CAIRO: Early Wednesday afternoon, journalists and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) gathered for a press conference in which the military delivered their official side of the story of events on Sunday that left at least 25 Christians dead and hundreds wounded. The scene was Orwellian at its best. Misinformation and scapegoating were on hand, as Egypt's government denied even the most basic facts from October 9. The military generals spouted a story that bewildered viewers, claiming soldiers were defending themselves and were scared when they ran over protesters in armored vehicles, killing many near the state television and radio building in Cairo. One of the key points of uncertainty in the three days since the violence, was a report in which Egypt's state television claimed that soldiers were killed on Sunday. State TV called upon citizens to “defend the military from the Coptic protesters attacks.” At the press conference, the military said that “many casualties occurred, but our policy is to keep quiet as to not affect morale.” Are we in a war now? What morale are they talking about? Censoring news and reporting is a sign of a war-time military. The military would not give the names of those allegedly killed, even though a prominent journalist earlier this week stated on the government-run channel that no soldiers had been killed. One general told reporters “it is unthinkable that the military would run over protesters,” despite witnesses and videos online showing armored vehicles running over unarmed protesters on Sunday. The military's official stance on the events are blunt: the protesters attacked the military, who became unnerved and attempted to escape the area when civilians were run over. One general even went so far as to argue “the military was there to protect the protesters.” They also claimed that the soldiers did not have live ammunition, despite evidence among the dead of gunshot wounds. The official stance being delivered by the SCAF was nearly unanimously condemned by observers and activists inside and outside Egypt. They called on the press to reveal the “lies of the military” and to report the truth. Still, as the press conference was taking place, The Associated Press reported that at least three soldiers killed in Sunday's violence had been buried on Wednesday, citing an unnamed state-run MENA news agency source. It came despite denials, and one AP reporter told me on Twitter that this is what the military said, so they reported. Last time I checked, a journalists job was to report the truth as best they can. We may get it wrong, but the goal is to rectify this as quickly as possible and deliver what we can. There is simply no verifiable evidence that soldiers were killed on Sunday. The protesters did not have guns, did not wield weapons when the violence began and were massacred en masse. The press conference itself belied almost all witness accounts and images from Sunday, which saw armored vehicles running over, shooting and killing protesters. As journalists, and supposed reporters of truth, the SCAF press conference was a propaganda machine in full movement. While it is important to report the “official” line on what happened, it must be buttressed by the facts on the ground. We saw the military, uniformed, shooting. We saw vehicles stream through protesters, in obvious attempts to kill, and yet the foreign press wants to be balanced. Their balance, in this instance is giving credence to state-sponsored violence and crimes against humanity. We should not embellish or deny that protesters did throw rocks, but the facts do speak for themselves. If there are no witnesses to corroborate the military's stance, soldiers' deaths, Coptic protesters with guns, what then? It is a fine line that all journalists are struggling with and this is the problem with the military's official stance, or lies, that they were defending themselves form armed insurgents targeting their soldiers. Let us hope that the official line is targeted and debunked for the myth of October 9. To do any less would diminish the tragedy of what really happened. BM
