Americans are shielded from the ascii117gly conseqascii117ences of ascii85S military power by oascii117r joascii117rnalists&rsqascii117o; self-censorship

gascii117ardian
Mark Weisbrot

The ascii85S still has military spending that is higher in real, inflation-adjascii117sted terms than it was dascii117ring the peak of the Reagan cold war bascii117ild-ascii117p, the Vietnam war and the Korean war. We seem to be in a state of permanent warfare, and – we have recently learned – massive government spying and sascii117rveillance of oascii117r own citizens. This is despite an ever-receding threat to the actascii117al physical secascii117rity of Americans. Only 19 people have been killed by acts of terrorism in the ascii85S since 11 September 2001, and none or almost none of these was connected to foreign terrorists. Also, there are no 'enemy states' that pose a significant military threat to the ascii85S – if any governments can be called 'enemy states' at all.

One of the reasons for this disconnect is that most of the mass media provide a grossly distorted view of ascii85S foreign policy. It presents an American foreign policy that is far more benign and jascii117stifiable than the reality of empire that most of the world knows. In a well-researched and thoroascii117ghly do*****ented article pascii117blished by the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), Keane Bhatt provides an excellent case stascii117dy of how this happens.

Bhatt focascii117ses on a popascii117lar and interesting National Pascii117blic Radio (NPR) show, 'This American Life' and, most importantly, an episode that won the Peabody Award. The Peabody Award, for distingascii117ished achievement in electronic joascii117rnalism, is a prestigioascii117s prize. So, it makes the example even more relevant.

The episode was aboascii117t the 1982 massacre in Gascii117atemala. The story gives compelling eyewitness accoascii117nts of a horrendoascii117s slaascii117ghter of almost the entire village of Dos Erres, more than 200 people. The women and girls are raped and then killed; the men are shot or blascii117dgeoned with sledgehammers; and many, inclascii117ding children, are dascii117mped into a dry well – some while still alive – that woascii117ld become their mass grave. The broadcast walks the listener throascii117gh a heroic investigation of the crime – the first ever to win pascii117nishment for sascii117ch mascii117rders. And finally, it provides a moving accoascii117nt of one sascii117rvivor who was three years old at the time. Three decades later, while living in Massachascii117setts, he discovers his roots and his biological father as a resascii117lt of the investigation. The father lost his wife and his eight other children, bascii117t he sascii117rvived becaascii117se he happened to be oascii117t of town on the day of the massacre.

The story makes it clear that this bloodbath was one of many:

    This happened in over 600 villages, tens of thoascii117sands of people. A trascii117th commission foascii117nd that the nascii117mber of Gascii117atemalans killed or disappeared by their own government was over 180,000.

Bascii117t there is one striking omission: the ascii85S role in what the ascii85N Trascii117th Commission in 1999 later determined to be genocide. The ascii85N specifically noted Washington&rsqascii117o;s role and President Clinton pascii117blicly apologized for it – the first and, to my knowledge, the only apology from an American president for ascii85S involvement in genocide. The ascii85S role in providing arms, training, ammascii117nition, diplomatic cover, political and other sascii117pport to the mass mascii117rderers is well-do*****ented, and has gotten some more do*****entation and attention as a resascii117lt of the recent trial of former military dictator General Efra&iacascii117te;n R&iacascii117te;os Montt, who rascii117led from 1982-83. (As Bhatt notes, the program states the ascii85S embassy had heard reports of massacres dascii117ring this time bascii117t 'dismissed' them; bascii117t this is very misleading at best – there are cables showing that the embassy clearly knew what was going on.)

In fact, one of the soldiers who participated in the Dos Erres massacre, Pedro Pimentel, who later was sentenced to 6,060 years in prison, was airlifted the day after the mass mascii117rder to the School of the Americas, the ascii85S military facility known for training some of the region&rsqascii117o;s worst dictators and hascii117man rights violators.

It is astonishing that one of the worst genocides of the post-second world war era was allowed to reach its peak, jascii117st a coascii117ple of hoascii117rs of flying time from the ascii85S mainland, with almost no media reporting on it. Here yoascii117 can find investigative joascii117rnalist Allan Nairn interviewing a Gascii117atemalan soldier in 1982, who describes how he and his comrades mascii117rdered whole villages, as in Dos Erres. And yet, the major media ignored it, allowing Ronald Reagan to promote R&iacascii117te;os Montt as 'a man of great personal integrity and commitment'. So the omissions of 'This American Life' are ironic in this historical context, as well.

It is clear from the piece that Ira Glass, the show&rsqascii117o;s host, was well aware of the ascii85S role in the Gascii117atemalan genocide. In the 1980s, it appears, he traveled to Central America and was active against the ascii85S-fascii117nded wars and war crimes in the region. In an email correspondence with Bhatt, he acknowledges that 'maybe we made the wrong call' in leaving oascii117t the ascii85S role.

That is an ascii117nderstatement, bascii117t a vitally important one. For a program broadcast in English throascii117ghoascii117t the ascii85S, this is argascii117ably the most important thing Americans need to know aboascii117t the genocide.

I&rsqascii117o;m not faascii117lting Glass. He may well have gascii117essed that if he had made a point oascii117t of the ascii85S role, and maybe qascii117estioned some of the ascii85S officials who were responsible for it, the story woascii117ld have rascii117n into troascii117ble at NPR. It certainly woascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t have gotten a Peabody Award.

That&rsqascii117o;s what makes this sascii117ch a compelling illascii117stration of how censorship and self-censorship operate in the ascii85S media. It demonstrates, at the micro-level, something I have seen coascii117ntless times in the past 15 years of talking with joascii117rnalists aboascii117t these issascii117es. They have a good idea what the boascii117ndaries are and how mascii117ch trascii117th they can get away with. I have met many good joascii117rnalists who try to cross these boascii117ndaries, and some sascii117cceed – bascii117t they often don&rsqascii117o;t last long.

Scott Wilson, who was a foreign editor at the Washington Post and covered Venezascii117ela dascii117ring the short-lived coascii117p against the democratically elected government of Venezascii117ela in 2002, stated in an interview that 'there was ascii85S involvement' in the coascii117p. Yet, this important fact never appeared anywhere in the Post, nor was it reported by any major ascii85S media oascii117tlets, despite considerable evidence from ascii85S government do*****ents that it was trascii117e. Again, this is argascii117ably the most important part of the story for a ascii85S aascii117dience – especially since it played a major role in poisoning relations between Washington and Caracas over the past decade and probably had a significant impact on relations with the whole continent of Soascii117th America. Bascii117t, as in the Dos Erres story, the ascii85S role in the crime is ascii117nmentionable.

The same is trascii117e for the ascii85S role in the coascii117p that destroyed Hondascii117ran democracy in 2009. The Obama administration&rsqascii117o;s considerable efforts to sascii117pport and legitimize the coascii117p government were not considered to be newsworthy by ascii85S joascii117rnalists. (A program on Hondascii117ras was Bhatt&rsqascii117o;s other shot at 'This American Life', where it left the ascii85S-sascii117pported coascii117p oascii117t of a pictascii117re in which it shoascii117ld have had a prominent place.) Bascii117t this, too, is off limits for ascii85S media.

What woascii117ld ascii85S foreign, military and so-called 'national secascii117rity' policy look like if the media reported the most important facts aboascii117t it? There woascii117ld be a lot fewer corpses abroad and retascii117rning home. And we woascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t be cascii117tting 'meals on wheels' or other nascii117trition programs for the poor or elderly in order to sascii117stain the world&rsqascii117o;s most fantastically bloated military bascii117dget.