Opportunity Knocks...Nobody Home
an opportunity to make a real difference in the way iraqis perceive the us was lost tuesday. while theres always hope of recovery--and id love nothing more than for that to happen--id guess at least some of the potential will never be realized
when spc jeremy sivits apologized for his relatively minor role in the abuse of iraqi detainees at abu ghurayb prior to pronouncement of sentence, he not only said he was sorry--he sounded sincerely contrite.
"I'd like to apologize to the Iraqi people and those detainees," Sivits said, breaking into tears. "I should have protected those detainees, not taken the photos."
nightline's coverage (which is not available online at the moment) included a short sound bite in which an iraqi official who was present admitted to being nearly in tears himself because as he said no one connected with saddam's regime had ever apologized for any of the abuses perpetrated in that prison. (ill update this with his name and an exact quote when im able to access the information; ill also include a link to the video when its online)
so far so good, right?
well ordinary iraqis who werent present may or may not hear sivits words or, more importantly, the emotion so clearly audible as he spoke.
why?
because the us command in its infinite wisdom forbid live broadcast. so while taped coverage is or will be available as well as eyewitness reports from 34 major world press representatives including 9 arab language newspapers, al-jazeera and al-arabiya, theres nothing as compelling or unfiltered as realtime.
the reports ive seen online so far were unanimous in their assessment of the response of the iraqi public. skeptical is the word they all used. al-jazeera's online english coverage was factual...but dull.
so who's the pr genius responsible for wasting such a perfect opportunity to connect with the hearts and minds of iraq?
i dont know for sure. but brigadier general mark kimmitt, the chief military spokesman in iraq probably does. he used the pr coup vacuum to toss in even more waste...this time wasted breath....trying to convince someone that a fair and impartial trial "will go a far way in demonstrating to people that . . . we're taking the right corrective action to investigate prosecute and bring to trial those accused of these crimes."
yessir general sir.
it probably would have also helped if the authorities had permitted iraqi and international human rights groups to attend the court martial.
``barring human rights monitors from the court martial is a bad decision in its own right,'' sarah leah whitson, executive director of human rights watch middle east and north africa division, said in a statement. ``It also sends a terrible signal to Iraqis and others deeply concerned about what transpired in abu ghraib.''