It's good to hear that journalist Roxana Saberi has been released from prison, but we should pause before completely vilifying Iran. The third link in the "axis of evil" did bend to world pressure and allowed Saberi to appeal, whereupon her sentence was shortened. In addition, it's come to light that the Iranian-American reporter did have "a copy of a confidential Iranian report on the U.S. war in Iraq," according to the Associated Press.Meanwhile, Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald reminds us that "imprisoning journalists -- without charges or trials of any kind -- was and continues to be a staple of America's 'war on terror,' and then he outlines a number of such cases. For example:
Beginning in 2001, the U.S. held Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj for six years in Guantanamo with no trial of any kind, and spent most of that time interrogating him not about Terrorism, but about Al Jazeera.and also:
In Iraq, we imprisoned Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein -- part of AP's Pulitzer Prize-winning war coverage -- for almost two years with no charges of any kind, after Hussein's photographs from the Anbar province directly contradicted Bush administration claims about the state of affairs there.and further:
...the U.S. continues to imprison Ibrahim Jassam (photo above), a freelance photographer for Reuters, even though an Iraqi court last December -- more than five months ago -- found that there was no evidence to justify his detention and ordered him released.To top these injustices off, notes Greenwald, the American mainstream media has virtually ignored all of these cases.
16 comments:
All good points. We should also not forget the 34 journalists who were arrested for covering the RNC convention in September 2008 (none ever actually going to trial). Journalists have also been arrested at DNC conventions, but not to the degree seen at RNC conventions. Nevertheless, the point being that the US is just as guilty as Iran and other dictatorships in suppressing journalists and journalism.
N.starluna,
I don't know in what planet are you living but your logic is really pathetic. So US is now the problem in suppressing journalists and therefore (implied) the free speech.
Jimbo,
Had you been living in Iran and posted the same opinion against it, in best case scenario you would end up in jail.
Anonymous...
I'm not sure if you realize that your rejoinder is irrelevant to the point I made.
Jimbo,
I'm sure anonymous doesn't realize a lot of things.
I'm really torn here. I understand your commitment to free speech Jimbo, even though your limits to it extend much further than mine. However, I wonder if allowing comments like these makes Eastie residents look like a bunch of stupid and unreasonable nitwits.
On the other hand, it does provide me with rich classroom material, which I do appreciate.
I don't think it'd be fair to censor the "stupid and unreasonable nitwits" if their comments fall within broad guidelines of civil decorum. We all have the right to say ignorant things, and I haven't cornered the market on wisdom. I've said many an ignorant thing in my day.
Plus, I think open discussions reveal the flaws and inconsistencies in arguments and positions.
Jimbo,
The point is the you are trying to draw a paralel between Iran and USA over this issue. The mere fact that you are allowed to do that is an argument against you. You could never do that there.I agree that the stance that USA had taken in the past against Iran was wrong, but this does not change the fact that it is brutal regime (remember Salman Rushdie)
N.starluna,
you are saying "..US is just as guilty as Iran and other dictatorships in suppressing journalists and journalism". Have you ever lived in a dictatorship ? I have, and your remark seem sensless to me. I enjoy every free moment I live in this great free country. Granted there are flaws and mistakes in the system. But to make such comparison as yours, it clearly demostrates either an ignorance on tha mater or I don't know what...
People would be amazed in the Us that a great deal of what we hear and see on television is slanted,and that a much smaller group of companies own our broadcasting networks. The US has made our share of blunders,thats for sure.Our reputation has been tarnished greatly internationally, and it will take time to mend broken fences.The war in Iraq has cost us more than money and lives.
And, Anonymous at 10:14 a.m., because I have freedom of speech I am pointing out that the US has held and is holding journalists for years without charging them and this is unacceptable. What good is my freedom of speech if I don't use it?
Jim: Sometimes, I think the respondents can't think beyond 02128 and, God forbid, that someone points out a truism, they still won't be accepting of a provable fact. That has been one of my biggest frustrations with this community. Hey, they've never met God, but many claim that he must exist. However, those same individuals probably never met an imprisoned journalist or they've never gained firsthand knowledge that such actions have been executed, so.......it can't possibly be true in their estimation. Honestly, they amaze me with their attempts at logic and at faith.
Not to take anything away from your thoughtful and intelligent post, but that guy in the photo is HAWT.
What makes you think that posters are East Bostonians?
People are generally internally contradictory. It's normal, or at least not surprising. But I do think there is more, or perhaps a higher level of, internal inconsistencies in nationalist and ethnocentrist world views than even found in Church dogma.
I think that open online forums, or lightly moderated ones like The Hubster, make it seem like there are more people like that than really exist in Eastie or anywhere for that matter.
Eastie is full of people who are reasonable and capable of engaging in logical and meaningful discourse. We may not always see it in the comments on this blog. Most of the Eastie residents capable of reasonable conversation that I know don't see the point in engaging folks like Anonymous (@8:54 and 10:14) and sometimes it feels like there are too many of those kinds of comments that come through.
But, we should respect Jimbo's value system. He's a big believer in Free Speech and we all benefit from that.
It is very interesting that a few here, being patriotic and giving the benefit of the doubt to our democratic form of government seem unreasonable and narrow-minded. I beleive in USA and values that we represent, that is why I can get a litle emotional when is being compared to brutal regimes.Your intolerance and impatience suprised me. I do however respect inmensly JIM,(eventhough I almost ever agree with him) for the way he conduct this forum and the civility of his dialog.
I am not a believer in American exceptionalism. Many nations, ethnicities and races think they are special or chosen or superior. I think patriotism often does more harm than good. In the end, everyone wants to feed their kids and live with dignity.
I believe in the values that our country embraces -- liberty, justice, equality -- but I recognize that the nation is made of people and as humans we usually fall short of our ideals. As citizens we must be vigilant to see that what is done in our name lives up to the best of those values.
In our brief history as a nation we have been, at times, brutal (Indian genocide, slavery, clandestine involvement in the politics of Central and South America, to name a few instances) and the best way to prevent such things is as much transparency and honesty as possible. When we tolerate here what we condemn abroad we are hypocrites and our words carry no weight.
NStarluna you do have a way of making a point. As an avid reader of this blog I have seen your comments from time to time.What subject do you teach? Is it at the college level?
Anonymous, yes I teach at the college level at two different Boston area universities. I teach research methods, urban studies, law and policy, and public health. I'm also a policy researcher and program development consultant.
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