The war is upon us

-          By Simon Møll Jensen

Even though we are in the 21^st century, war is still everyday life. We hear, see and talk about it every day. In Denmark we mostly hear about it through the news, but Denmark is involved in war. Right now we have troops stationed in Afghanistan trying to unite the country by fighting the Taliban. Less than a month ago a war just ended in Libya. Denmark supported the people in Libya who tried to kill Muhammad Gaddafi’s supporters and the Colonel himself. Today Gaddaffi is dead and Denmark has pulled back the troops and equipment. Back in 2003 America invaded Iraq. Many European countries supported this decision and joined in. Denmark was one of the supporting countries and at the highest we had around 500 soldiers in Iraq plus equipment for millions of Euros. Today the war is over, but the military in Iraq isn’t yet strong enough to take care of the country by themselves, so America still got some troops there just to make sure nothing takes an unfortunate turn. But why did we make such a dramatic decision about starting a new war? The USA presented several reasons why we should go to war against Iraq. The number one reason was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was ready to use them against other nations. Another important fact was that after the attack in 2001 everybody was afraid and aware of terrorism which also was a main reason why the war started. The USA said that Iraq supported Al-Qaeda, which is a known terrorist group, and therefore the United Nations were afraid that Iraq would pass weapons on to Al-Qaeda. Somehow it doesn’t look so bad if going to war means sparing innocents lives. But was it correct entering the war? In hindsight it’s easy to act smart when it happened years ago, but I truly am not sure if it was the right decision or not. How can a government which is supposed to know “everything” make such a mistake. Claim there are weapons of mass destruction, and after a few hundred thousand civilians and soldiers have entered the gateway to heaven, tell the public there were no such weapons of mass destruction, of any kind. Based on those facts the war shouldn’t have taken place.

Many lives have been taken trying to give everyone freedom which everything is almost about in some way. By freedom I mean democracy because then the adults can vote for what they believe in. I don’t think any countries have lost someone to get democracy and therefore it is our duty to help everyone achieve democracy, if they want so. And my guess is that Iraq wanted democracy. When Saddam had the power of Iraq there were no free rights or anything. People who criticized Saddam were easily locked away and killed afterwards. And I think we should take our responsibility as the “free people” and try to free others. But it’s a lot harder than it sounds. The cost of innocents’ lives and soldiers has been enormous. I know it’s not logic to compare human lives to money in any way, but I’m going to do it anyways. It’s not cheap to send five hundred thousand soldiers to fight a war on the other side of the world. In the next ten to twenty years The USA might not be the power nation they used to be. Maybe that money spent in the Iraq War could have prevented this from happening. But I do also think America had to send some kind of signal that terrorism isn’t allowed and will be punished because it is bad and can change lots of lives pretty fast. I don’t support war but I have to admit I think it was necessary to remove Saddam and practically end his life. A person like Saddam is not the future in any ways. We must not forget that the Iraq War could have prevented terrorism and therefore could have saved many innocent lives. We can’t change what happened, but maybe we don’t have to. Democracy have come to Iraq, and I think it will last forever. 

THE WAR ON STAGING WAR

“War, war never changes”; is the first thing that comes to my mind when war is mentioned. But whether it does take more than just a quote to estimate, is a bit more complicated is it not?

The above is a great example on the 21^st century’s problem, when it comes to war among every other subject. Even though it’s said that we’re living in an individualistic age, we all tend to be very affected by everyone else’s opinions. These opinions are often borrowed from a person with a good-looking title, because such people give us arguments and statements that are easy to handle and outwardly trustworthy. The media and the politicians cooperate to get the right opinions across, at least those that are correct according to the politicians; this is also known as official inspiration throughout the media.

But why is it that we don’t search for our own opinions? I imagine that it first of all has to do with being pressured into taking a stand on a subject, that the common citizen simply don’t know enough about to form arguments for and against, and thereafter take a decision on the specific subject or situation. Therefore it seems easier to take another person’s opinion and use that, because it already is carefully considered. Secondly I believe that has to do with being afraid of an attack from people surrounding you, who believe otherwise and are able to overwhelm you with their opinion; that might be even more thought through than the one you’ve created. But in the end I think it all comes down to a lack of believe in one’s own fundamental positions and doubt in one’s judgement.

The freedom of the press and journalism is overestimated, in my opinion, and the overall line of it has changed. Journalism is not what it used to be, even though there still might be a few decent people left out there. The problem is, that there has to be someone to put what they find in the media, and someone else is controlling and paying for it all. When it comes to war, I’ve been presented for several examples of official influence, spinning, illusions, manipulating live reception and/or interviews that has filmed a scene set for a “made-for-television-moment” and forced associations. All this is what the media wants us to see. War is no longer about facts; it’s about public relation. The media is able to create a symbol for a certain thing through the angle the story is told from, to create associations. The media is able to separate something from its real meaning and rap it in corruption and spinning until the truth no longer matters. But at the same time we have to be aware of the fact that we as citizens in a media-controlled society have a responsibility as well. It’s not only unfair but way to easy at the same time, to only blame the media for the corruption of the truth. In entertainment we don’t demand anything but emotional porn and staging; the same thing counts in the news, because many people regard that as entertainment as well. Do we have the right to complain, as long as we get what we’ve asked for?

I personally try to avoid the affection of the media circus and take my own stands. That’s what I’ve done on the subject of war. Way too many people have a twisted idea about going to war. Through a lot of movies, music and other sorts of media; it’s staged as cool to be a warrior or soldier. To fight for one’s country and believes is tough and brave, but that is no longer what war is about. It’s about power lusty dictators sending young men to the battlefield to die for a meaningless purpose. You’d think that in a modern world the population would be able to discuss and negotiate instead of screaming, threatening and killing, but that’s apparently not the case.

Terrorists are nearly the only idealists left in the world that is sad for sure. Maybe it takes a little everyday-idealism from the rest of us to end the War of Terrorism. We are weak and our actions are paralyzed. I’d like to make a difference; maybe some other day.

Argumentative Blog - ”Generation online” use media for communication rather than information.

"”Generation online” use media for communication rather than information."

In one way the statement is true, but in another it is untrue. People do use facebook a lot, in fact there are more than 500.000 accounts on facebook right now, but does that mean they don’t use the media for information as well? When I log on facebook I often get a lot of information from the links and updates, my friends post. I have to admit I use it for communicating too, as it is a great tool if you are working in a group and have to talk to the other members of your group. If we could not use the internet to communicate, we would have to meet up somewhere to talk it over, which requires both more time, and more planning.

The thing about information is that we only have to look for specific information, and when we have found what we are looking for, there’s no reason to keep looking. Whereas communication can happen all the time, and there isn’t really any barriers as to what we can talk about. According to the Facebook Statistics, Stats and Facts for 2011 there are being posted 1 million links and 1,5 million status updates every 20 minutes, and most likely a lot of them will be updates with information. But then we can also ask ourselves, what is information? Is it brief news of what has been happening in the world, or is it all the information found in the encyclopedias, e.g. Wikipedia.

I don’t see how it can be a problem to be social, rather than sitting on your own in front of a television. The “Generation online” are doing it because they have the choice to do so. I am pretty sure that if the Internet and facebook had been published earlier, it would have been that generation who we would be calling “Generation online”. This is just the generation who likes to be on facebook rather than surfing the encyclopedias for information that we do not have any interest in whatsoever. Basically there is a limited amount of information that is relevant to different people. Facebook has a lot more features than just normal chatting, people can join groups or play games, and in both they can communicate with people from all over the world.

Another good thing about being able to communicate online is that some people, who are very quiet beings in real life, actually find it easier to write with people over the internet, rather than talking with them in person. The facebook statistics actually show that 57% of all people talk to people more online, than they do in real life. Of course it is a good thing that everyone now has a chance to speak their minds, even if they are too shy to do it in real life, but there is also a negative:

If people spend too much time online and actually become afraid of living their real lives, they might cut all the connections they have with the real world and stay at their room in their parents’ house until they are 40 years old.

Basically, the media are made the way they are for a reason, so whether people want to use them for communicating or to search for information is their own choice. It is always a good idea to follow the news at least once a day, just to know what is happening in the world.

Was it a mistake to get involved in Iraq?

Was it a mistake to get involved in Iraq?

Yes, I believe that we made a mistake getting involved in Iraq.
Why – because there is no clear view of why we went into that war. It seems as if no one is sure of the basic reason. But now our new Danish government, and our new foreign minister Villy Søvndal, they want to investigate. So I’ve read in an article from Ritzau Bureau, whose headline says that Villy Søvndal’s top government officers are to be questioned.[1]
Officially, the reason why we entered Iraq was because our then government meant that the Iraqi leader Sadam Hussein was a brutal dictator and a threat to the western world. At that time, we meant that he might be in possession of weapons of mass destruction.[2] Now we want to know why we thought that…

The war has now been going on for so long, that I have no idea about why we still have soldiers in Iraq. I remember when the first Danish soldiers died. It was shocking, and not only for me, but to our whole country. It is terrible when young men/soldiers die, during war – especially now when the war no longer has any purpose. What are they dying for???

I don’t understand the war anymore. I think I did in the beginning, when the World Trade Centers in New York were exposed to terror, and the chase after Sadam Hussein, the dictator began.
Now Sadam is dead, and Ground Zero has become the memorial site of the tragedy on 11^th November 2001. The world has kind of moved on, but still our Danish soldiers are risking their lives on Iraqi ground. What for?

War causes sacrifice, sorrows and grief. Has any war ever caused peace? I think not. This will be hard to explain, but to me world peace is, when the government in control, only want what’s best for its people.
I can imagine a world without war, but it’s not ours… So long as the world is full of extremism and people with destructive behavior, there will be war.

War has psychologically destroyed and killed many people in this world. Women has lost their husbands, mothers their sons, sisters their brothers and men their friends. Is that better and fairer than dying of some illness, cancer for example? Does it have it more purpose to die for a country, as one amongst several other fellow soldiers? For some it might…

The military wants young men without family, friends and future. In that way no one gets hurt, if the young man dies during the war. He will have no long-term education, only a little or no job at all, no money, no girlfriend - nothing to fight for, except for his country. This is the perfect soldier.
I will not support that. I will not support a war that has no purpose, and where young men get killed for no purpose.

From where I am (in Denmark, in my home, on my couch), it looks as if the war is fading out finally, and I’m glad about that. Maybe our politicians have finally come to sanity? I was a little disappointed that we turned to socialistic government at this year’s Danish election, because I’m more a right-winged person, but now that Villy Søvndal has taken this matter up for a review, I don’t really mind it anyway.

Yes, I believe that we made a mistake getting involved in Iraq. That is no longer a secret. The war no longer has any purpose.

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[1] http://infomedia.skoda.emu.dk/ms3/ShowArticle.aspx?outputFormat=Full&Duid=e2eb8bc3

[2] http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/htm/baggrund/tema2003/danmark%20og%20irak%20krigen/

Who needs a brain when we have Facebook?

The 21^st century, an age full of technology previously thought impossible. We have robots cleaning our houses, we have microwaves cooking our meals in a couple of minutes, we have GPS navigators helping us find our way... The list goes on and on. Even so, I think pretty much everybody can agree on one piece of technology as what truly defines this century: The internet. The internet allows us to exchange information globally at any time and in practically unlimited quantities. Surely, with this kind of information at hand we must have become far more enlightened than ever, right? Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case. While the internet is being used to share new knowledge, it’s primarily being used for sharing mindless updates or random headlines on social networks such as Facebook.

The rise of the social network

Facebook is most likely the most popular website on the internet. With 500 million users worldwide, it’s actually starting to become uncommon not to have an account if you live in the Western World. This site, along with other social networks such as Twitter, allows us to instantly share anything we want at any time. Various corporations and other organizations are actively using this option to give their followers constant updates on everything from news stories and offers to updates on what the organization is planning. However, most updates come from individual persons. And most of these updates simply aren’t relevant for anyone except the one who writes it. A typical Facebook update would say something along the lines of “I’m soo drunk right now lol xD”. Other updates could contain random lyrics from various songs or tell that they had just finished breakfast. Ever since Facebook became popular, we have just been sharing whatever pops into our minds. We don’t ask ourselves why anybody would care about this kind of stuff, we just post it.

“Like” EVERYTHING!

Today, Facebook is no longer limited to its own website. You can share stuff from pretty much any website on the internet. Online newspapers, blogs, Youtube, online games, in short everything online has a “like” button that allows you to instantly share what you found. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you find something interesting, you can share it. And guess what? Someone might actually find this interesting unlike the status about that guy being drunk for the third time this month. This feature also means that you can now see various news headlines when you open Facebook. Due to this, a lot of people get their news primarily through Facebook. The only problem is that a lot of people only see the headlines and nothing else. They don’t read the whole article; they might not even see where the article comes from. They only see a few headlines that some of their friends found interesting. They might miss the most important news and instead learn that Justin Bieber just got a new haircut. They might even see a headline from The Onion thinking it’s the real thing (The Onion is satirical false news station). This means that what they get to know might be irrelevant, inaccurate or even wrong.

Getting priorities straight

Now what does all this mean? We have access to amounts of information beyond imagination, yet we spend our time on Facebook, reading people’s complaints about their hangovers every Saturday morning. We don’t spend time reading long in-depth articles, but rather just read the headlines of whatever pops up. Some people even tend to respond to everything above five lines with TL;DR: Too long; didn’t read. Why do we reject the opportunity to receive any relevant information at will, when we have this opportunity? Why do we choose to share tiny mindless details without knowing if anybody cares about them at all? Is this what the world has come to? Will Facebook completely replace our brains? Or can we do something about it?

Weapons in Iraq

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af Esben Morthorst, Christian Moeslund og Jesper Petersen

The Enemy

When the American forces invaded Iraq they thought, that they could go in, intimidate the Iraqi forces, capture Saddam Hussein, find the weapons of mass destruction they thought he had, and then make Iraq a democratic country. This is far from what reality was, because when the forces went in they were “greeted” by Iraqi soldiers, Kurds, various militias and Al-Qaeda. They dressed like civilians to trap the US forces to kill civilians, kind of like what happened Vietnam. In Vietnam the forces could not recognize the enemy from the civilian, so they killed many innocent civilians. The media got it out to the world which ultimately turned the war down, because the people in the US lost their faith in the military and then they lost the war.

When you talk about the war it is hard to say, how many adversaries there were in Iraq, because they were trained in fighting in the city and the dessert, and because the military dressed up like civilians and made the US forces confused about whom to shoot at and not to shoot at. The Iraqi soldiers were trained like some of the special corps in the states. Some were, but some other were trained specially in how to fight in the city and the desert. Which also led the war to be fought like a “normal” war, but also city war, which the Americans should adapt to before they could get the upper hand in the war.

Other than Hussein’s forces fighting the war against the US military, they had some supporting groups which helped them bring down the US military, but they also provided the Iraqi soldiers with weapons. While fighting the war, they had to hide in the cities and around the country where they could hide and then fight the Americans, from different angels, while having the upper hand in the fights. One big problem for the American soldiers was that the Iraqi soldiers hid with the civilians so the US soldiers didn’t from where they got shot. This war later on turned into a civil war.