Monday, February 04, 2008

Have You Seen This Story

It amazes me with all the possible sources of news that we have on network TV, cable news and the (shrinking) assortment of magazines and newspapers that some of the most important stories of our day go unreported. Instead of hard hitting news, we get garbage about Britney Spears and other celebrities that mean nothing to us in our daily lives. This gossip and idolatry of famous people is one of many distractions that keep us from finding truths in our world and ultimately the ability to do something about it.

From The Daily Snack:

BRITISH soldiers have been accused of torturing 22 Iraqi citizens to death. They are also said to have abused nine others held in their custody. The allegations of brutality, dating back to 2004, can now be made public after a gagging order was lifted by a High Court judge yesterday. The order had prevented any details of the alleged torture being reported by the Press or broadcast media. It is alleged the abuse happened after British troops were ambushed on the road from Amara to Basra. Following a firefight, a 31-strong band of Iraqis are said to have been seized by soldiers and taken into custody. They were held at British headquarters in Abu-Naji in south-east Iraq. Out of the 31 people detained only nine survived and they claim they were subjected to torture. Iraqi death certificates are said to state that the corpses of the Iraqis who were rounded up showed signs of "mutilation" and "torture".

Have you heard about this story? This is huge and goes to show the culture of war and how destructive it is. Not only are we not winning hearts and minds, we are destroying them and creating hate within those that survive. Yet the public has no idea that this goes on and they go on about their own life being completely clueless as to what their government does in their names. If only the news covered news and not gossip and forget the "if it bleeds it leads" on the local news, citizens would become more informed about their locality and their world.

Sigh. When will it end....when will it change.