.Downloading the war in Iraq
"It's way more than just chillin,'" a twentysomething says from beneath a tilted trucker hat, his laptop glowing from its position at his right-hand side. The revelation concerns the day-to-day undertakings of American soldiers in Iraq, which, thanks to the latest offerings of the Internet video culture, he has - at least in part - seen for himself.
Last Friday, immediately preceding an hour-and-a-half block of "Pimp My Ride," MTV aired an anomalous and captivating documentary entitled "Iraq: Uploaded." For half an hour, the network broadcast candid footage of firefights and the Iraqi insurgency coupled with profiles of the returned soldiers who shot the video firsthand.
Apparently, digital cameras are all but standard issue for American troops in Iraq, and their primary, unfiltered video has started something of a craze on pluralist user video sites like YouTube and iFilm.com.
"Viral" (uploaded, short and homemade) video has long been the medium of choice for equally useless and engrossing footage of cats using toilets and Japanese people out of cultural context. But unsettled veterans fresh out of Iraq saw potential for something else.
"When you're over there, it's pretty emotionally intense," Sgt. Adam Lingo says in the documentary. "But you don't wanna call up your family and tell them, 'Hey, I'm getting shot at every day.' You're just gonna worry them. But once you come back, you kinda wanna share your experience with somebody. … In a way, I guess, it's therapeutic."
Soldiers such as Lingo have flooded video networking sites with a multitude of raw, up-close and frequently disturbing footage from the front lines of the Middle East. From an in-car video of a Humvee blown apart by an improvised explosive device to a montage of suicide bombings set to Rage Against the Machine, anyone around the world can log on to iFilm's "WarZone" and witness scenes from the most violent and tumultuous military conflict since Vietnam - without ever leaving home.
To view war coverage from World War II to the present is to witness a progressive history of international journalism, a history that directly corresponds with changing perspectives of the population at large. Graphic photos of dead soldiers greatly influenced the shift in public opinion against the Vietnam War, and millions of Americans still remember the surreal night-vision videos of illuminated heavy-arms fire that were characteristic of the first Gulf War.
People have always struggled with the image of war. It is deeply affecting to conceive of battle with the worst angels of our nature, let alone see it with your own eyes. The wife of a soldier-turned-guerilla documentarian had this to say: "I don't understand it, I can't understand it. I've never scrubbed brains out of my uniform, I've never watched somebody die. … I'm just ready for it to be over, for the war to be over."
Today, a debate still wages as to whether or not it's appropriate to publicize photos of the bodies, or even coffins, of American soldiers killed in action.
Ted Koppel was heavily chastised by conservative groups for reading the names of war dead on Nightline in 2004. And, just last week, Republican leaders blasted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for an ad that depicted lurid images of flag-draped coffins and various disasters, both at home and abroad, as part of an argument for change.
In an era where individuals are empowered to share their own stories over the Internet, the ethics of depicting war are only becoming more amorphous. Thankfully, Sgt. Lingo offers some perspective.
"I'm not trying to offend anyone," he said, "but it's like, this is what is really happening."
War images and videos have a unique power to disturb, terrify and infuriate - which is precisely why they are so necessary. Whether they are photos of star-spangled coffins or the video diary of a war-worn soldier reaching out over the Web, it is critical that Americans continue to download, view, contemplate and discuss this war.
We won't be able to turn away from the consequences.
Daily Texan
Last Friday, immediately preceding an hour-and-a-half block of "Pimp My Ride," MTV aired an anomalous and captivating documentary entitled "Iraq: Uploaded." For half an hour, the network broadcast candid footage of firefights and the Iraqi insurgency coupled with profiles of the returned soldiers who shot the video firsthand.
Apparently, digital cameras are all but standard issue for American troops in Iraq, and their primary, unfiltered video has started something of a craze on pluralist user video sites like YouTube and iFilm.com.
"Viral" (uploaded, short and homemade) video has long been the medium of choice for equally useless and engrossing footage of cats using toilets and Japanese people out of cultural context. But unsettled veterans fresh out of Iraq saw potential for something else.
"When you're over there, it's pretty emotionally intense," Sgt. Adam Lingo says in the documentary. "But you don't wanna call up your family and tell them, 'Hey, I'm getting shot at every day.' You're just gonna worry them. But once you come back, you kinda wanna share your experience with somebody. … In a way, I guess, it's therapeutic."
Soldiers such as Lingo have flooded video networking sites with a multitude of raw, up-close and frequently disturbing footage from the front lines of the Middle East. From an in-car video of a Humvee blown apart by an improvised explosive device to a montage of suicide bombings set to Rage Against the Machine, anyone around the world can log on to iFilm's "WarZone" and witness scenes from the most violent and tumultuous military conflict since Vietnam - without ever leaving home.
To view war coverage from World War II to the present is to witness a progressive history of international journalism, a history that directly corresponds with changing perspectives of the population at large. Graphic photos of dead soldiers greatly influenced the shift in public opinion against the Vietnam War, and millions of Americans still remember the surreal night-vision videos of illuminated heavy-arms fire that were characteristic of the first Gulf War.
People have always struggled with the image of war. It is deeply affecting to conceive of battle with the worst angels of our nature, let alone see it with your own eyes. The wife of a soldier-turned-guerilla documentarian had this to say: "I don't understand it, I can't understand it. I've never scrubbed brains out of my uniform, I've never watched somebody die. … I'm just ready for it to be over, for the war to be over."
Today, a debate still wages as to whether or not it's appropriate to publicize photos of the bodies, or even coffins, of American soldiers killed in action.
Ted Koppel was heavily chastised by conservative groups for reading the names of war dead on Nightline in 2004. And, just last week, Republican leaders blasted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for an ad that depicted lurid images of flag-draped coffins and various disasters, both at home and abroad, as part of an argument for change.
In an era where individuals are empowered to share their own stories over the Internet, the ethics of depicting war are only becoming more amorphous. Thankfully, Sgt. Lingo offers some perspective.
"I'm not trying to offend anyone," he said, "but it's like, this is what is really happening."
War images and videos have a unique power to disturb, terrify and infuriate - which is precisely why they are so necessary. Whether they are photos of star-spangled coffins or the video diary of a war-worn soldier reaching out over the Web, it is critical that Americans continue to download, view, contemplate and discuss this war.
We won't be able to turn away from the consequences.
Daily Texan
posted by madtom at 9:04 PM
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