War From the Four Corners: The Information War First-Hand - Volume 20 Issue 24
By Henry Shepherd
News of a US-led war in Iraq dominated the international landscape over the March vacation, affecting economies, governments, and media outlets around the world on a scale not seen since the September 11th attacks a year and a half ago.
With major stations such as CNN, the BBC, and Al-Jazeera broadcasting a continuous stream of news worldwide, many Milton students encountered perspectives and opinions on the war thousands of miles from home. Considered a complicated issue even by Americans and Britons, opinions range widely about the legality of the unilateral strike and the probable effect the war will have in Iraq, the Middle East region, and the rest of the world.
“When it is over, if it is over, this war will have horrible consequences,” Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in a speech last week. “Instead of having one (Osama) bin Laden, we will have 100 bin Ladens.”
Students have returned to campus with accounts of the debates among heads of state and average citizens alike from Paris to Johannesburg. Unsure about how they would be received, Americans abroad found warm reception and distaste for the Bush administration.
“Being in France when the war started, I expected to encounter much more anti-Americanism than I actually did,” Alex Miller (I) reported. “People generally recognize that the issues are mostly between the two governments.” Scott Motejunas (II), also in France, echoed the same sentiment. “Generally, the people in the French Alps were cordial,” he reported. “There were a lot of ‘F--- Bush’ shirts being worn; it seemed that they liked American citizens, but not the government.”
It also seemed that citizens of other countries were more concerned with their desire for peace than their anger at America or Britain. “There really wasn’t anything said or implied to anyone in my family while we were in Rome,” Sasha Kamenetska (IV) replied. “One thing I did notice was the number of peace flags hung up all over the city. One store owner told us that most Italians want peace and that most people try to do at least little things to show that.”
The perception of the global information war, travelers suggest, plays a large role in how a population plays a large role in how a population perceives the situation. Reports from both Baghdad and Washington, which often conflict on basic issues, are widely met with skepticism. Observers have been critical of the tactics employed so far by the US.
“I think the biggest concern is how this war is being perceived by the Arab population throughout the Arab and Muslim world, and I think here the challenge is whether this is being perceived as liberation versus occuption,” said Karim Kawar, Jordan’s Ambassador to the United States, to CNN’s Larry King. “People in the Arab world see casualties among the civilian population and they see the suffering of the Iraqi people. This is certainly adding another complicating factor to this war.”
In the US, reports of Iraqi brutality and Coalition-led humanitarian efforts dominate headlines, supporting the call for sustained support of an ongoing assault on Saddam Hussein’s government. News of valiance in the face of aggression and civilian casualties get the majority of coverage in the Iraqi and Arab media.
“The British enemy is bombing randomly; they hit civilian areas in Abu Khassib, Tanuma and areas in Basra province,” Iraqi Gen. Walid Hamid Tawfic reported on Al-Jazeera. “These aggressors have been shelling Basra indiscriminately. They are using cluster bombs, which caused many injuries among children, women and men.”
The US government has discredited such Iraqi claims, insisting that a central goal of the operation (named “Iraqi Freedom”) is liberation.
The war and its many related stories will continue to make headlines around the world. The role of the international observer will remain important in the course of the conflict; a successful Coalition strategy will not seek approval in the US and UK but also in the greater global community.