We must not let the media "normalize the unthinkable" (John Pilger)

The Unthinkable Becomes Normal (November 15, 2004)

Mainstream media trivialize atrocities such as the slaughter in Fallujah by describing attacks on houses, mosques and innocent civilians as "successful operations against insurgents." John Pilger warns that we must not let the media "normalize the unthinkable," and that we should question the hidden agendas of "democratic governments." (New Statesman)

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/media/2004/1115normal.htm

Mainstream media speak as if Fallujah were populated only by foreign "insurgents". In fact, women and children are being slaughtered in our name.

Edward S Herman's landmark essay, "The Banality of Evil", has never seemed more apposite. "Doing terrible things in an organised and systematic way rests on 'normalisation'," wrote Herman. "There is usually a division of labour in doing and rationalising the unthinkable, with the direct brutalising and killing done by one set of individuals . . . others working on improving technology (a better crematory gas, a longer burning and more adhesive napalm, bomb fragments that penetrate flesh in hard-to-trace patterns). It is the function of the experts, and the mainstream media, to normalise the unthinkable for the general public."

On Radio 4's Today (6 November), a BBC reporter in Baghdad referred to the coming attack on the city of Fallujah as "dangerous" and "very dangerous" for the Americans. When asked about civilians, he said, reassuringly, that the US marines were "going about with a Tannoy" telling people to get out. He omitted to say that tens of thousands of people would be left in the city. He mentioned in passing the "most intense bombing" of the city with no suggestion of what that meant for people beneath the bombs.

..more..

You posted this at 11:59am on 11/13

It is only 6:10am here. Where are you at, the Atlantic Ocean?

Sorry. I just couldn't let that go. I'm kidding.

I know we are dealing with some serious stuff here, so sorry for the levity. I keep thinking about the TV show MASH (it's an oldie, you may not have seen it)

In the middle of a bloody civil war, the doctors kept sane by joking about whatever they could.

For instance, my post is recorded as having been received at 12:23 pm Nov 13, when I actually posted it about 7 EST this morning. I have no idea how that clock operates; it can be a bit annoying when you're trying to figure out whether new posts were added to an existing thread -- as I often did in the state forums during the election -- when there could be long gaps between posts.

and the article is dated two days from now.

nevertheless, a very sobering piece.. :-(

this is what the mainstream populace seems to have difficulty getting their head around: THERE ARE PEOPLE BENEATH THE BOMBS!

The pretty 4th of July type explosions that play so well on the mainstream news outlets always fail to reveal what the scene looks like up close. Those pictures don't show the carnage in the aftermath.

See no evil, hear no evil... must be no evil around.

Certainly, this type of denial will be the downfall of civilization.

Torture? Not us, but if we do, they're only 'terraists'.
Global Warming? Not happening.
Deficits? They don't matter.
The UN? Irrelevant.

Where does the denial end? If there ever comes a day where we have a collective breakthrough, it's going to be ugly.

those bombs were just for show. :shrug:

our war criminals are elevated as great "moral" leaders

The author talks about Fallujah, the presidential election, and the 9/11 report. He links it all up, very matter-of-factly and succinctly. A good overview. Thanks for posting it.

I hope everyone will take the time to read the piece in its entirety.

As an aside, my partner and I caught just a few moments of a Fallujah report on CNN last night (or was it MSNBC?) in which an Aussie embed was extolling the valor of American troops in Fallujah with such breathless, over-the-top, jingoistic excitement that we had to turn off the TV. It was thoroughly chilling -- shots of our troops whooping and hollering as heavy artillery blasted away the whole sides of buildings while the Aussie "journalist" provided a voiceover worthy of a July 4th picnic in Crawford. It was as if the people of Fallujah were little more than cockroaches to be exterminated in some hyper-surreal video game. I could only wonder, though my mind rebelled against it, what valor it must take for those women and children huddling in the deepest corners of their homes, those civilians in Fallujah who could and will be killed in the next wave of cluster bombs, to psychologically survive under such a nightmarish assault.

May God forgive us.

physically ill over what has been happening.
It is just so insane that these brutal, genocidal actions have taken place on top of all the discussion about "Christian " values and America's religiosity. The wounded are cut off from the hospital and medical supplies. People are cut off from water and food. All in violation of the Geneva convention.

Due to Americans not seeing what is going on daily in Iraq, this WAR has become a very neat little "Insurgent Removal", as per our government controlled media.
It's too easy "not" to think about or question, when you don't have to see it.

Stories from Vietnam were shown daily on the evening news. Not just occasionally, every day. Pictures, death, wounded.....numbers announced every day. We saw the dead & wounded Americans and Vietnamese.

The government continued to call it a "Police Action".
Americans could see it was WAR and very real. It was almost the only topic of conversation for young people due to the draft. Our parents knew it was WAR because they fought and lived through WWII. Our grandparents, WWI.

This is a very real WAR and it is inexplicable horror for the people of Iraq and our young people who have to follow orders to be there and kill or be killed.

I don't have the answer, but I do know a WAR when I see one and the last one went on for about 9 years.

I am more scared of my own government than I am of 'terrorists"

A must read, like everything Pilger writes.

Without the moral authority the war in Iraq is little more than a spectacle of slaughter.

except with deadly results . . . the US is out of control in Iraq . . . and likely to remain so until the whole country is just flattened . . . not to mention contaminated with DU residue and God knows what else . . .

in Fallujah, will of course effect future generations.
And "freedom is marching on".

and friend the AP KILL Photos from yesterday's action.

it is frightening to think of what we are not seeing.

slaughter? As far as one can tell, they were living peacefully in their own country although under the rule of a dictator.They were not terrorists, they did not possess any WMD's.They did not pose any threats to the U.S.

Yet, here is George Bush, claiming that they need to be liquidated.One has to wonder about the sanity of these men.