Postmodernism - The War on Terror - Essay Example

The war on terror Introduction: Postmodernism puts forward the view that truth or reality is not as it actually is but can be shaped to appear to be something else. Reality is nonexistent or at least inaccessible and images have little meaning when placed outside their context.(Heartney, 2004). This view is especially relevant in the context of the war on terror, where images appearing in the media have been manipulated or selectively presented, or taken out of context in order to present an appearance of reality, which was deceptive. The media has been viewed as an agent of domination, because of the ideology that is propagated through the media text and the manner in which reality is represented through it. The media has a powerful impact in shaping how people think about an issue and has been used as a tool to frame and shape public opinion, especially in the context of the war in Iraq. The media has presented the Iraq war in a very different way in America, as compared to the way in which it is viewed over the rest of the world. Dissenting opinions offered against the Iraq war were presented sparingly in the media during the initial stages of the war, since it became “unpatriotic” to discuss the negative aspects of the war. Support for the war has been largely garnered through the kind of images presented in the media, which have capitalized on the fear generated after the 9/11 attacks to capture public support for the war in Iraq. The War on terror The “war on terror” has been touted in the media as the war against terrorism and has successfully created a culture of fear in America.(Brzezinski, 2007). It has successfully linked the traumatic events of 9/11 and the terrorist attack on the world trade center with the war in Iraq. The image of a nation at war was also responsible for the re-election of President Bush, since a Commander in chief is not changed midstream.(Bzrezinski, 2007). The slogan of the war on terror has created an all-pervasive culture of fear, which in turn has intensified the emotions of the public and has made it easier to mobilize support within the United States. Repeated portrayal of images in the media of the crashing of the terrorist airplanes flying into the World Trade Center and the mayhem and destruction that resulted (www.libertynews.org,nyud.net), were instrumental in hyping up the fear against terrorists in the minds of the American public, so that there were strong levels of public support for President Bush’s invasion of Iraq. In order to further drum up support for its war initiative, the Bush administration claimed that its struggle to liberate Iraq was equivalent to the U.S. struggle against Nazism. Fear mongering practices through the media has been responsible for the continued support for waging war, since the public has been brainwashed into blowing up the terrorist problem all out of proportion, generating a momentum that has fuelled paranoia within the United States about the threat posed by terrorists ( Brzezinski, 2007). Roberts (2005) highlights how the media controls the public mind through the manner in which it depicts images in the media. He contends that by using graphic images and focusing only on certain events rather than presenting a balanced picture of events, or through selective reporting, the media is able to control the messages that are given out to the public and control the public mind. Images in the Western media during the first Gulf War focused on the dazzling fireworks in the sky through carefully targeted bombing raids carried out by the US air force, while providing few images of dead Americans or Iraqis and of civilians injured in the war.(www.news.bbc.co.uk). The media was replete with glittering, dazzling images of US missiles carefully targeting specific sites within Iraq, all of which were provided live, thus conveying an image of a war that was being conducted without much in the way of human casualties, so that the image that stuck in the public mind was one of precision bombing attacks, which in reality were not actually so. (Heartney, 2004). The power of photographs is that they appear to represent reality as it is, so that despite the fact that a viewer may be aware that photographs can be misrepresented or presented out of context to generate an illusory picture of reality, the belief in the truth of photography remains, lending credibility to the pictures presented in the media.(Heartney, 2004). Roberts (2005) illustrates the power of images, reporting and the media as he discusses the so called honoring of the dead every evening in the media, after the onset of the second Gulf War. By parading dead bodies before the public in this manner, Roberts argues that there is a psychological impact upon the audience, so that the underlying message that is transmitted is that America needs to get out of the war, rather than try and help another country get back on its feet after years of dictatorial oppression (Roberts. 2005). However, Roberts also points out that the overwhelming presentation of unhappy Iraqis and Afghans in the media who hate the United States may not necessarily be a true picture of reality, because there are also numerous people in Iraq and Afghanistan who are happy that the Americans are there, and who appreciate the rebuilding of the infrastructure, the freedom from dictatorial rule and the higher degree of respect being accorded to women. Therefore, the representation of images in the media may not always be a strict representation of reality as it exists on the ground. Selective reporting, presentation of images that are not shown appearing within their rightful context, or placing an overemphasis on particular events may result in a distorted picture of actual reality being presented in the media. Another example that may be cited is the reporting of abuses of Iraqi prisoners that occurred at the Abu Gharaib prison. The United States military action against Iraq in 2003 resulted in the imprisonment of several Iraqis in the once notorious Abu Gharaib prison, twenty miles west of Baghdad (Hersh, 2004). However, during the period October to December of 2003, there were several instances of “sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses” at Abu Gharaib (Hersh, 2004). Some of the instances of cruel, sadistic acts that were reported included threatening male detainees with rape, sleep deprivation, dousing naked prisoners with cold water, severe beating of prisoners and forcing them to commit indecent acts. These acts were especially humiliating for the prisoners because homosexuality is against the Islamic law and it is degrading and humiliating for men to be naked in front of other men. (Hersh, 2004). However, these allegations of abuse occurring at the prison didn’t really become real for the American public until images were actually shown in the media. (Heartney, 2004). During the initial period after the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq in early 2005, images presented in the media were overwhelmingly positive to the American war effort. The stories about the advances made by the coalition forces presented the entire war as a grand crusade to liberate the nation of Iraq from a gruesome fate under a ruthless dictator Saddam Hussein. As pointed out by Heartney (2004) early images of the Gulf War II were designed to convey an impression of American strength and the rightness of the mission. One of the images corroborating this impression was the one showing President Bush on an aircraft carrier with a big banner that had the words “Mission Accomplished”. Yet another showed the dismantling of the statue of Saddam Hussein. These images were carefully engineered to project an image of victory and success, and to convey an impression of a war that was won whereas the reality was much more complex. The attendant civilian causalities, the difficulties in management of ethnic conflicts within Iraq and the inherent problems in rebuilding the country were all overlooked by the media during the initial stages of the war, but they are slowing being unearthed as the reality of continuing war emerges through the mists of illusion cast by the media. In a similar manner, Heartney (2004) points out that the photos of the American soldiers abusing prisoners at Abu Gharaib prison may have been originally taken as trophy images of the war. But the impression that they conveyed in the public mind was different because they generated horror and disgust, so that the perpetrators in question ultimately landed up facing court martials. Conclusions: The war on terror thus reveals post modernism in action. The manner in which images have been presented has resulted in the conveying of an image of war which may be much different from the actual reality. While images in the western media were supportive of Gulf War II in its initial stages, the images on Al Jazeera TV portrayed a different image. Subsequent to the 9/11 bombings for instance, bodies were not shown publicly on American TV because it was a politically expedient measure to withhold the human cost of war from the public eye, while the reality of casualties was very much a part of the war. Similarly, the carefully engineered images of President Bush and the coalition forces storming into Baghdad were calculated to heighten the impression of victory while the reality was much more complex, because despite the military victory, the coalition forces were left to deal with ethnic conflicts and the aftermath of war, which have been long ranging. What was initially presented as a swift war blitz has emerged into the reality of a long drawn out war effort. The reality is therefore much different from what has been projected in the media. The suppression or selective representation of images to distort the reality also raises ethical issues. The kinds of images presented in the media are geared to attract the attention of the public, therefore the more sensational images have precedence over those that are more representative of reality. Since these sensational images are blown up out of all proportion they assume an importance that is unmatched by the actual reality of the context within which they occur. The Postmodernist approach offers the view that reality is non existent or inaccessible, because reality as presented in the media may not actually exist. The so called reality of the Iraq war and the war on terror has been presented in a manner calculated to provoke certain reactions among its audiences, rather than presenting the actual reality of the events. Photographs that are used are no guarantee of reality either. The manner in which photographic images are under or over represented in the media also contribute towards propagation of the illusion of reality rather than the reality itself. Selective reporting, bias in presentation of stories and presenting events out of context also contribute to the creation of a reality that may in fact be no more than an illusion because it does not represent the true reality of what is happening in so far as the war on terror is concerned. Media manipulation of the images and stories of war has played a significant role in the distorted perceptions of the war on terror which exist in the western audiences as compared to the Muslim audiences, who receive different pictures and representation through Al Jazeera. References: * Brzenzinski, Zbigneiw, 2007. “Terrorized by ‘war on terror’” The Washington Post, March 25, 2007 at pp B01. * Heartney, Eleanor, 2004. “A war and its images: as photographs and films dealing with the Iraq war became the subject of partisan debate, the author consider their ethical and historical context”, Art in America, Retrieved November 17, 2007 from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_9_92/ai_n6355334 * Hersch, Seymour M, 2004. “Torture at Abu Gharaib”, The New Yorker, May 10, 2004. Retrieved November 17, 2007 from: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/10/040510fa_fact * 911 in America: Images and videos from September 11, 2001.” Retrieved November 17, 2007 from: http://www.libertynews.org.nyud.net:8090/wtc/ * “Timeline: War in the Gulf” retrieved November 17, 2007 from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/861164.stm * Roberts, Craig, 2005. “Media mind control in the war on terror”, News with Views, Retrieved November 17 from: http://www.newswithviews.com/Craig/roberts7.htm Read More