Narratives of liberation and narratives of innocent suffering: the rhetorical uses of images of Iraqi children in the British press

Abstract

This article analyses the rhetoric of pictures of Iraqi children in the British press during the 2003 UK/US invasion of Iraq. The author argues that images of children are particularly potent resources for constructing narratives about the motivations and outcomes of war. Two narratives are explored: the first is sceptical about the legality of the war but nonetheless frames its outcomes within a narrative of liberation. The second, the narrative of the innocent children, shows how the display of the children as abstracted from their social and familial context and therefore in need of adult care may be used to justify the very same military interventions that caused their injuries. The author concludes that it is not proximity or distance from the ‘suffering other’ that shapes whether or not their images will be circulated in the press, but the rhetorical uses of the image in contributing to particular narratives about the causes and consequences of specific events.