PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

THE U.S. NEEDS TO REFLECT ON ITS ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The first step in the United States coming to terms with its legacy in the middle east would be to release 30 years of diplomatic cables and other communications. In doing this, the wounds could begin to heal, in the same way a deep cut heals when exposed to sunlight. We must have those records.

Diplomacy is conducted behind Ivy walls, out of view of most of the public and with little public interference, save those groups, ethic or otherwise, who have a vested concern about one issue or another. This must be changed. Never again can we leave diplomacy alone with the elites who practice their trade behind closed doors, shuttered windows and secret cables.

As one who worked for years as a reporter in Washington, DC, and even covered the State Department on occasion, I confess I did not fully comprehend the situation in regard to Egypt and other middle eastern states and the U.S. role in supporting those governments. Of course, I knew they were not democracies and experienced great poverty in some areas, but I was generally unaware of the brutality of the oppression against their own people. Where was the information about Mubarak to be found readily? The regular diplomatic press corp treated the "compromises" made in international power politics as business as usual. No questions asked. We might hammer places where our government opposed their rulers, like Cuba and the former Soviet Union, but little or nothing was said about governments supported by ours.

Our national news media, print, Internet and broadcast, caters to our aggressively short attention span. It is so easy to push in other news stories once the big drama has passed and, thus, so very easy to forget. In this case, we must not turn away. We have to insist on information, investigation and clarity about the past so we can hope to find a better future.

Our democracy and our free media failed us in the middle east. In decades past, everything was treated as a drama of communism and capitalism pushing against each other for dominance. In recent years, we get information only about the Arab-Israeli conflict over Palestine and the Palestinians. This is incredibly shortsighted for the world's most powerful democracy.

A careful examination of the United States' role in the middle east can be a way of developing a better understanding of the failings of our own democracy. Why did this go on so long without public protest? Why does our government make no effort to engage citizens on these issues and to reflect our views and values? We should always remember that if we can betray our fundamental values of freedom and self determination internationally, we can also do it here almost as easily.

Doug Terry, 3.8.11

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