The top of the page blared “Waves of Death” with the ensuing Associated Press dispatch telling of millions of people driven from their homes in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, tens of thousands killed and rescuers picking through the debris among the smell of rotting corpses. A gathering of grieving women were pictured standing among the rumble. Beneath the photo, the headline read: “Water Kept Rising. And Rising.”
On the same front page, along the right column, the Journal ran a photo of Coronado Mall patrons, with the headline: “Post-Holiday Shoppers Flood Local Stores.” (I swear you can't make this stuff up.) The lead of the story follows: “You'd think they'd have had enough already. But there they were on Sunday: loads of shoppers looking for post-holiday bargains, spending Christmas money and gift cards, and — egad! —starting next year's Christmas shopping. It was not a day for the faint of heart.”
Thin Line
Ireland's perspective, though, misses a larger point. That is, we don't see carnage from insurgent attacks or the resulting body bags filled with U.S. soldiers in Iraq very often, either. It seems curious that for the past week, all we've seen pervading our mainstream media following a horrific natural disaster has been carnage, destruction and body bags. But did you know, between the presidential election and the end of 2004, 203 U.S. soldiers have been killed and 1,674 wounded in Iraq? The closing weeks of the year, in fact, were some of the bloodiest for American forces since the Iraq occupation began. Which begs the question: Why is graphic footage of the aftermath of a natural disaster acceptable, but the realities in Iraq are still being censored?
