The
Shite Mourning ceremony is an annual ceremony in which the Moslem faithful
congregate to commemorate the death of the son to the Prophet Mohamed by
mourning. This year’s event had attracted
many “mourners” especially since they were marking the seventh century since
the departure of Prophet Mohamed’s son. The ceremony however resulted in real
mourning for the faithful that had gathered at the mosque of Imam Hussein in
the Chahbahar city of Southeast Iran following the attack by two suicide
bombers on faithful as they progressed with the ceremony. I will review the reports
of Yahoo news, The Telegraph, The
Jerusalem Post and The Haaretz
The Jerusalem Post
titled their report “Double suicide bombings
kill at least thirty eight in Iran” The report starts with a short summary
in which the journalist points out from the very onset that the worshippers
were attacked while they were in the mosque. One of the bombers reportedly blew
him self from outside of the mosque while the other suicide bomber blew him
self from within the mosque. The reporter is keen on getting empathy from the
readers and that is why he puts emphasis on the fact that the bombers hit on
the unsuspecting worshippers at the mosque.
The Telegraph chooses
the title “Suicide bombers kill thirty
eight during Iran Shiite mourning ceremony” Right from the heading of one
can tell the emphasis of the Telegraph’s report is on timing of the bombing.
The bombing happened just a day before the faithful commemorated the seventh
century anniversary of the death of Prophet Mohamed’s son. It brings the irony
that faithful had gathered to mourn the death of their prophet’s son and the
mourning “celebration” turned out to be a real mourning for them.
Darein
Ali Akbar, who is the reporter that put the
Yahoo story together, tilted his report, “Suicide bombers kill at least thirty eight in southeast Iran” The
title suggests that there is a possibility of more deaths that had not been
recorded and so the journalist uses the official tally as a lower boundary
measure by saying that there was at least thirty eight days.
The Haaretz
chooses the title “Suicide bombers kill
at least thirty eight near mosque in southeast Iran” The heading is almost
similar to the one that Darein used for the yahoo report. The Haaretz report
also concentrates on the timing of the attack just like the yahoo report. The
report does not directly blame the “soldiers of God” like the Yahoo but it
indirectly points to the fact that the group is the most probable protagonists
of the attack. The report gives some similar attacks that have been done in the
recent years some in the same manner that are all related to the “soldiers of
God” militia group.
There
is one main bias by all the articles; all of the reports seem to agree to the
fact that the “soldiers of God” was the terrorist group responsible for this
attack. This is in spite of the fact that the group had not claimed
responsibility of the twin bombing. There is little or actually no hard evidence
that the group was to blame as the only proof to the assertion is that the
group had carried out other attacks before. The most believable report of the
four reports is the one done by Darein Ali Akbar for Yahoo. Darein does not
just make the assertion that two suicide bombers killed thirty eight
worshippers but he goes into the fine details of explaining why the number is
thought to be thirty eight. The reporter quotes from reliable sources like when
he says the official report of the government was released via the national television.
Rhetorical
Fallacies
Two
wrongs
The perpetrators
of the attack not only bombed innocent people but they did in their houses of
worship. The bombers had neither respect for the sanctity of life nor respect
for the house of God. (Noah).
Slippery
slope
The bombers had
no respect for worship. They
had previously targeted public places but now their morals have degraded to the
point of staging an attack on worshippers in God’s house (Quincey).
Red herrings
The fact that the soldiers of God movement had been linked
with previous attacks does not mean that they are responsible for this attack.
(Acker)
Poisoning the Well
There is little
or actually no hard evidence that the group was to blame as the only proof to
the assertion is that the group had carried out other attacks before. The
reporters seem to be poisoning the well since none of them considers the
suspect’s side of the story (Acker ).
Popularity
and Common Practice
The terrorist
group believes that by participating in suicide bombings, they would be benefit
themselves by a reward from God. Their actions reveal the fallacy of popularity
and common practice (Browne).
Stacked
Evidence
All the
reporters of seem to concentrate only on the fact that the bombers were
targeting the worshippers while none of them gets the other side of the story
to either confirm or deny the notion (Acker ).
Faulty analogy
The yahoo report seems to be seeking an analogy in the
mosque bombing with other bombings. The reporter lets the reader know that
there had been in fact other incidents of suicide bombings that could not be
treated in isolation from this attack .Darein Ali Akbar
observes that although there was no group that claimed responsibility for the
attack, he believes that the “soldiers of
God” extremist group was probably to blame as they had launched similar
attacks before.
(Acker ).
Post
Hoc
The Jerusalem
Post explains that a police officer shot at the suspect before the bomb went
off. it is not clear whether
the shooting could be the catapult to the bombing or whether the bombing went
just as planned by the suicide bombers irrespective of the police shooting.
.
Works Cited
Acker Christine.
Rhetorical Fallacies. 10 July 2006, 17
December 2010. <http://projects.uwc.utexas.edu/handouts/?q=node/30>
Browne, Harry ."The Unselfishness Trap", from How
I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. 23 February 1973. 17 December 2010. <http://www.harrybrowne.org/articles/UnselfishnessTrap.htm>
Darein Akbar. “Suicide
bombers kill at least thirty eight in southeast Iran.” 15 Dec. 2010. 15 Dec. 2010. <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101215/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_attack>
House of Commons Debates of
Canada. 2 (30 November, 1979): 1920
Jerusalem Post. “Double
suicide bombings kill at least thirty eight in Iran.” 15 Dec. 2010. 15 Dec. 2010.<http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?ID=199506&R=R1>
Noah Timothy.
“Radical Chic Resurgent” 22 August, 2001. 17 December 2010. <http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=1008160>
Quincey Thomas. 12 July, 2001. 17 December
2010. <http://www.authorama.com/miscellaneous-essays-2.html>
The Haaretz
“Suicide bombers kill at least thirty eight near mosque in southeast Iran.” 15
Dec. 2010. 15 Dec. 2010.
<http://www.Haaretz.com/news/international/suicide-bombers-kill- at-least-38-near-mosque-in-southeast-iran-1.330752>
The Telegraph.
“Suicide bombers kill thirty eight during Iran Shiite mourning ceremony.” 15 Dec. 2010. 15 Dec. 2010. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8203172/Suicide- bombers-kill-38-during-Iran-Shiite-mourning-ceremony.html>
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