Which "truth" do you choose to tell?, Editorial, Axis of Logic, May 28, 2003

The picture you see below appeared today in the Boston Globe, spread across the front page.  The words below the picture read:

"Unidentified Bodies - A child yesterday jumped over remains that have been taken from a mass grave to a school in Al Musayyib, Iraq. Relatives of Shi'ite Muslims executed by the Hussein regime in 1991 are seeking clues to identify the bodies."

"Shi'ite Muslims executed by the Hussein regime in 1991".  Implicit in those words for many readers are, "Saddam Hussein was an evil man; the U.S. war on Iraq was justified".  The Boston Globe made no reference to the U.S. bombing of Iraq in 1991; nor did it make reference to the fact that the first Bush regime encouraged these Shi'ite Muslims to rebel against their government, later abandoning them, withdrawing U.S. support and leaving them without chance of survival.

But what is most striking is the fact that this photo appeared in the Boston Globe today, when never once has the Globe presented a photograph of the tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and soldiers who were slaughtered last month by the second Bush regime.

Questions: Did Saddam Hussein have these people killed?  There is little doubt that he did.  Had they not been influenced to revolt, relying on false promises of the first Bush regime, would they have been killed?  Does this sad, 1991 photograph justify what the current regime in Washington has done in 2003? If a group of U.S. Citizens, under the influence of a foreign government, were to attempt to overthrow the U.S. government, would they be tried, convicted and executed by the same government?  What is the motive of the Globe editors in putting this photograph on the front page today?

It's not only about whether or not the corporate media tells "the truth". - Rather, it's about "which truth" the corporate media chooses to tell.

- Les Blough

(Getty Images Photo/Marco Di Lauro) (Boston Globe Graphic)

"It's not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers, without understanding the hidden agendas of the message and the myths that surround it".

- John Pilger

© Copyright 2003 by AxisofLogic.com