Iraq: The Partiality of "Pacifists" and the Communications Media

A Chaldaean Catholic bishop of Iraq says that the western press has been "unjust" with Iraq and that "pacifists" are "blind" with regard to the reality of the country.

"The Western press has been unjust towards Iraq," focusing "only on the dark side of the situation, on terrorism, killings, car bombs, the cruel images of decapitation," as if the whole country were transformed into an enormous "valley of death." Such were the regrets of Bishop Rabban Al Qas, Catholic Chaldaean bishop of Amadiyah (in the north of the country, in Iraqi Kurdistan), as expressed in statements to the magazine Asia News.

The above-mentioned ecclesiastical figure observed that the press is "never talking about the positive things" such as, for example, "power plants restarting, oil wells reopening, agricultural programs being launched and roads being rebuilt"; in a word, a "new Iraq" that fights for the sake of "rising from the ashes," surpassing the "poverty" left by Saddam Hussein. He added that a similar injustice is being committed by "Western Europe and pacifists," who "have been blinded to what is going on in our country."

The bishop of Amdiyah concluded by saying that what really occurred "was truly a liberation, the liberation of Iraq," and that now "there is no excuse" on the part of the West "not to help us," because "now there is a UN resolution and power is in the hands of an Iraqi government."

In spite of its importance, the statements of Bishop Al Qas were ignored - perhaps censured? - by the major communications media. This version of events is in contradiction with a good part of the information published about Iraq. Which of the two versions comes closer to the truth about events? If the above-mentioned media of communication believe that the accusations of Bishop Al Qas are unjust, incorrect or partial, it would be of great interest for them to demonstrate this.

At any rate, those sectors of the press that today silence reports such as that of the bishop of Amadiyah are the same that yesterday contributed to concealing the crimes of Saddam Hussein, that today do little or nothing to denounce the current persecutions against Christians in Moslem countries, that seem not to give any importance to the persecutions in Communist countries such as China and Cuba, and that incite an emotional and irrational anti-Americanism. How can one think that this attitude constitutes a service in favor of peace and of truth?

The information, comments and questions contained in this editorial are intended as a constructive and loyal collaboration towards a debate on the role of the communications media, of organizations for "human rights" and of western governments in the solution to delicate contemporary problems.