May 12th, 2004

by Eric 'Renderking' Fisk

Misplaced Outrage?

As of this writing, it’s been a difficult time to be an American. It’s even worse if you’re a concerned American who keeps up with the news and you’re concerned about the future. The ultimate capper is to have a child of your own, knowing that the world your son or daughter is growing up in is becoming darker by leaps and bounds due to  events such as today’s. If you’re the slightest bit aware of what’s going on, then some of these news stories feel like someone is treating a chest wound with handfuls of rock salt.

In the past few weeks the media has been over playing their hand in their mock-outrage about the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison. In all fairness, after seeing the pictures I am outraged and a little disgusted that such evil can be committed by the hands of a few American solders. The so-called war crimes pale in comparison to the events that have happened since the war on terror began. Suddenly, getting to the bottom of what happened in Abu Ghraib seems to have taken a higher priority… more so than the other circus known as the “September 11th commission”. Former sub Captain and Senior Senator Ted Kennedy is either multi-tasking by being on both panels… or dumped the “9-11” commission all together. Ted “Kap’n Krispy Kream” Kennedy found a much more bountiful buffet of spite on this witch-hunt against conservatives… and he might be relieved as the September 11th commission has been getting dangerously close in implicating Bill Clinton and his ineptness at nipping Al-Qaeda in the bud when he had the chance.

My questions to the media are pretty simple and might confuse them with the lack of sophistication and my inability to see the varying shades of gray in the “complex issue” of the Middle East: Where’s the outrage for the four contractors who were killed in Falluja a few weeks ago? Where were the calls for bringing those who were responsible to justice? There are also other issues that have happened in the past 11 years that haven’t gotten the amount of attention that was deserved… there wasn’t enough outrage on the following issues and there weren’t enough calls for the resignation for those who were involved or too inept to prevent these things from happening.

• The first New York World Trade Center bombing in 1993.
• Embassy bombings in Africa.
• The Attack on the USS Cole.
• The beheading of WSJ reporter Daniel Pearl.

New Developments That Re-Write The Rules.

Immediately after the news about the beheading of Nicolas Berg, the air has been taken out of the arguments about what a few American soldiers have done to the detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison. As of now, what appears to have happened in Abu Ghraib prison was basic humiliation to loosen up the prisoners for interrogation. There is no way that the butchering of a single American contractor can compare to the humiliation of a THOUSAND prisoners, much less the handful that are in the media today. (If there were prisoners who were indeed “beaten to death”, the fate of Nick Berg might escalate the situation in Abu Ghraib.)

Depending on what news stories you read, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as Osama Bin Laden’s Second-In-Command has been identified as the man who either gave the order to kill Mr. Berg or was the one who took the knife to his throat. Zarqawi’s reported involvement in the insurgencies in Iraq and his direct recruitment of new members IN IRAQ into Al-Qaeda complicates the left’s claim that there is no relationship between the former Saddam regime and the terrorists organization. Its hard to believe that there are some who don’t understand we’re fighting a war against absolute evil when terrorists commit crimes such as this:

At the beginning of the tape, the victim describes himself as Nicholas Berg from Pennsylvania. He is then shown sitting in front of five hooded men. After the statement is read by one of the men, the victim is pushed to the floor and, amid his screams, his throat is cut. One of the captors then holds up the man's severed head.

Awake yet?

We’re more concerned about what the International Community thinks of how the United States is behaving in this war on terror and there isn’t enough concern about who and what we’re up against. There are out-cries from people who are ignorant on the subject of how genuinely evil Al Qaeda is… in some circles there’s more outrage towards the Disney company not distributing Michael Moore’s latest film “Fahrenheit 9/11” then there is against the real villains in Al-Qaeda who are actually committing the international crimes in the first place.

The media is more concerned about the make-believe concerns of the “Patriot Act” than it is concerning the streamlining of the criminal investigation process for finding these terrorists and bringing them to justice. Who are these people who are more concerned about the “potential” for abuse, the academic and hypothetical victims that haven't become a reality yet?

In the next room, my son is sitting at the dinner table with one of my old clipboards, a wad of paper and a handful of crayons... he’s working intently on his next masterpiece with the intensity that I’ve seen in my father when he’s working (and I can only imagine that’s what I might look like when I’m writing). My thoughts go to the parents of Nick Berg and what they must be going through tonight not only knowing how he died, but knowing how he suffered and that now the world knows it. What kind of world are our children growing up in when we blame the VICTIMS of terrorism for the crimes and not the terrorists?

The Raiders Connection

On the radio talk shows across the nation there’s a debate about whether or not the pictures of Nick Berg being executed should be shown … the same argument that was being held 2 years ago when Daniel Pearl was killed. And this is the same debate about seeing the dead bodies in the street of Afghanistan and Iraq and the coffins of the service people.

We need to stop talking about the monetary cost of the war and how many billions of dollars are being spent and start talking about the true cost of war such as human lives- civilian and military. To understand the horrors of war, you have to see the horrific face of war. These pictures need to be seen to understand what we’re fighting against and the true consequences of armed conflict and terrorism.

In the same respect, the media needs to stop second guessing everything the military is doing to fight this war. The news networks need to drop the pretense of “free speech” along with the outright agenda to nail this president when the former occupant of the White House received a free pass while failing to do his job extinguish this terrorist organization in the first place. What if the media was overly critical of Presidents Roosevelt and Truman during the Second World War?

It’s clear that most in the media forgot the lessons of Neville Chamberlain... appeasement doesn’t work, except when giving time for our enemies to strengthen their hand.

In regards to the terrorist organizations... as I’ve said before they are the worst of humanity, a hybrid of the organized crime of the Prohibition Era and the Fascism that overwhelmed Europe in the first half of the 20th Century. We can’t rationalize with irrational people who only want to see an end of our existence because of a perversion of their own religion. To paraphrase our hero… They stand for everything the Grail (and the Ark) stands for. Who gives a dam’n about what they think. If Nick Berg’s death has any meaning… it’s the wake-up call and a reminder of who we fighting against.

What is going to take to get other people to come to their senses? I hope it’s not the beheading of one of their own children.

Have an opinion?  Want to ask questions, or comment on this week's rant?  Email Mr. Fisk him self: renderking@theindyexperience.com.