Saturday, April 05, 2003
posted by Mooraq at 11:03 AM
Window On The War
The Web brings you there
Interesting service from the BBC: a live webcam from Baghdad.
At a glance the city seems normal, a few cars and pedestrians can be seen in the streets. On the other hand, one can often see black smoke rising in the distant horizon and some buildings in the background appear damaged (but that may be just an impression). The webcam definition is obviously not as sharp as a TV, still it is an amazing window on the war.
Friday, April 04, 2003
posted by Mooraq at 11:32 AM
Sporting Peace
How the US could improve its image abroad
Sport is the great leveler, a single language shared across continents, religions and national borders. Of all sports football (soccer in the US) is the one that is most widely enjoyed across the globe.
The reasons for football's global reach are many, but for me the main rationale for its success is that it is easy to play. You don’t require much to have a fottball game, just a round ball and at least 10 people. Its rules are simple to understand and enforce (the only guy who can touch the ball with the hands is the goalkeeper, you put the ball behind the goal line to score, who scores more wins).
Liaising with the local population is much easier around a sporting pitch than anywhere else. This game probably did more to win popular Iraqi support for US-UK troops than a million leaflets or 500 hours of Voice of America broadcasts in Arabic. Americans are instead denied easy PR opportunities by their sporting preferences, I just cannot see a team of American Marines playing Iraqis at American football or Baseball, or Basketball.
If neo-cons want to reshape the world, maybe they should start re-shaping the US into a football (soccer)-crazy nation, enlist David Beckham as foreign ambassador (I know he is not American, but already Blair is the best PR man the US has, a Brit more will not make much difference) and start playing Iraq (but also Iran, Syria and others) at their own game: football.
Thursday, April 03, 2003
posted by Mooraq at 4:53 PM
Technology At War
GPS; the ultimate weapon
Nice piece on some tech aspects of the war in Iraq. Richard Muller explains why this is the first truly GPS war, you and I are much better at face recognition than any computer in the world and some other interesting tech morsels.
posted by Mooraq at 3:09 PM
A Different Perspective
What the Arabs are watching
A new article in the excellent Perspectives series in the FT. General Billal is a respected and moderate Arab voice, I doubt that the US likes what he says.
posted by Mooraq at 2:59 PM
Al Jazeera’s Troubles
These guys must be doing something right
After being kicked out of the NYSE, now Al Jazeera is suspending its correspondence from Baghdad. The decision comes after two of its reporters have been banned by the regime.
Congratulations to Al Jazeera. When both parties in a war are unhappy with your reporting, you are probably doing a decent job of it.
posted by Mooraq at 2:55 PM
A View From Above
Pictures of the war from the satellite
Some interesting pictures of US bombing in Baghdad, as seen from a satellite. From this distance it seems that the bombing is indeed quite precise, the buildings surrounding the targets appear untouched.
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
posted by Mooraq at 3:09 PM
It’s A Small World
A sad reminder
The spreading of the SARS from China to the rest of Asia and now to US and Europe is a sad reminder of how interdependent is the world today.
We can see every day how events on the other side of the planet have far reaching effects on our lives, fortunately not all negative as this horrible epidemic. We need all to work together to ensure our mutual safety and economic prosperity.
I hope the post-war will be a moment of reflection on how international co-operation (from the UN to the WTO) is in everybody’s interest.
posted by Mooraq at 11:16 AM
The First Casualty Of War
The trouble of surrounding yourself with yes-media
Between the firing of Peter Arnett and the NYSE denying access to Al Jazeera, it has not been a good week for the first amendment in the US. These occurrences confirm a trend that I have noticed of lately: it looks like if most American media are more concerned with wrapping themselves with the flag than reporting the truth (Fox News is turning itself into the Pravda on the Potomac). It’s sad and scary at the same time to see the nation that gave us modern journalism, slipping back into prehistorical propaganda behaviour.
I do not claim to be a media expert (you can go to Poynter for that) but a free and truly independent media seems to me the essence of democracy. Free and independent meaning not only from Government meddling, but also from the tyranny of common wisdom and herd mentality. Clearly there is much to be gained by pampering to people’s tastes; nobody ever lost money telling people what they want to hear. But the public needs to hear also the unpleasant news. Actually, they need it more than the good news. For instance I have never seen done, in a US media, a serious analysis post-9/11 on why there is so much hate for US around the world. Simplistic theories abound.
The same goes for childish notions of bringing democracy to the Middle East with the help of God (ours, clearly, not theirs) and a few hundred thousands marines. As if democracy in the Middle East means an automatic love for the US. To anybody who cares to listen the most democratic voices in the region (first of all, Al Jazeera) are the most critical of this war and of the US behaviour. Democracy in the Middle East currently would mean theocratic semi-regimes rabidly anti-American in most countries. Even now, inflated expectations of Iraqis throwing flowers and kisses to the American liberators have been swoop under the carpet, without anyone really questioning why intelligence on the subject was so out of the mark.
I am currently reducing my exposure to US media as I am finding them incredibly biased in the analysis and reporting of the war. I am turning more and more to good ol’ beeb and other alternative sources of information for my intellectual nourishment. Many Americans should do the same and they would probably get a more balanced perspective.
Sunday, March 30, 2003
posted by Mooraq at 12:40 PM
New York Video Blog
Finally here!
Click here to get the videoblog of my NY trip. It's about 6.5M in size.
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