View From the Bushes

I was listening to NPR this morning on my way into work and they mentioned that Muqtada al-Sadr had called the decapitation of Nick Berg a fabrication. Obviously, the beheading of Nick Berg is a huge subject on which I have many opinions, but completely outside of the scope of this tiny blog. I am also 99.999% sure that the video was not 'fabricated,' but in this day and age of increasing technology, fabricating evidence becomes easier by the month. On the other hand, the technology for detecting fabrications is also quite advanced (witness the revelation that the photos of abuse by UK soldiers were fake.) So the question is, is it easier, about the same or harder to perpetrate a hoax now than in the past?

I guess my initial thought is that it's easier. It's widely accepted that horrible inaccuracies and lies are reported in Arab newspapers on a daily basis, but the perceived ease of fakery gives them something of an out. It's entirely possible that it's the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal that are full of lies (certain far-right pundits would have you believe that anyway) and it's the Arab papers that are presenting the unexpurgated truth. I personally don't believe that, but if you accept that perfect fogeries are possible, then it's only a small step from one to the other.

In any case, I have to board a plane here in a couple of hours so I better end here. Troy comes out this weekend. It seems to be getting decent reviews, but my advice would be to read the book.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross