The Role of Blogs in International Armed Conflicts (part 2)

Take the killings in the Jihad Quarters of July 2006[1]. The author of Baghdad Burning shares her pain of losing a close friend during the massacre. She recounts how a thing as routine as finding someone to repair the generator can turn into a man’s last act. It shows the vast difference between her routines and that of millions in other countries. Yet, it also speaks of the thousands of similar experiences shared by those in the middle of armed conflict.

Baghdad Burning has been running for the past three years, the first entry being posted on August 17, 2003. It begins by saying “A little bit about myself: I'm female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war. That's all you need to know. It's all that matters these days anyway.”

It has gained quite a following, even launching a play inspired by it which ran at the Edinburgh Festival[2]. The expansion to other media such as the stage proves its appeal not just to the online community but also to the general public. The author, undoubtedly, presents compelling material and her blog has made it possible for people to access such material which makes up her life.

Blogs from people inside war zones continue to remind the readers of the situation in such countries. It is not limited to Iraq. Blogs from those caught in the middle of the conflict in Lebanon have also appeared overnight. Siege of Lebanon (http://siegeoflebanon.blogspot.com) is one such blog.

Run by a group called Friends of Lebanon, it chronicles the changes brought about by war in the cities of Lebanon. The blog contains entries of such poignancy the loss felt by the authors of things that once were in their country is palpable[3]. Just as Burning Baghdad did, this blog gives an account of events as they happen to individuals who are most affected in a war-torn country.

Siege of Lebanon goes even a step further with its latest entry[4], as it tries to explain the manipulated photos of the Lebanese crisis floating around cyberspace. It goes on to answer criticisms hurled at the Lebanese quarter regarding the manipulation of war photos to make them appear worse than they actually are. The point made by the author in this last post was if CNN, which reported the doctoring of photos by Lebanese bloggers, was willing to report Arab manipulation of the photos, it must also report how the Israelis may have done the same.

In this last entry posted on the Siege of Lebanon, we see how the blog can become a powerful tool to repudiate claims made by the media giants such as the CNN. We see a faster response from those affected by news items shown all over the world through cable television, printed in the dailies and broadcast over the radio. The blog presents an alternative to the traditional letters to the editor which, in most cases are filtered by the same editors who chose which stories to run in the first place.

Blogs have also been put up calling for the stop of all armed struggle. It has provided those who wish for peace a venue for signature campaigns[5] for the release of political prisoners to fund raisings for peace[6].

With the convenience with which blogs can be accessed, it has become a veritable source of information. However, as with all types of media, the reader must be wary of which blogs to trust. As with the problem of accuracy and verifiability faced by the traditional sources of news, the same problems persist in the blogging world. One must be constantly aware that the blog, with its ease of use and wide availability can also be used as a tool for propaganda to sow seeds of misinformation. As with any other type of medium, the blog-reader is enjoined to have a discerning eye in ferreting out the truth from the blogs coming from all over the world.

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[1] http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_riverbendblog_archive.html

[2] The play of Baghdad Burning ran at the Edinburgh Festival from 5-28 August 2006.

[3] http://siegeoflebanon.blogspot.com/2006/08/what-i-knew-of-dahieh.html

[4] http://siegeoflebanon.blogspot.com/2006/09/siege-of-lebanon_09.html

[5] http://www.friendsoftibet.org/global/campaigns.html

[6] http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?calid=17405

The Role of Blogs in International Armed Conflicts (Part 1)

There was a time when armed conflict used to isolate an entire people or country. During the Desert Storm, first hand accounts from people living in Kuwait were rare. The world often had to rely on “ingenious” news reporters who managed to smuggle into the war-torn area and get an exclusive. Things have definitely changed since the first George Bush launched that attack.

In the recent attacks against Iraq, more and more firsthand accounts from the middle east has reached the rest of the world through personal blogs. The modern technology equally available in Iraq and in the rest of the world has allowed those in the middle of armed conflict to reach out and give their side of the story. Baghdad Burning (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com), is one such account.

The blog is written by a woman who describes it as a “Girl Blog, let’s talk war, politics and occupation”. It is a firsthand account of her experiences in the streets of Baghdad from the start of the American war against terrorism up to the present “reconstruction” of Iraq. Daily experiences such as wearing a hijab have been given new meaning by the author.

Baghdad Burning gives the reader an insight of what the war has done to the regular Iraqi woman. It gives an intimate portrayal of the fears and thoughts of a woman caught in the midst of armed struggle. An average woman in the Philippines would be worried about which bag to carry. The author of Baghdad Burning is worried about carrying her Kalashnikov.

It talks of a woman’s fear of leaving her house without a hijab, the traditional garb worn by a Muslim woman over hear head. The presence of the Americans have driven even the most fearless of women into donning a veritable symbol of Muslim faith—regardless of her belief in the religion.

The blog is only one of many that has mushroomed since the beginning of the assault on Iraq. These modern-day Anne Franks provide an accurate and disturbingly real picture of how life goes on despite frequent rounds of mortar shells. Indeed, the power of blogs has reached new heights by bridging the gap between the world and a war-torn Iraq. It has given the ordinary man in Iraq an avenue for self-expression, an escape from the daily life in a country ravaged by war. No one can claim total isolation anymore. Be it by choice or by default, isolation has almost become a thing of the past. The world indeed has become smaller. Even the traditional barriers to communication have somehow ceased to exist.

But it goes beyond being just an avenue for self-expression. The blog has enabled the rest of the world to get a glimpse of life inside a war-torn country. To experience the effects of war with fresh eyes, reliving the stories as told by those who are affected the most—citizens of such a country and not by the foreign media who are often saddled with motives of angle and story-selling.

a client for an events company i started with my friend put me in a bind recently, triggering a near-heart failure in the middle of a crucial study session. the incident involved a missing final layout for a job we urgently needed to send out to the printer. she was dumping all the work on me and there was absolutely no way i could study for two exams, wing a meeting with another supplier, prepare for a production meeting AND layout a new design. so i went home fuming and close to tears, which meant i absolutely had to rant. good thing a friend of mine was online. he could barely get a word in as i poured out all my frustrations regarding the lost layout and the seeming unreasonableness of the demands of the client.

after telling me things will be okay, my friend told me he would do the layout for me, which involved rendering a new artwork for the design. he managed to do this while attending to his day job as a trainer. it was close to eleven pm and he was slaving away on this new design while i studied as hard as i could under the circumstances. of course it was only 3 pm on his side of the world. you see my friend lives all the way in wales.

by the time 1 am manila time arrived, he had a new layout ready for me to present to the event's producers. as i was toying with spins for the new layout, a thought entered my head: the layout was created in wales, was transmitted to the philippines via instant messenger and is intended to be used in the philippines. i wonder, which laws would apply, that of the philippines or that of wales?

in this day and age of easy transfers of creative works, artists and client rarely stop and think of such things as which laws will be applicable. and this becomes important in light of determining who owns the copyright to the work since welsh and philippine laws may provide for different terms of ownership.

hopefully, my client does not end up using the layout for anything else other than what it was intended for or that even if she does, my friend would not take offense and think of it as infringement of his rights. otherwise, i would be in a very tight bind.

Thank You For Sharing

I am a big fan of Japanese animation, or anime, as it is more popularly called. I have been since I was in grade school, watching Daimos, Voltes V, Astroboy, and other popular afternoon cartoons we were bombarded with during the latter part of the Martial Law era and the late 80’s. This was my rite of passage to anime “geekdom”. As my appetite for this kind of entertainment grew even more, I found myself hunting for lesser known anime and manga (Japanese comics) in obscure little shops and would go so far as watching those shown in the Chinese and Japanese cable channels, without understanding a thing since none of them were subtitled or subbed in English. Discovering new and exciting anime always gave me a feeling of satisfaction, not to mention a certain amount of pride. Anime has brought me so much joy, it’s embarrassing. But I’m not writing this piece to rant about the wonderful world of anime, which could go on for more than a hundred pages or so, rather, I would like to expound on the virtues of torrents and my eternal gratitude to whoever came up with it.

Being an anime enthusiast, I used to spend so much cash buying or renting anime VHS tapes and later on, CD’s. It was an expensive hobby, although it shouldn’t have been. A sign would always come rolling by on the screen “Free subs! Not for sale or rent. If you paid for this, you’ve been duped!” or something along those lines. Clearly, these were free and I’ve definitely been duped. The problem is there was no other way to get them for free at that time. Most of these ever zealous and amazingly generous people, who subtitled these shows out of sheer love for them, were an ocean away and I had no idea how to get them. Nothing comes for free after all. At least, in those days. Now, anyone who has internet access can download just about anything. For free (but yes, of course you have to pay for an internet connection).

It started with Napster, and I remember just how much happiness that program brought me. The idea of “sharing” music files with virtual strangers through the net was perfect for audiophiles like me. But with copyright problems that forced Napster to change its policy, I thought I’d never get to download music again for free. Then came Kazaa, Limewire and other similar programs, which created an even broader range of files to download – from music to movies to programs. How cool was that? Now, there are torrents, which have made downloading multiple files much faster, especially if there are many users downloading the same file/s simultaneously. The more peers downloading, the merrier. Hoorah for sharing!

Yes, some would call it illegal, again with issues of copyright involved. But then one could also look at it from another perspective – that is, programs like these are just a channel for people to share their files across the globe. Admittedly, this is a simplistic view, but it works fine for people who would like think of this as fair use. Aren’t we just spreading our joy of the things we love? Altruism breeds true in us. Or so we tell ourselves, to erase any guilty feelings (if any) when downloading.