Fog of War

Posted on January 4, 2004 in Censorship Occupation of Iraq

One should, I suppose, be wary of “extraordinary claims by the Enemy”. Not that I think a Muslim automatically qualifies as my “enemy” or that his reports should be discarded because they are politically suspect. There’s been plenty about the War on Iraq, on the other hand that reeks of subterfuge by our government. Just because a story has not made the Western American Media does not mean that what I am about to cite isn’t true:

U.S. occupation authorities in Iraq have imposed strict restrictions on the right of the Iraqi people to demonstrate, particularly in the capital Baghdad, in what Iraqi political analysts described as the real face of sugar-coated democracy clichés.

A statement issued by the U.S.-led authority and broadcast by the Iraqi media network Wednesday, December 31, said no individual or group is allowed to organize marches or demonstrations or even gather in streets, public places or buildings at any time without a prior from the occupation command….
If a permit is granted, the American statement said, demonstrators would not be allowed to wear the traditional galabiya (a loose shirt-like garment), helmets, hoods or even cover their faces.

Would-be Iraqi demonstrators must also not carry guns*, even the licensed, stones or sticks, added the statement.

Last but not least, any demonstration must not last more than four hours and should not be organized less than 500 meters away from the headquarters of the occupation forces and the affiliated institutions.

The lack of coverage anywhere other than this one source leads me to hesitate granting it my unequivocable endorsement. On the other hand, have not the days clustered around the New Year been filled with far more violent stories that could easily have whited out this “smaller” story? Then there are the steps being taken here in the United States that are not unlike what the American High Command has imposed on the people of Iraq: measures that keep demonstrations out of the eyes of the president, tabs that are kept on Las Vegas hotel room occupants, lists of what we are reading, never-ending terror alerts, and five year olds who are identified as terrorists because of their names. The fog of war can take many forms: propaganda, disinformation, lack of witnesses, stimulation of panic, and Fear. Or maybe the lack of American Middle East experts who can understand Arabic.

---

* I object to the carrying of guns at demonstrations by participants or police. The correspondent however makes a valid point: we Americans supposedly upload the right to bear arms to be sacred. So why, if we have liberated the Iraqis, do we deny them the rights we hold to be central to our democracy? If this were done in the United States, Charlton Heston would be calling a press conference.