The Language of Empire: Abu Ghraib and the American Media Review

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The Language of Empire: Abu Ghraib and the American Media ReviewThis book was clearly hastily written, and is thus somewhat uneven. At times the author lets her voice get in the way of her evidence. The chapter analyzing the congressional hearings, which attempts to trace where the orders for Abu Graib came from, is confusing. Although Nicholas Berg (the American 'civilian' beheaded in Iraq) emerges as a fascinating character, some of the theories about his story seem to cancel each other out--for example, if he was done in by Russian mob associates (as is implied at one point), then what does this have to do with the rationality of terrorism (the issue raised at another point)? Nevertheless, in toto the book provides a vivid, compelling portrait of the Abu Graib torture and is ultimately convincing in arguing that this is part of the essence of the American intervention in Iraq, rather than an unfortunate failure. Rajiva's argument that this is rooted in a belief in the exercise of power for the sake of power, among virtually all levels of the civilian and military authorities, is unsettling, as is her dissection of the discourses of legalism and moral purity used to obscure the crimes. The idea that torture is central, not marginal, to the occupation will linger with you. Probably not the book to hand someone who supports the US occupation of Iraq (the author's rhetorical excesses will likely turn them off) it will nevertheless strengthen the conviction of those who already understand that liberation does not come through 'shock and awe'.The Language of Empire: Abu Ghraib and the American Media Overview
Under the rule of Saddam Hussein, the prison of Abu Ghraib (the Father of the Raven) was a place of ill omen, notorious for horrific suffering and torture and mass executions. After the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. military made Abu Ghraib one of the major detention centers for Iraqis suspected of sympathizing with the resistance. The revelations since April 2004 of systematic torture and sexual humiliation of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib have not easily been assimilated into the mythology of the U.S. "war on terror."

The Language of Empire focuses on the response to these revelations in the U.S. media, in congress, and in the larger context of U.S. global politics and ideology. Its focus on the media is a prelude to showing how the language of multiculturalism, humanitarianism, and even feminism have been hijacked in the cause of an illegal and brutal imperialist war.

The media have colluded with the Bush administration in manipulating images of the U.S. occupation of Iraq in such a way as to present it as a clash between civilization and barbarism, and in selectively using legal and procedural issues to distract from the basic criminality of the invasion itself. The circuitous logic through which U.S. imperialism presents itself as a defender of legality and democracy is exposed for all to see in this important and timely work.


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