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Gruesome Iraq Images Could Shake US Opinion
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| Contributor | Gerald Farinas |
| Last Edited | Gerald Farinas Apr 01, 2004 02:18pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | News Service - Reuters |
| News Date | Thursday, April 1, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Gruesome Iraq Images Could Shake US Opinion
Reuters
Graphic images of Americans being mutilated in Iraq could powerfully shake U.S. public support for the occupation and may play into the presidential campaign, pollsters and media analysts said on Thursday. After initially hesitating, U.S. TV networks began showing the images of cheering Iraqis in Falluja celebrating the murders of four American security contractors whose bodies were burned, mutilated and strung up for public view. Newspapers carried front-page pictures showing charred bodies surrounded by exulting mobs. "These pictures speak volumes. It's just what the Bush administration did not want. Americans are seen here as real victims, not just statistics," said pollster John Zogby.
The images immediately evoked comparisons to the 1993 killings of 18 U.S. troops in Mogadishu, when crowds were filmed dragging the corpses of two U.S. soldiers through the streets. Washington ended its military presence in Somalia soon afterwards. "The media is linking the Falluja incident to Mogadishu and those images are already imprinted on our collective visual memory. Images are always processed through the previous knowledge that we have," said Cara Finnegan, a communications professor at the University of Illinois. "There is a big difference between reading a report of casualties in Iraq and seeing the actual film." |
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