iraq

Camera/Iraq   is a project by Carleton College's Cinema & Media Studies Department to gather news and commentary about public and personal photographic image practices associated with the War of Images in the Middle East. The site is a clearinghouse for thoughtful discussion rather than a locus of invective. We welcome links, articles, commentary or images from visitors. While the site provides links to many disturbing images, it does not offer direct links to the most extreme images. Instead, you'll find text references that require deliberate searching. Each of us must determine for ourselves which images we want resident in our heads, and to what purpose. We do not believe that everyone needs to see the most extreme images in order to understand the horror of war. On the other hand, we are convinced that citizenship is best served when all images are available, since often to witness is to be transformed.  Scan latest news below. Search by topic or category on the left.

Salon.com Publishes Additional Abu Ghraib Photos in U.S. [Feb. 16, 2006]

“Salon has obtained files and other electronic documents from an internal Army investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal. The material, which includes more than 1,000 photographs, videos and supporting documents from the Army's probe, may represent all of the photographic and video evidence that pertains to that investigation.

The files, from the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID), include hundreds of images that have never been publicly released. Along with the unpublished material, the material obtained by Salon also appears to include all of the famous photographs published after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke in April 2004, as well as the photographs and videos published Wednesday by the Australian television news show ”Dateline.“

The source who gave the CID material to Salon is someone who spent time at Abu Ghraib as a uniformed member of the military and is familiar with the CID investigation.”

[Salon] [Salon's statement on why they are publishing.] [Photos]

Sixty Abu Ghraib Photos Leaked to Sydney Morning Herald [Feb. 15, 2006]

“Australian television tonight broadcast previously unpublished graphic images of the alleged physical abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
SBS television's Dateline program tonight screened video and still images of the wounds allegedly inflicted on the Iraqis by their American captors.

They included photographs of blood-soaked Iraqi prisoners who had been tortured or shot dead, footage of a prisoner repeatedly slamming his head into a metal door, and a film of naked male prisoners being forced to masturbate in front of the camera.

The Bush administration is reportedly attempting to prevent release of the images in the US, arguing that their publication could provoke antagonism towards the US.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been granted access to the images under Freedom of Information, but the US government is appealing the decision.

George Negus, host of tonight's Dateline program, told SBS viewers it was important to televise the images to make the public aware of what taken place at Abu Ghraib prison.” [News.com.au]

[Link to Images] [SBS television program BitTorrent]

Video Of Brit Soldiers Beating Iraqi Teens Released [Feb. 12, 2006]

“The horrifying scenes on these pages will shock the world and ignite a huge military scandal. They were captured on a secret home video — apparently filmed for ”fun“ by a corporal—and show at least eight of his hulking comrades cruelly: DRAGGING four weedy rioters—all apparently in their early teens—off the street and behind the high walls of a secluded army compound, BEATING them senseless with vicious blows from batons, boots and fists, IGNORING their pitiful pleas for mercy, until the incident climaxes with what appears to be an NCO delivering a sickening full-force kick in the genitals of a cringeing lad pinned to the ground. All the while the callous cameraman delivers a stomach-churning commentary urging his mates on, cackling with laughter and screaming: ”Oh yes! Oh yes! You’re gonna get it. Yes, naughty little boys! You little f***ers, you little f***ers. DIE! Ha, ha!“ Insult The video—later shown to the corporal’s pals at their home base in Europe—was exposed to the News of the World by a disgusted whistleblower. He told us the unit and regiment involved but for security reasons we are not publishing the details.”
[News of the World] [Realplayer link to video] [Windows Media link to video]

Archaeological Treasures in Iraq: August, 2005

“This page contains digital photographs of archaeological sites in Iraq, taken by McGuire Gibson (Professor of Mesopotamian Archaeology, University of Chicago / Oriental Institute) and by SPC William Peterson. They are posted here with permission of the photographers. In May 2003, less than two weeks after major combat had been declared over, Gibson undertook a trip to Iraq, during which he visited several archaeological sites, including Isin, Ur, and Umm al-Hafriyat (a detailed account of Gibson's trip to Iraq, which also includes accounts of his site visits, has been posted on IraqCrisis). Peterson's photographs of Girsu, Nippur, and Uruk were taken in late 2003 / early 2004, during visits to these archaeological sites by U.S. soldiers (a fourth page with pictures of Babylon is in preparation).”
[Oriental Institute: Lost Treasures from Iraq]

More Journalists Killed in Iraq than Vietnam: Sept., 2004

“The number of journalists and support staff killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003 now exceeds the toll among the media during two decades of fighting in Vietnam from 1955 to 1975, according to separate reports from two international journalists' organizations. The Brussels-based International News Safety Institute (INSI) said in a press release on 29 August: ”Eighty-one members of the news media have died since the war began in March 2003, according to figures compiled by the Institute. More than half - 50 - were murdered by insurgents and other unidentified gunmen and bombers. American firepower is the next most significant cause of death. There is no firm evidence that US forces have deliberately targeted the news media. But there is widespread suspicion that American troops do not take adequate precautions to try to ensure the safety of journalists. None of the other Coalition forces has killed any journalists.“
[Editors Weblog]

BBC: US Fights Fresh Abu Ghraib Images: August 13, 2005

"US civil liberties groups have launched a lawsuit to force the release of 87 pictures and four videos showing abuse at Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad. Earlier images sparked worldwide condemnation and resulted in charges against a number of soldiers. The US argues the rest should stay hidden to avoid helping the insurgents. It is “probable that al-Qaeda and other groups will seize upon these images and videos as grist for their propaganda mill,” the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Richard Myers, argues in court papers. Releasing the images could also incite violence against US troops, he says. The first step to abandoning practices that are repugnant to our laws and national ideals is to bring them into the sunshine And he says the images would be detrimental to the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan. Gen Myers’ arguments were contained in court documents filed on 21 July but only recently unsealed. The Pentagon stepped up its campaign with a later request, submitted on Friday, for certain material to be kept from the public domain. ‘Accountability’ The civil liberties groups have submitted counter-arguments by a retired US army colonel, Michael Pheneger, who insists the public good would be served by publication of the images."
[BBC]

Al Qaeda's In Cyberspace: August, 2005

“...al Qaeda has become the first guerrilla movement in history to migrate from physical space to cyberspace. With laptops and DVDs, in secret hideouts and at neighborhood Internet cafes, young code-writing jihadists have sought to replicate the training, communication, planning and preaching facilities they lost in Afghanistan with countless new locations on the Internet. Al Qaeda suicide bombers and ambush units in Iraq routinely depend on the Web for training and tactical support, relying on the Internet's anonymity and flexibility to operate with near impunity in cyberspace. [...]

In Afghanistan, the Taliban banned television and even toothbrushes as forbidden modern innovations. Yet al Qaeda, led by educated and privileged gadget hounds, adapted early and enthusiastically to the technologies of globalization, and its Arab volunteers managed to evade the Taliban's screen-smashing technology police. [...] bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman Zawahiri, have fallen well behind their younger followers worldwide. The two still make speeches that must be recorded in a makeshift studio and couriered at considerable risk to al-Jazeera or other satellite stations, as with Zawahiri's message broadcast last week. Their younger adherents have moved on to Web sites and the production of short videos with shock appeal that can be distributed to millions instantly via the Internet. Many online videos seek to replicate the Afghan training experience. An al Qaeda video library discovered on the Web and obtained by The Washington Post from an experienced researcher showed in a series of high-quality training films shot in Afghanistan how to conduct a roadside assassination, raid a house, shoot a rocket-propelled grenade, blow up a car, attack a village, destroy a bridge and fire an SA-7 surface-to-air missile. During a practice hostage-taking, the filmmakers chuckled as trainees herded men and women into a room, screaming in English, ”Move! Move!“ [...]

Until recently, al Qaeda's use of the Web appeared to be centered on communications: preaching, recruitment, community-building and broad incitement. But there is increasing evidence that al Qaeda and its offshoots are also using the Internet for tactical purposes, especially for training new adherents.”
[Washington Post]

One-hour radio discussion on Open Source: 'Abu Ghraib, Take Two': July 26, 2004

“The world was shocked when the first photos were revealed. Now the ACLU is fighting the Bush administration for public release of a more gruesome set — this time with videos. We seem to be living in an age where pictures speak louder than words–or do they?”
[Open Source Radio - MP3]

Why the Pentagon Is Blocking Release of Remaining 87 Abu Ghraib Images: July 23, 2005

“So what is shown on the 87 photographs and four videos from Abu Ghraib prison that the Pentagon, in an eleventh hour move, blocked from release this weekend? One clue: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress last year, after viewing a large cache of unreleased images: ”I mean, I looked at them last night, and they're hard to believe.“ They show acts ”that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhumane,“ he added. A Republican Senator suggested the same day they contained scenes of ”rape and murder.“ No wonder Rumsfeld commented then, ”If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse.“

Yesterday, news emerged that lawyers for the Pentagon had refused to cooperate with a federal judge's order to release dozens of unseen photographs and videos from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by Saturday. The photos were among thousands turned over by the key ”whistleblower“ in the scandal, Specialist Joseph M. Darby. Just a few that were released to the press sparked the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal last year, and the video images are said to be even more shocking. [...] One Pentagon lawyer has argued that they should not be released because they would only add to the humiliation of the prisoners. But the ACLU has said the faces of the victims can easily be ”redacted.“ To get a sense of what may be shown in these images, one has to go back to press reports from when the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal was still front page news.

This is how CNN reported it on May 8, 2004, in a typical account that day:

”U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed Friday that videos and ‘a lot more pictures’ exist of the abuse of Iraqis held at Abu Ghraib prison. [...] “The embattled defense secretary fielded sharp and skeptical questions from lawmakers as he testified about the growing prisoner abuse scandal. A military report about that abuse describes detainees being threatened, sodomized with a chemical light and forced into sexually humiliating poses. [...] ”’The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience,’ Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters after Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. ’We're talking about rape and murder -- and some very serious charges.’ “A report by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba on the abuse at the prison outside Baghdad says videotapes and photographs show naked detainees, and that groups of men were forced to masturbate while being photographed and videotaped. Taguba also found evidence of a ‘male MP guard having sex with a female detainee.’ ”Rumsfeld told Congress the unrevealed photos and videos contain acts 'that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman.’“ [...] The military later screened some of the images for lawmakers, who said they showed, among other things, attack dogs snarling at cowed prisoners, Iraqi women forced to expose their breasts, and naked prisoners forced to have sex with each other. [...] ”Basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys/children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. The worst about all of them is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror it's going to come out.“
[Editor and Publisher]

Government Refuses to Release New Abu Ghraib Photos: July 22, 2005

Today was the day the government was supposed to process and redact photographs and videos relating to the abuse and torture of prisoners held abroad. Raising new arguments on the eve of its deadline, the United States government refused to release the materials to the public. The photographs and videos were to be processed for eventual release as a result of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations.

“The government is raising newfound reasons for withholding records to which the public has an undeniable right,” said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU. “Instead of releasing these records and holding officials accountable for detainee abuse, the government now seeks to shield itself from public scrutiny by filing these reasons in secret.”

In a letter filed at the eleventh hour, the Department of Defense claims that photographs and videos of abuse that the court had previously ordered redacted for future release “could result in harm to individuals” for reasons that will be set forth in a memorandum and three declarations that the government will file under seal with the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York.

Under the government’s proposal, the documents explaining the government’s reasons for withholding the images of abuse will not be available to the public except in redacted form, and the photographs and videos may never be made public.
[ACLU]

Why Few Graphic Images From Iraq Make It To U.S. Papers: July 18, 2005

In May, the Los Angeles Times released a survey revealing how few photographs of wounded or dead American service members in Iraq were appearing in U.S. publications. Newspaper editors seemed to agree that one primary obstacle was logistical: Given the sporadic nature of the violence occurring in a country the size of California, getting to the news is a dangerous challenge in itself. But when photographers are indeed able to capture such scenes, what happens to those images? The Times' survey of six months of coverage found almost no pictures of Americans killed in action at a time when 559 Americans and Western allies died; the same publications ran just 44 photos from Iraq to represent the thousands of Westerners wounded during the same period. But according to photo services, pictures are sometimes transmitted and left unused.

Santiago Lyon, director of photography for The Associated Press, says the wire service primarily gets such images from embedded photographers, who are bound by military ground rules to hold back photos in which the dead or wounded might be recognized until the families are notified. “If the faces are not recognizable, in theory you can send them,” he says. “But it's rare that we're in a situation where we're able to [obtain] those pictures. Even with the foreign photographers working there, it's still a lot of hit and miss.” One notable exception: Last year, AP photographer John B. Moore -- one of a team of AP photographers in Iraq who won a Pulitzer in the breaking news category this year -- got exclusive access to a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad and was able to photograph the dead and wounded. One striking image that he captured showed medics attempting to resuscitate a dying soldier.

“We made an effort not to show the faces,” says Lyon, “but when we sent them out, in the U.S. a lot of major papers chose not to run them. Those papers and other media subscribe to our feed. They're paying a flat rate, and can run as many or as few as they choose. In this case, they chose not to.” [...] Saman believes so few pictures are appearing in American papers because of a double standard that he says reflects the nature of our society. “Americans understand we are at war -- but not many people want to see the real consequences, especially when they involve one of your own,” he says. “I think some publications cater to this sentiment by trying not to anger subscribers and advertisers with harsh 'in-your-face' coverage of the true nature of war.” [...]

...internationally there's more an appetite for those types of pictures. He feels the reluctance of U.S. newspapers to publish those images is not an issue on which AP should comment. “We're providing photos and text to our subscribers, and it's up to them to use pictures as they see fit,” he observes. “We've covered our mission. Of course, as a journalist, I think the truth needs to be told.” For Swanson, who captured a particularly vivid truth while embedded with Echo Company, which lost 12 of its Marines in a two-week period, the poverty of images has removed death from the war: “It's war, whether you agree to it or not ... death needs to be shown. You have to know what you might lose before you commit so many lives. A country needs to be reminded that an 18-year-old has just died, and that Memorial Day and Veterans' Day are not just days for picnics at the beach.”
[Editor & Publisher]

Iraq War Fatalities: July, 2005

Iraq War Fatalities is a chart of the US and coalition military fatalities that have occurred in the war in Iraq since the onset. The animation runs at ten frames per second with a single black dot indicating the geographic location of a coalition fatality.
[Obleek]

Not A Pretty Picture [Village Voice]: May 17, 2005

“History,” Hegel said, “is a slaughterhouse.” And war is how the slaughter is carried out. If we believe that the present war in Iraq is just and necessary, why do we shrink from looking at the damage it wreaks? Why does the government that ordered the war and hails it as an instrument of good then ask us to respect those who died in the cause by not describing and depicting how they died? And why, in response, have newspapers gone along with Washington and grown timid about showing photos of the killing and maiming? What kind of honor does this bestow on those who are sent to fight in the nation's name? [...]

The photographs that accompany this piece are not gratuitously violent. They are merely real. All but one were taken by David Leeson, a highly regarded photographer at The Dallas Morning News. He and his Morning News colleague Cheryl Diaz Meyer were awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in breaking-news photography “for their eloquent photographs depicting both the violence and poignancy of the war with Iraq.” [...]

I don't hold much esteem for the usual crime-and-catastrophe formula on most late-news shows, but I have even less for contentions that withholding information from the public is good for them. Because we are a country of diverse culture groupings, there will always be differences of view, about war photographs and stories, over matters of taste and “shock” issues. But, while the reporter or photographer must consider these impact and shock issues his primary mission has to be one of getting the story right. And getting it right means not omitting anything important out of timidity or squeamishness. When I would return from a war scene, I always felt I had to write the story first for myself and then for the reader. The goal was to come as close as possible to make the reader smell, feel, see, and touch what I had witnessed that day. “Pay attention,” was my mental message to the reader. “People are dying. This is important.”
[Village Voice]

Film: The Dreams of Sparrows: May, 2005

“In a makeshift cemetery in Iraq, one group of men diligently chips away at rock-hard dirt, carving out trenches. Another carries shrouded bodies and lays them down for burial. Jagged pieces of slate, with lettering in chalk, serve as gravestones. ”A big man with a blue robe and a set of keys,“ reads one -- some of the dead haven't been identified. You won't see this moving, vivid and revealing footage -- shot after the U.S. attack on Fallujah last November -- on your evening news. The scenes come from The Dreams of Sparrows, one of several recent documentaries about the war in Iraq. Shot by a team of Iraqi filmmakers, Dreams is part of an independent, digitally enabled new wave of war reportage. Along with bloggers and independent journalists, Iraq-based filmmakers are transmitting stories they believe have been neglected by mainstream media outlets. ”Americans are missing a lot,“ said Aaron Raskin, the U.S.-based producer of Dreams who spent a month filming in Iraq.”
[Wired] [Dreams of Sparrows]

On Saddam In His Underpants: May, 2005

“Will showing Saddam Hussein in his underpants help our cause in the Middle East? Not among the culture that invented chivalry, to wit, the Arab culture, and believes you must treat your enemy with honour. Not among the Red Cross, who thinks it a breach of the Geneva Convention. Not among European editorialists to whom images of naked people being tormented and killed, in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, bring thoughts of the Holocaust. Not among those civil libertarians who value trial by jury, the right to a lawyer and a pay phone, and release on bail before one's day in court. To all of these it shows barbarism, a conquering army of ignorant rednecks out of control. Imagine, for instance, a photo of the naked Colin Powell urinating on the floor. Would that help our enemies' cause? Some in the US apparently think it would. Show your foe humiliated, abject and helpless and his followers will give up the struggle.”
[Adbusters]

On Saddam In His Underpants: May, 2005

“Will showing Saddam Hussein in his underpants help our cause in the Middle East? Not among the culture that invented chivalry, to wit, the Arab culture, and believes you must treat your enemy with honour. Not among the Red Cross, who thinks it a breach of the Geneva Convention. Not among European editorialists to whom images of naked people being tormented and killed, in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, bring thoughts of the Holocaust. Not among those civil libertarians who value trial by jury, the right to a lawyer and a pay phone, and release on bail before one's day in court. To all of these it shows barbarism, a conquering army of ignorant rednecks out of control. Imagine, for instance, a photo of the naked Colin Powell urinating on the floor. Would that help our enemies' cause? Some in the US apparently think it would. Show your foe humiliated, abject and helpless and his followers will give up the struggle.”
[Adbusters]

Navy Seals Sue Associated Press Over Photos: Dec. 28, 2004

“Six Navy SEALs and two of their wives filed a lawsuit against The Associated Press and one of its reporters Tuesday for allegedly revealing their identities in photos published in early December, according to a press release from the plaintiffs. The complaint, filed in California Superior Court, alleges that AP reporter Seth Hettena obtained a photograph in a personal Web site maintained by one of the wives of the Navy SEALs, which contains personal photographs. […] Hettena allegedly removed photos from that site and published them on Dec. 4, 2004, in a story stating that the pictures ”could be“ the earliest evidence of possible prisoner abuse in Iraq, the plaintiffs contend. The SEALs argue that the pictures ”actually depict special warfare operators’ standard procedures during covert operations. The Iraqis shown being captured in the photographs were leaders of anti-coalition attacks and Saddam loyalists.“ […]

”There was no need for the AP to publish the faces of the SEALs,“ Huston, the Morrison & Foerster partner who is heading the plaintiffs’ legal team, said in a statement. ”They added nothing to the value of the story. In fact, the SEALs showed more respect for the insurgents and terrorists that they were apprehending by obscuring their faces than the AP did for the Navy SEALs who were in Iraq risking their lives,“ he added. Since the photos were released, they have been published widely in the Arab Press, including on Al Jazeera, the plaintiffs claim. They are requesting injunctive relief, to preclude republishing the photographs, to preclude the publication of additional unpublished photographs, and to preclude the publication of personal photos by the Navy wife whose site was invaded, such as her wedding photos.”
[Editor & Publisher, via Reuters]

Barbara Kopple's “Bearing Witness” Doc: May 25, 2005

“Bearing Witness, which Kopple co-directed with Marijana Wotton, takes a critical look at wartime reportage, though it leaves control-room considerations aside in order to focus on the personal costs of unembedded frontline journalism. The five subjects include Molly Bingham, an American photojournalist who was imprisoned in Abu Ghraib near the start of the Iraq War; Janine DiGiovanni, a writer whose pregnancy complicates her admitted addiction to war correspondence; and May Ying Welsh, an American reporter for Al Jazeera whose self-described mission to ease communication between those on both sides of the war snaps the film's subject into focus. At 90 minutes, Bearing Witness is too short to go very deep into the lives of five women. But it's extremely effective in showing how the job of an alternative war journalist includes not just taking physical risks on a near-constant basis, but absorbing on a psychic level the unspeakable horror that too many of us have the temporary privilege to ignore.”
[Rob Nelson in City Pages]

Photos of US Fatalities In Iraq Rarely Published: May 22, 2005

“The young soldier died like so many others, ambushed while on patrol in Baghdad, Iraq. Medics rushed him to a field hospital, but couldn't get his heart beating again. What set Army Spc. Travis Babbitt's last moments in Iraq apart was that he confronted them in front of a journalist's camera.An Associated Press photograph of the mortally wounded Babbitt remains a rarity -- one of a handful of pictures of dead or dying American service members to be printed in this country since the start of the Iraq war more than two years ago. A review of six prominent U.S. newspapers and the nation's two most popular newsmagazines during a recent six-month period found almost no pictures from the war zone of Americans killed in action. During that time, 559 Americans and Western allies died. The same publications ran 44 photos from Iraq to represent the thousands of Westerners wounded during that same time. Many photographers and editors believe they are delivering Americans a muted portrait of the violence that has killed 1,797 U.S. service members and their Western allies and wounded 12,516 Americans. Journalists attribute the relatively bloodless portrayal of the war to a variety of causes -- some in their control, others in the hands of the U.S. military, and the most important related to the far-flung nature of the conflict and the way American news outlets perceive their role.”
[Detroit News]