Soldiers shut down Baghdad newspaper

[MTAtech]

http://www.rutlandherald.com/04/Story/81285.html

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN The New York Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq - American soldiers shut down a popular Baghdad newspaper on Sunday and padlocked the doors after the occupation authorities accused it of printing lies that incited violence. Thousands of outraged Iraqis protested the closing as an act of American hypocrisy, laying bare the hostility many feel toward the United States a year after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

"No, no, America!" and "Where is democracy now?" screamed protestors who hoisted banners and shook clenched fists in a hastily organized rally against the closing of the newspaper, Al Hawza, a radical Shiite weekly.

Isn't that what Saddam would have done; accused a critical newspaper of lies, then shut it down?

[Theophylact]

The New York Times lead editorial today is headed "Hearts, Minds and Padlocks."

[novadragoon]

but then he (saddam) would have had all the protesters killed

Isn't that what Saddam would have done; accused a critical newspaper of lies, then shut it down?

Do you actually believe that's a fair comparison, or has the temptation to find yet another point of criticism in an attempt to maintain order in an already hostile atmosphere got the better of you? I guess it's too much to ask that people put aside there political motivation and consider that we're trying to create a more stable atmosphere over there, and a safer environment for our troops during that process.

edited

[MTAtech]

One Bush argument for war was 'democratization of Iraq.' Certainly, a centerpiece of democracy is freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

It then is certainly ironic that a newspaper is closed because it prints expression that is critical of the occupation.

To the Iraqis that we are trying to win hearts and minds, it seems that the U.S. believes in democracy only to the extent that the Iraqis agree with us. That hurts the long-run effort.

[zen]

critical of the occupation? ............(No thats your job.)

More like ouright lies and slander. How are our troops supposed to bring stability to the region when the local newspaper is reporting the killing of innocent civilians by the military. You really think that would fly here in the US?

One of the dispatches that led to the closing of Al Hawza was a February report claiming that an American missile, not a terrorist car bomb, had caused an explosion that killed more than 50 Iraqi police recruits. False charges like that have helped poison Iraqi opinion against American forces and made their difficult and dangerous job even more so.

[MTAtech]

Zen,
As the NY Times article above said, "Yet it is possible to condemn such malicious rumor-mongering without endorsing the paper's shutdown..." "The occupation authorities have plenty of means, including their own television station, to get out a more favorable message."

Let's shut down the National Enquirer next.

[zen]

They have one over there?

[super gerbil]

MTAtech- first you say have pity on the soldiers dying for your freedom, but now you're mad at them and not at all thankful.


I just don't understand it

[MTAtech]

s.g.,
I think that is a mischaracterization of my view. My beef has always been with policy makers.

I find it disturbing that you don't understand the obvious inconsistency between a policy that claims to want to institute democratic values but actions that show the opposite.

Either one believes in freedom of the press and speech or not. It is dishonest to say that you believe in those lofty principals but won’t adhere to them when it is difficult.

As Noam Chomsky said, “If we do not believe in freedom of speech for those we despise we do not believe in it at all.”