While it is obvious that the men and women of the armed forces are directly and inherently impacted by war, I think it is important to point out that there are many people at home who feel the affects of war in other ways.
The first blog that I found concerning this subject was Some Soldier's Mom . Here I started to see the challenge faced by families at home. Hearing of deaths within battalions can create both fear and great concern for loved ones shown both emotionally and physically (lose of sleep, etc.). It's also clear that families are able to share these emotions with each other and maybe (to some extent) share the unbearable burden through blogs and other forms of conventional communication.
I then found the Army Wife Toddler Mom blog which reveals that many of the wives, mothers, and others at home wouldn't have it any other way (see 4/10 post). Love is clearly not a thing to be reckoned with and it's important to consider that there is choice involved here. While the times may be hard, these individuals are ready and willing.
Finally, I found an article by Joanna Wroblewski which discusses the issues felt by those who experience the death of a loved soldier. The separation from what was once a military life clearly is not an easy process and the judgment felt by other people carries enormous pressure. The time taken for recovery probably lasts beyond a lifetime....
The issues here are somber and challenging. It becomes practically our responsibility to support our troops. Their lives have an impact on ours that may not be nearly as indirect as we had imagined.
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Monday, April 9, 2007
Propaganda?
Recently, I've discussed and looked at significant propaganda in one of my classes. It's become clear through videos and discussion that propaganda is not only a widespread and influential power, but it also acts in essentially all sides of a conflict. I can't imagine that there is anyway to safely identify propaganda other than to continuously investigate the information we take in. The first part of any analysis needs to look for the subject's bias and identify the founding facts that make such an argument possible.
In exploring blogs online, I first stumbled across Hot Potato Mash and his criticism of Fox News. It's clear from the embedded videos that the Fox corporation was in support of the war effort (see the bottom video) and this sort of agenda in a media source is important to consider. As such a critical information outlet, Fox certainly has more control than it claims and shows that we need to consider all of our news sources equally.
Another video worth discussing here is the second in which a child identifies religion as the reason for wars. There are multiple issues here. First, the child is being used as propaganda tool against religion and probably has relatively minimal idea of the political reasoning (did you know the difference between Republican and Democrats at that age?). And yet, to control YouTube (as O'Reilly appears to be suggesting) is a violation of our freedom of speech. it seems that both sides are utilizing propaganda here. Additionally, the source is in question as some YouTube commenters explain that it was a joke.... not funny?
I searched the web for the most recent occurrence of propaganda and couldn't avoid the story of the 15 British soldiers that were released from Iran last week. The soldiers were given permission to sell their stories to the private sector and as such were deemed "propaganda pawn[s]" by Muslim Public Affairs Committee of the United Kingdom. Many view these stories as way to make Iran look violent in order to stir public opinion against the country. Particular attention is paid to Faye Turney, the only captured female; her gender is commonly pointed out in what seems to be hype.
The outcry from this privatization was overwhelming and it's worth noting that British soldiers we recently banned from telling their stories. But how much of a difference will this make? And will the restriction go away once the outcry dies down? Anyway you look at it, these 15 individuals were already given permission and will be telling their stories; the damage may already be done.
We can't avoid propaganda, but we can, and should, be critical of all the information we take in. It is our responsibility to determine the validity and spin of our news such that we can generate more informed opinions of world issues...
In exploring blogs online, I first stumbled across Hot Potato Mash and his criticism of Fox News. It's clear from the embedded videos that the Fox corporation was in support of the war effort (see the bottom video) and this sort of agenda in a media source is important to consider. As such a critical information outlet, Fox certainly has more control than it claims and shows that we need to consider all of our news sources equally.
Another video worth discussing here is the second in which a child identifies religion as the reason for wars. There are multiple issues here. First, the child is being used as propaganda tool against religion and probably has relatively minimal idea of the political reasoning (did you know the difference between Republican and Democrats at that age?). And yet, to control YouTube (as O'Reilly appears to be suggesting) is a violation of our freedom of speech. it seems that both sides are utilizing propaganda here. Additionally, the source is in question as some YouTube commenters explain that it was a joke.... not funny?
I searched the web for the most recent occurrence of propaganda and couldn't avoid the story of the 15 British soldiers that were released from Iran last week. The soldiers were given permission to sell their stories to the private sector and as such were deemed "propaganda pawn[s]" by Muslim Public Affairs Committee of the United Kingdom. Many view these stories as way to make Iran look violent in order to stir public opinion against the country. Particular attention is paid to Faye Turney, the only captured female; her gender is commonly pointed out in what seems to be hype.
The outcry from this privatization was overwhelming and it's worth noting that British soldiers we recently banned from telling their stories. But how much of a difference will this make? And will the restriction go away once the outcry dies down? Anyway you look at it, these 15 individuals were already given permission and will be telling their stories; the damage may already be done.
We can't avoid propaganda, but we can, and should, be critical of all the information we take in. It is our responsibility to determine the validity and spin of our news such that we can generate more informed opinions of world issues...
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