Flap's Dentistry Blog: Muhammad Caricature Watch: Abu Ghraib Image Hypocrisy FLAP

This image is from video made available Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006 by the Special Broadcasting System in Australia is said by the broadcaster to show a prisoner bent forwards towards a seated man wearing a combat-style uniform. The Australian television network said the images of prisoners were made at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad in late 2003, and were among photographs the American Civil Liberties Union was trying to obtain from the U.S. government under a Freedom of Information request. SBS refused to give details on the source of the photographs, and the authenticity of the images could not be verified independently.

Washington Post: Australian TV Network Airs More Abu Ghraib Photos

An Australian television channel today broadcast more photographs of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. The graphic images, which included naked, blood-soaked prisoners, were quickly picked up by Arabic television stations and Web sites around the world.

The abuse pictures were similar to or the same as the now-infamous images that came out in April 2004, sparking public outrage, a congressional investigation and the military trials of several U.S. soldiers. But their release could be significant because it comes at a time of already heightened tension between Muslim nations and the West over European newspaper cartoons satirizing the prophet Muhammad.

So, let's look at the coverage of the newly released (but a few years old) Abu Ghraib prison photos and the Muhammad Caricatures.

From the Washington Post:

May 2004: Inside Abu Ghraib

Photo Gallery
Images obtained by The Washington Post reveal more about the treatment of Iraqi prisoners.
More Prison Photos

Exclusive Video
Video excerpt obtained by The Washington Post and edited for posting depicts prison abuse.
Chronology of Abu Ghraib

Documents
Official sworn statements from Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib describe their experiences.
U.S. Army Investigation Report

» FULL COVERAGE: Abu Ghraib

Muhammad Caricature

This handout photo from SBS TV allegedly shows a hooded and bound prisoner being attacked by a dog in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib jail supposedly during interrogation by US soldiers in Baghdad in 2004. The Pentagon has confirmed the authenticity of a set of photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib that were aired for the first time by Australian television, a defense official said.

Now, let's look at the Washington Posts' statement of the Muhammad Caricatures which they have NOT published.

From the Editor and Publisher:

"They wouldn't meet our standards for what we publish in the paper," said Leonard Downie, Jr., executive editor of The Washington Post, which ran a front-page story on the issue Friday, but has not published the cartoons. "We have standards about language, religious sensitivity, racial sensitivity and general good taste."

Downie, who said the images also had not been placed on the Post Web site, compared the decision to similar choices not to run offensive photos of dead bodies or offensive language. "We described them," he said of such images. "Just like in the case of covering the hurricanes in New Orleans or terrorist attacks in Iraq. We will describe horrific scenes."

Hypocritical treatment of the Muhammad Caricatures?

Different publishing standards?

You betcha........