Jewish World Review May 10, 2004 / 19 Iyar, 5764

Joe Scarborough

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The media cares about human rights after all — but why was Hussein's mistreatment of own people downplayed?


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | The media is hyperventilating over the Iraqi abuse scandal. By now, you've probably seen the disturbing photos hundreds of times. In fact, it's hard to turn on the TV and see anything else, because the same media outlets who downplayed Saddam Hussein's murder of a million Arabs are making up for lost time by showing these images, well, a million times.


Since I'm now in the media, I guess I need to show some photos. But I would want you to see different ones.


How about footage of the Kurds who were gassed to death by Saddam Hussein's bloody regime? That is bad stuff, but it's probably not as humiliating as it was to prisoners who had to take off their clothes and simulate sex acts. Or pictures of Saddam's torture chambers? He and his sons actually would drag young women out of their homes at night, would savagely rape them, and would feed them to a pack of dogs. Or photos of remnants of Saddam's mass graves, where he systematically executed hundreds of thousands of people?


It's barbaric, I know, but it's certainly nothing as depraved as an American soldier holding two thumbs up over a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners.


And who really wants to talk about that part of Iraq's past? It's more fun for media elites and the radical left to whip themselves into a frenzy over the deplorable actions of a few criminals in uniform.


As I have been saying from the beginning, these actions were sickening, and they merit harsh punishment. But isn't it ironic that the same people who downplayed Saddam's murderous reign to keep us out of war are now rediscovering that they actually care about the human rights of Iraqis after all?

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Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.


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