Loving My Sunday Post Right Now
Although I could argue or discuss till I’m blue in the face some of the wrongs and biases in The Washington Post, it truly is my favorite paper of any place that I’ve lived. Instead of only getting the news, they print gems like this one – a truly difficult story to read, which even insights an unjustifiable fear in me while reading it. The mix of national and locally entangled stories. One like this hostage story that, upon first glance, seems itself a feature, but with under- (and over-) currants of federal war policy editorializing. Good writing. Interesting inclusions. It’s especially why I love the Sunday Post.
Jeez, really? I find it a mess of poor priorities and questionable conclusions. The first thing that jumps out at me is buried at the end, after a fair amount of sympathizing with the men who chose to kidnap him and endanger his life (since they say that their decisions are not up to them).
“Over the next days and weeks I learned more about the fate of the two men who were with me when I was kidnapped. My translator and friend, Salam, was taken hostage, too. Held separately from me, he was also found by the Americans, who treated him as a suspect. He endured six further weeks of custody in Abu Ghraib before being released”
Hey, he’s my friend and they found him restrained like me… then threw him in a prison for six weeks. But he eventually got out so it’s all okay! Where’s the indignation? Particularly when it’s followed up with this:
“If I think about them now, in all likelihood suffering the misery of Abu Ghraib, I pity them. They are almost certainly being treated worse by their captors than I was by mine.”
BECAUSE THEY’RE CRIMINALS. No matter your position on the Iraq situation I can’t imagine anyone thinks it’s okay to kidnap people – reporters or not – and violently execute them on camera. Even if “all” they do is pressure governments or demand money, they’re kidnappers.
My reaction to this story/editorial is “what the hell is wrong with you?”