so Iraqi commandos who helped the Americans in the battle were part of the Iraqi Counter Terrorist Force, trained in Jordan to combat insurgents. They acted under the supervision of Special Forces, who instructed them on clearing munitions from the Mukhaiyam Mosque and shrine and from the high school. Special Forces soldiers guided much of the battle on the ground, storming the mosque and setting up a base there to direct troops.

This Counter-Terrorist Force is the spearhead of the future Iraqi army. The results were impressive:

The Special Forces soldiers appeared impressed by the weapons caches found in the area. Those included powerful 155-millimeter artillery shells, Italian land mines and sniper rifles. In all, the munitions were the equivalent of more than 100 roadside bombs, one of the most effective killers of American soldiers in Iraq, a military intelligence analyst said.

The battle against Sadr may be a turning point in Iraq’s transition. Which is why the story is buried inside the NYT.

WHAT THEY PUBLISH: The Boston Globe won’t publish the most graphic parts of beheading of Nick Berg, but they will publish fake photos of alleged G.I. The same goes for the London Daily Mirror, a rabid anti-war paper whose photographs of British abuses were “almost certainly faked,” according to Blair.

Well over 100,000 visits yesterday. A new record. Thanks.

EMAIL OF THE DAY: “I just saw the Nick Berg video in its entirety. It is a case study in evil personified. These guys are cowards. They are creatures. After seeing this video I was initially shocked, scared and deeply disturbed. 30 minutes later though I was very, very angry. My view of Islamic terrorism is now set in concrete. These Islamists must be defeated. We need to take off the gloves. Every American should see this video to see the true nature of these Islamic terrorists. If evil ever infected anybody, its those guys murdering Nick Berg and posting it for everyone to see. I really feel extremely bad for Nick’s family. I wish I could give each one of them a big hug and say “I love you” to them. I wish I could help them through this horror.”

SPINNING BERG: The NYT does its usual job of trying to find the anti-Bush line even on a story as gripping and complex as Nick Berg’s. When you read the story, you find no evidence that the government or U.S. military prevented him from leaving the country. you even find the following:

The F.B.I. released a statement indicating that coalition authorities had warned Mr. Berg that the environment was dangerous, but that he had refused their offers “to facilitate his safe passage out of Iraq.” ‘ Recalling Nicholas Berg’s independence, David Berg said such a refusal would not surprise his family, although he said he had no way of knowing whether Nicholas Berg had declined assistance. He had traveled to Iraq, in part, to generate business for his fledging telecommunications company, which specializes in servicing radio towers.

So why the NYT angle? If you hate the Bush administration and the war, it’s just reflexive to look at a story like Nick Berg’s and think of an angle to embarrass the administration. Yes, the family’s understandable anger should be reported. But their anger should not dictate the entire gist of your story.

“None of this happened by accident. It is directly due to cultural depravity advanced in the name of progress and amplified by a sensation-hungry media.
* We were told putting women into combat areas is progressive and enlightened.
* We were told pornography is liberating, and that anyone who objects is a narrow-minded Puritan who needs therapy. We have been flooded with porn imagery on mainstream television and in magazine ads. Where did those soldiers get the idea to engage in sadomasochistic activity and to videotape it in voyeuristic fashion? Easy. It’s found on thousands of Internet porn sites and in the pages of “gay” publications, where S&M events are advertised alongside ads for Subarus, liquor and drugs to treat HIV and hepatitis.
* We were told homosexuality is harmless and normal, and the military should live with a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that allows homosexuals to stay in the barracks. We were told that men “marrying” men and women “marrying” women is inevitable – not only for America, but for the world. Imagine how those images of men kissing men outside San Francisco City Hall after being “married” play in the Muslim world. We couldn’t offer the mullahs a more perfect picture of American decadence. This puts Americans at risk all over the world, especially Christian missionaries who are trying to bring the Gospel to people trapped in darkness for millennia.
This is a Perfect Storm of our own making, and it is up to normal Americans to unmake it.” – religious right leader, Robert Knight, blaming America again. Let me get this, er, straight: if we allow gays to marry, the terrorists will win?

THE ROOTS OF ANTI-AMERICANISM: Here’s a fascinating account of an American’s tour in Central Asia. The author captures the level of propaganda and misinformation that is out there. Here’s an exchange with some post-Sovietized Muslim students:

The quietest girl in the class shyly suggested, “Muslims have to defend other Muslims against attack” I stopped her mid-sentence. “What if the Muslims are in the wrong? And what happens when Muslims attack other Muslims?” “Muslims don’t attack other Muslims,” she insisted. “Iran and Iraq? The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait? Should I go on?” A boy in the back raised his hand. “But Muslims have no choice but to hate the United States and declare a jihad, since the United States is always attacking Muslims,” he said. “Is that true?” I pressed. “Where have we attacked Muslims?” “I don’t know. That’s what people say.” “In Bosnia and Somalia, we were supporting Muslims,” I said. “And in the war against Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait, we were supporting Muslims who were attacked by other Muslims.” A stony silence, more of bewilderment than hostility, enveloped the room, as if I’d just announced to a group of American students that the earth wasn’t round, or that Utah was just a cartographer’s fantasy.

When people are indoctrinated, it is hard to get through. But elsewhere, there is much hope:

Nothing I heard or saw on my travels offered a single, practical clue about how to turn back the global tsunami of anti-Americanism. In fact, in Iran, where I spent my winter break reporting and vacationing, I couldn’t detect so much as a glimpse of it. No matter where I wandered there —from Qom, home of the revolution that toppled the shah, to old Bam and Tehran, passers-by stopped to chat or invite me to tea, their warmth to an old enemy perhaps the clearest reflection of their animosity toward their own government. “Why don’t more Americans come to Iran?” they asked. “We love Americans.” In Afghanistan, where I sneaked in to do some reporting just as the Taliban were sneaking out, women peeked out of their doorways, kissed my hands, and murmured, “Thank you.” The following summer, in Myanmar, strangers approached me and whispered, “Why won’t the United States do for us what you did for Afghanistan?”

We should perhaps recognize that there is much in anti-Americanism we cannot change; but that the truth of our intentions and actions will eventually be rewarded by wider recognition. The deep truth is that we are doing an amazing job for Iraqis – losing lives, spending billions. But no one enjoys being occupied and no one enjoys being reminded that they were unable to liberate themselves. Useful to remember about our current problems. Useful to remember, also, about the French.

Well, if not vice-president, defense secretary? A fascinating wrinkle on my suggestion yesterday.

“My name is Ahmad Hamza and I am an Arab American, I have been a police officer in the state of Texas for 10 years and I have seen it all. Like you and many others what happened to Nick Berg really upset me and hit me double hard because Nick is an American and his perpetrators were sadly enough Arabs. Like you said in your article, those radicals that do things in the name of Islam are no better than the KKK that claim to be true Christians. One day I would like everyone to know that true Muslims are kind and good hearted like True Christians, and people like the KKK, Al Qaeda, and other militant groups only make it worse for everyone else. Thank you for defending Islam and Muslims the way you did because I knew deep down in my heart that there were people in the US that were fair, after all we are all human and America was created by people who sought freedom of religion. I am deeply sorry for the malicious murder of Nick Berg and I hope to God that they catch those responsible. I also extend my deepest sympathies to the Berg family and tell them that my prayers are with them.”