Iraq War | Media on War

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Many reporters, media workers and news casters are the only way that the general public gets their information about the world’s events and what is happening in the world. That means that the way that the media worker presents the story can really play an impact on what the person believes or doesn’t.

The news and newspaper are trusted media outlets that many people turn to as their trusted source of information. This type of thinking puts a lot of pressure on a media worker to be able to present that story with as must neutrality as possible. There can be no sharp tone to their voice, no condescending note when they are talking to others and certainly no aggressive measures while reporting the story.

This can be an incredibly hard thing to do especially when a media worker has such strong views on something. Say a person is required to report on the war in Iraq, but they do not currently believe that the war should be allowed to continue or even given the green light as far as funding and ability. They must cover this story or face termination.

Most news reporters will go out there and report the story to their best of their ability as a neutral source. However, they really are showing what side of the story they are on. There are non verbal communication skills that go into this type of story. Say a reporter cuts someone off, turns to the side a bit or talks quickly. These are all signs that they did not want to be there and that they are forced to portray a story that they did not want to.

The general public begins to pick up on these items and their ideas are influenced by what they see on the tv. So while a bit of bias is not intended it happens anyway and the public’s opinion could be quickly swayed by it.

Looking Back Part 9, End of Combat in Iraq

: Image via Wikipedia

We continue to look back on the war in Iraq bringing us to what has happened in 2010.

The beginning of 2010 brought new hope. Combat units would be pulled out of Iraq by the end of the year. On February 17, 2010, Robert Gates (the Secretary of Defense) made an announcement that as of September 1, 2010, the name “Operation Iraqi Freedom” would be replace with the name “Operation New Dawn.”

Unfortunately, even with all the work that was done in Iraq to ensure peace by ridding the country of Hussein’s regime, there still is not peace. On June 20, the Central Bank in Iraq was bombed killing 15 people. Then another attack followed at Iraq’s Bank of Trade building.

On August 19, 2010, the last combat brigade left Iraq. Most of convoys of troops from the U.S. moved into to Kuwait before heading home. About 50,000 personnel remain in the country to give support to the military in Iraq, but they will be required to leave no later than December 31, 2011. This was decided and agreed upon by both the U.S. and Iraqi governments.

Even though it’s easy to say that at this point, combat is over, it’s hard to say if it really is. With insurgents continuing to bomb and attack, the U.S. troops that remain in Iraq will likely face combat situations and more are likely to give their lives to help the Iraqi people. It will be a good day when the last U.S. soldier and military personnel leaves Iraq and lets the people of Iraq run their own country. The hope is that the government established in Iraq is one that can withstand the test of time.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated that what the U.S. troops “have accomplished something really quite extraordinary here, [but] how it all weighs in the balance over time I think remains to be seen.” This is a profound statement. It’s hard for us in our limited view of history to know whether the war in Iraq was worth the sacrifice of so many lives. We hope it was.

Media Workers and the Unknown Bias

Looking Back Part 9, End of Combat in Iraq

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