Images and Bullets - The Reality of War

Entertainment is big business! As a society we endeavor to be entertained, amused, aroused, intrigued and most importantly feel apart of something, whether it’s physical or emotional/psychological. As the world is such a large place it is impossible to know what is happening across the globe, understand, witness or be apart of it, what ever it might be. The media industry in most societies facilitate by delivering the happenings of the world to comfort of a persons facilitations, wether it be by, television, newspaper, magazines, radios, internet mediums; Blogs, forums, websites and social networks plus various other alternatives. As viewers when watching news & correspondents we are represented with what we are led to believe is reality of what is actually happening and absorbed into it as a notion of what is being represented to us is fact. How much of what you are is seeing are actual real scenarios and how much of what you are watching is manufactured?

If we use War as an analogy to what is represented to us in the media. War is considered a situation of widespread conflict between large factions of people which involves the use of violent, physical force between soldiers/fighters or civilians. How much of what is actually happening within conflicts is actually being presented to us in it full entirety? Journalists have to be aware when televising war reports with what is happening on the battlefield and the response it will receive from its audience and viewers. How the depiction of the good and bad will be represented.

In recent times and even currently during conflicts i.e. Iraq (Gulf War 1 & 2), Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia and others we have seen misleading information and images. There are many reasons to why this occurs one being that journalists who are embedded with soldiers to cover stories have a conduct to abide by. “There are rules of engagement which journalist were to swear to abide by, some of these were that the details of military actions could only be described in general terms and there was to be no writing about possible future missions and weapons or sensitive information” (Cardell, Politics in the Wires). This can be seen as reasonable actions by military organizations as the information that is being protected and kept under the covers, if was released can endanger the lives of soldiers and civilians.

Manipulation and control of the media by military and governments is becoming common course of action, "The first casualty when war comes is Truth"— U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson, 1917. If we take a look at the Pentagon, it currently has its restrictions on what media can be released to the public this includes what Journalists are allowed to report on and includes restrictions on soldiers & Personnel posting pictures, Blogs and online discussions relating to the war or conflict zone they are in. If a journalist is broadcasting material deemed inappropriate for release the Pentagon has the power to jam all satellite transmission. Journalists, Personnel and soldiers who are publishing or sending to authorized personnel material which is seen unfit by the Pentagon are receiving letters warning them to stop or face consequences. The Pentagon “By restricting or managing what information is presented and hence what the public are told. For them it is paramount to control the media. This can involve all manner of activities, from organizing media sessions and daily press briefings, or through providing managed access to war zones, to even planting stories. This has happened throughout the 20th century. Over time then, the way that the media covers conflicts degrades in quality, critique and objectiveness."

So the Pentagon is putting restrictions on what can be published but the media organizations still need to make it look good to be able to sell it to its audiences. Candall tells us that “real life is where the action is at”. So this is where the barriers of truth becomes stretched to sweeten the taste of society yearn for action. The truth is Peace is boring most of us rather go and watch an action or a thriller movie then watch it again then have to sit through a boring documentary on the Discovery channel. (Not that all documentaries on discovery channel are boring but you get where I am coming from.) What we have happen is media organizations bending the truth to make it more interesting. Is the essence of story still there? Would you rather the truth or what every CNN has to offer?

So what is happening to the media that we are receiving?

It’s been restricted from the government agencies, The Media organizations are manipulating it, and so what are we ending up with? We are in cases receiving doctored and manufactured images of war. Is this giving us a false perception of what war really is like? Glorifying The Allies and deviling the enemies.

Crandall asked the question, What is more powerful images or bullets?

Let’s look at this way; In order for a countries bullets to be shot on foreign soil > Soldiers need to be there > for the soldiers to get there and continually receive funding to continue their campaign governments needs to authorize all measures > In order for governments & politicians to come into power they require funding and support > Political Funding - majority is provided by big business>big business own media organization > Media organizations entertain and have an influence on society > Society support politicians and elect them to government. So you tell me what do you think is more powerful images or bullets? Images are doing the influencing, illustrate the right images and you are able to shift a public opinion. This with most people in society the power to influence is seen more powerful then the power of the bullet.

Diasporas keeping us culturally connected

The Lebanese Diaspora

With an estimated figure of 15 million citizens living abroad for an inside population of 4 million, Lebanon is one of the only countries to have more citizens living outside its boundaries.

Migration has long been a tradition for the Lebanese, starting as early as the Phoenicians who sailed the seas. The modern Lebanese Diaspora began in the 19th century. At that time the country was under ottoman domination and the Lebanese, especially Christian, had to bear an ottoman policy of second class citizens and oppression. Later on a civil war broke out between Druze and Christian. This only helped in intensifying the migration process touching Lebanese of all faiths.
Another wave of dense migration happened during and after the First World War. As the population "perished from hunger in a land rich with milk and honey"[1], a new wave of migrants decided to join their family members, or village peers, wherever they settled. Migrating "with nothing but courage in their hearts and strength in their arms [to] return with wealth in their hands and a wreath of glory upon their heads."[1]
These migrations were reinforced by the 1975 civil war, when hundreds of thousands of Lebanese left a country under fire and economic depreciation.

Integration in the host country has not always been an easy task for the new migrants. In countries such as Argentina or Australia they found themselves on the margins of the host society. In Argentina, where they were referred to as 'Turcos' -as they were immigrant of an Ottoman Turkish Province- they found themselves as "a stigmatized immigrant group within a strongly assimilation national culture." Michael Humphrey, Lebanese identities: between cities, nations and trans-nations (Winter 2004). In Australia, they "assumed a ... position on the economic margins as petty traders, were referred to as 'Syrian,' and were often resented for their success. ... their Ottoman imperial origin meant they were classified as Asiatic and consequently kept under close surveillance by local police." Id. In Africa, Lebanese communities have often been targeted as scapegoats for economic crisis.

Yet, one of the impressive factors about the Lebanese Diaspora, apart from the high number of migrants, is the faculty the children of the Cedars have to adapt, integrate and succeed into a new environment usually unknown and sometimes hostile. Indeed, Lebanese usually "appear to have integrated comfortably with the various societies and diverse cultures, ... many have excelled in these new environments and become notable in the fields of entertainment, politics, sport and academia." Impressions Staff, Lebanese Diaspora (2006). "Throw a Lebanese to the sea and he will come out of it with a fish" states a Lebanese adage.

Lebanon has known three important waves of migration. Starting in the late 1800s the first wave of emigration was a disorganized one. In villages, the means of subsistence were limited, families were large, and land was scarce. The young had no prospects but to emigrate. Often clandestine (as the Ottomans initially prohibited emigration) the early migrants, usually poor and uneducated villagers, would board a boat, any boat, and embark into a journey without knowing where they would end up.

The second wave was more organized, following the First World War and the hunger and poverty that stroke the land of milk and honey, many Lebanese, still poor and, often, uneducated villagers would join family members, or fellow villagers, who had already settled in foreign countries. Often hearing of the success of their peers they also decided to give it a chance.

Some have left to never come back, making a life in their host country, their children "whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon"[1] are "deeply rooted"[1] in their host country.

Nonetheless, many have grown up maintaining strong ties with Lebanon, in many cases members of the family such as parents, siblings or cousins were still there. The young man leaving Lebanon very early in his life would go back there to find a wife and start a family. Those who were living in difficult countries in Africa or Latin America would send their children to Lebanon so that they could receive a proper education or for health reasons. The father would stay in the host country to work, send money to his family and shuttle between his working country and Lebanon. This was, and, somehow, still is, a usual pattern for families in the Diaspora, a father who earned enough money to place his family in their home country which has a better educational system and conditions are easier.

The fifteen years civil war that struck the land of the cedars will change those rules. Now parents would keep their kin next to them or send them to Europe, Australia or the U.S. for them to get a proper education. Lebanon being too dangerous was not an option anymore.
The civil war has also intensified emigration and is the third phase to the modern Lebanese Diaspora, seeing a metropolitan migration as well.

Many of those who left during the civil war came back home during the 1990s. The usual pattern of sending your wife and kids to Lebanon while you were abroad started anew. Nevertheless, because of an occupied country, a stalling economy, bad salaries, unemployment and an unstable political and regional situation; many hesitated in returning and kept living abroad.

Until today the Lebanese Diaspora plays a role in Lebanon, keeping its ties with their homeland. They have brought a persistent support in all matters and have contributed to the Lebanese society and economy. Often successful Lebanese abroad give back to their country by helping in the construction and/or reconstruction of their villages' infrastructures. The Diaspora also contributes to the economy sometimes through investments and often through remittance sent to their family back home as well as through tourism by their visits to the homeland. Many, still, hope to return and settle there at last as more young Lebanese seek professional alternatives abroad as hope in home grows faint.

[1] Khalil Gibran

Free Cedar

A hard on for Pornography

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