20060217
In a move designed only to further inflame an already enflamed region, Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service’s television show “Dateline” recently aired a program in which previously unreleased images of the Abu Ghraib prison debacle were aired. The images show, among other things, purported sexual torture and suggest the possibility of physical abuse or murder.
First and foremost, the images and video in question come from the same 2004 incident that held the headlines for quite awhile then. They are not new, so they do not serve the purpose of exposing some new abuse. They are, however, timed to coincide with the recent release of the UN report on the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and occur during some of the worst religious riots in recent history over the publication of political cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammad.
Whatever one’s position on the events that occurred at Abu Ghraib, one must ask what the ultimate purpose of such a show might be. Is it to defame the US? Is it to further enflame the rage of the radical Muslim world? Perhaps it is to show sympathy for the plight of enemy combatants held because they were trying to kill people?
The true intent in this program and the many media attempts like it since the Iraq Liberation is to undermine the ability of the West to finally face the eminent threat that is radical, militant, totalitarian Islam in the Muslim world. This intent is fueled by a liberal left whose agenda is incomprehensible given the fact that the same radical Muslims make no distinction between left, right, liberal, or conservative infidels.
Indeed, these media and liberal leftist attempts are fueled by people who completely fail to understand the threat arrayed against the West, including them, and who have simultaneously allowed their rhetoric to supersede their ability to think rationally. They honestly believe that the radical Muslim acts and atrocities committed against the West are justified because the West is no better.
The sad truth is that things were done wrong at Abu Ghraib, and some American soldiers were punished for those things. The sad truth is that they are the kinds of things that always occur in war, and those actions do not reflect the desire or goal that America, perhaps even the West, has for a free and democratic Muslim world. This does not excuse such acts, but rather casts them in contrast to the enemy whose cause will be bolstered by the now repeated display of such actions.
For the enemy is one that seeks to force on the world, by whatever means necessary, one of the most vile, brutal, intolerant, inhumane, and indecent religious beliefs ever conceived by men. If these radical Muslims had their way, the very broadcasters who aired that program would likely be taken to a local prison, where they would be tortured and executed for their liberal views.
The truth of all of these things will be reflected in how the people of Iraq and the Muslim world choose to react to this latest provocation. If recent history is any indication, we can expect more rioting, more chanting death against America and the West, perhaps even bombings and beheadings of hostages as retaliation for the humiliation of men who were captured trying to kill Iraqi civilians and American soldiers.
None of these observations are designed to criticize the media’s role as the balancing force against any government excess, not are they intended to criticize the truly beneficial actions of liberalism that seeks to redress when things have been done wrong. Indeed, these observations are designed to remind the West that it is at war, not with a nation or people that can be defeated on a military battlefield, but with an ideal that is completely set against everything the nations of the West claim to stand for.
Every citizen of the West is, in some way, a combatant in this fight. As a result, every action, every focus, every ideal- everything the West does- reflect what dedication exists for winning this fight and will determine its ultimate success. If that dedication is sidetracked by an agenda, as reflected in this SBS program, that seeks to undermine our will to win, then the ultimate result will be defeat.
Consider that this fight is against an ideal that has been engaged in almost perpetual warfare against the West since 629AD, when the first Muslim invaders crossed the frontiers of the Byzantine Empire. If this enemy has that kind of stamina and dedication, what possible weakness can the West show?
Ultimately, the world finds itself poised on a razor’s edge. The events of the next several years, be they acts of violence or politics, will determine the world generations to come will inherit. If it is to be a world of liberty, justice, and democracy, then the forces of radical Islam must be defeated, and the first step to that defeat is not take their side in the fight.
DLH
