Technological Warfare - Report Example

Technological Warfare Introduction It is virtually impossible for the people across the world to live in harmony with each other without having to try and solve issues using fatal conflict. War has been a constant ritual that man has used, but the nature of war differs from one time to another. Although some wars are recognizable and affect a huge portion of the global population, there are times where war occurs and only affects few people. For instance, the two World Wars had a more profound impact as compared to the Iraqi war. One aspect to war that is going to be addressed in this paper is the presence of different sides. A war has to be between more than one side, the side that has more people has an advantage since it may access more resources such as human services or monetary support. One way of ensuring that a side has the number of people it needs is by ensuring that the war has a course, and that the people on one’s side are aware of this. The paper shows how some technological approaches have been utilized to influence the views people have towards war. Nguyễn Văn Lém Execution Overview One of the most famous war photo was taken by Eddie Adams in February 1st 1968. The photo was taken in Saigon and showed the execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém by Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. Loan was a police chief general and the shooting was at the beginning of the Tet Offensive. Adams won numerous accolades as a result of taking the photo but maintained their notoriety. The impact the photo brought forth was that of great magnitude, and many cite it as one of the most indispensable piece of the Tet Offensive. It garnered a lot of interest from many people than any other piece about the war, including all the film footages. It is difficult to find any work that revolves around the Tet offensive that does not devote a section to Adam’s photo (Anderson 2004). In 1969, Adam won the World Press Photo award and the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography which were both attributable to the photo. He downplayed the awards since the photo was very controversial with some citing that it was inappropriate for Adams to have taken the picture. However, the picture was one of the most memorable incidents of the Tet Offensive and caused an outrage from most people. Significance Mr. Loan was supposed to be on the side of anti-communist just like most of the Western World, but the act brought forth many questions about the participation of the allies in the war. To begin with, the photo was highly criticised for what it portrayed. Most people were not for the execution of individuals even where they might be guilty, a fair system that endorsed justice was what most deemed to be the appropriate step forward. Mr. Loan was viewed as a murderer although he was a chief police general; the act was viewed as vicious (Anderson 2004). The picture communicated a lot about what was transpiring in Vietnam. Although most people knew that the war was very messy, and that many people lost their lives, very few were not taken a back by Adam’s photo. It conceived a whole new understanding of the war, and the appreciation of what was at stake. The New York Times was sceptical about publishing the photo since it was considered to be brutal, and that most people were going to react to both the newspaper and the government, which was on the same side as Mr. Loan (Anderson 2004). Influence on Opinion The most notable impact of the picture was that it made the West look bad since the actions of Mr. Loan were viewed as its own. Mr. Loan was supposed to work alongside the United States and all the anti-communism fighters against those who supported communism. The act of executing Nguyễn Văn Lém was viewed as a defiance to proper code of engagement. The victim was tied up and shot to the head, which is both a war crime and one incident that tainted the image of the war. However, one of the consequences that most people are not aware of was that the west become even more determined to fight and restore sanity in the region. As stated earlier, engagement in a war has to be backed by a plausible cause for doing so. The photo played a part in conceiving this reason, the west was in the Vietnam War to try and bring back sense to the people of the region that were committing executions on the street on victims who had no platform to receive fair justice. To some extent, many people found a reason as to why the war was going on. Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima Overview This is arguably one of the most famous World War photo, for the United States at least. It was taken by Joe Rosenthal in February 23rd, 1945 and shows five U.S. Marines and a corpsman raising their national flag on top of Mount Suribachi during the World War II. The gesture of raising the flag of the United States meant a lot for the country as well as its associates, and this made it very popular. It was reprinted thousands of times, and this made it more than just a picture to the people who saw it. It seemed to acquire a deeper meaning each time it was reprinted since this meant that another individual had the chance of seeing it (Farhi 2013). Three of the soldiers raising the flag were killed days after the photo was taken, and the other three become national celebrities. The struggle that the soldier went through was highly appreciated by the citizens back home and this is one of the significant motives why the photo garnered so much fame. Significance The raising of the flag is a depiction of victory in a war that the United States had invested a lot despite not willing to be involved in it. What made the flag more substantial is that half of those that raised it did not make it back home, so the photo was also viewed as a farewell to those that were lost in a war that the world could have lived without. The role that the United States and the allies played in the war can be represented by this single photo, the struggle was there, but so was victory. It is a photo that does not lose it significance despite the issue of time. Although the war was not over yet, it was a sign of progress. A symbol to the people that the United States and its allies were making progress despite all the struggle that is evident from the photo. After the war, it showed the struggle that resulted into victory, and this is manifested by the raising of the flag. Finally the photo, and the 1954 Marine Corps War Memorial, were symbols of individuals who gave it their all for the fulfilment of their objectives (Winslow 2011). The significance of the photo is hence very imperative, and also one that acted as a tool to influence the way people viewed the war. Influence on Opinion The United States was very adamant towards participating in the Second World War, but circumstances that were unavoidable meant that it has to be involved. Its participation was well understood by its people as it was attacked, and a reaction was deemed necessary. Being under attack is a nervy feeling since one does not know what the enemy has in store, all one has to do is respond and hope for the best. The Battle of Iwo Jima is one of the most fatal ones for the United States. People in the west appreciated the fact that they has been attacked and needed to respond to the enemy. The photo acts as a reminder to the people that they overcome the challenge put for them to crumble. The perspective that the photo, and the statue, triggers for the people of the U.S. and those that fought alongside them in the second world war is that war is rewarding. The manner in which one understands this issue is debatable. One way, and one that am trying to bring up here, is that there is national pride that can last for decades after a war is won. Call of Duty Overview The Call of Duty is a game with different versions that are created by Activision. The game comes in series that have progressively seen developments done to ensure that the product is fitting to its customers. In respect to the matter of discussion, the game has entirely reshaped the opinions that a considerable number of people view war. The initial series of the game that comprise of Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, and Call of Duty 3 were all based on the Second World War. Other series are also based on real wars and also virtual wars from the future. A perfect example is the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Black Ops is based on the Cold War while Black Ops 2 takes place in 2025 (Richmond 2011). As of 2011, the game had sold in excess of a 100 million copies globally. More than 1.5 billion hours have been clocked by online players on the Modern Warfare 3 since its release in 2011. There are more offline player, and even more versions of the game. It is clear the game has millions of users who appear dedicated and overwhelmed. The game has been in creation stage for just over a decade now but keeps getting upgrades which makes it even more appealing. Currently, there are approximately 40 million monthly active users of the game, a number that keeps surging (Richmond 2011). Significance As compared to the two photos discussed earlier in this paper, the Call of Duty serves little significance to the people who play. This is not to render the game as a waste of time, but to refer to it as virtual unlike the other two. However, the game may act as a good platform to acquire more knowledge about pat events such as the World War II and Cold War. Influence on Opinions In a war, there has to be different sides that have different views that give rise to the conflict. A fitting illustration is that of the World War II, there were the allies and the Nazis. Although the allies such as Britain may look like one, there are the soldiers and there are the civilians that have little to do with the war. This separation within individual sides is what the Call of Duty has come to eliminate although one is virtual while the other game is real. Many studies show the impact of playing violent games such as the Call of Duty over extended time. Such studies are mainly aimed at children since they might not be able to critic what is real from what is fake, but the nature of this paper allows for the inclusion of all players. The intent is to establish the link between the game and the opinions of players towards war. The outcomes for those who play the game for extended periods of time are very clear (Carey 2013). The bridging of the gap between real and virtual soldiers in this case has an effect on perceptions of war in a profound manner. Those who play the games start perceiving war like a real soldier does, only that it is worse. Real soldiers engage in war because they have to do so to protect their tuff, but virtual soldiers do so to entertainment purposes. The problem is that the skills perfected in the game show individual players that war is fun, and the consequences are minimal. Although such views may not result to war in real life, these views also harbour other detrimental elements such as lack of empathy and tolerance to violence (NBC 2013). References Anderson, D., 2004. Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia University Press. Buell, Hal, ed. 2006. Common Virtue: Iwo Jima and the Photograph that Captured America. Berkley, CA: Penguin. Carey, B., 2013. Shooting in the Dark. [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/science/studying-the-effects-of-playing-violent-video-games.html?_r=0 [Accessed 04 March 2014]. Farhi, P., 2013. The Iwo Jima photo and the man who helped save it. [Online] Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/iwo-jima-photo-and-the-man-who-saw-it-shot/2013/02/21/ee11ab6c-77af-11e2-aa12-e6cf1d31106b_story.html [Accessed 03 March 2014]. NBC, 2013. War crimes in video games should be punished, ICRC says. [Online] Available at: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/war-crimes-video-games-should-be-punished-icrc-says-v20787029 [Accessed 04 March 2014]. Richmond, S., 2011. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 breaks sales records. [Online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-news/8884726/Call-of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-3-breaks-sales-records.html# [Accessed 04 March 2014]. Winslow, D., 2011. The Pulitzer Eddie Adams Didnt Want. [Online] Available at: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/the-pulitzer-eddie-adams-didnt-want/ [Accessed 04 March 2014]. Read More