Blog Assignment_6

 

1.  Vincent, Steven. “The Fall of Saddam Hussein’s Regime Has Given the Iraqis Freedom”. Iraq. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven P, 2004

 

This article is written by Seven Vincent, a freelance writer in New York.  He talks about his own experiences in Iraq when talking to regular civilians, giving descriptive stories of Saddam Hussein’s cruelty, such as the use of torture of criminals and mass graves, in contrast to the freedom and opportunity that US has provided.  Although he does not deny that there are still problems that need to be fixed – the political and economical structure particularly – it is nothing compared to the “life of constant terror” that Iraqis faced in the past (104).    

 

“The UN and human-rights groups have noted Saddam’s habit of ‘cleansing’ prisoners by killing their inmates.  The record is appalling: in 1984, 4,000 political prisoners killed at the Abu Ghraib jail, an 2,500 more between 1997 and 1999.”(101)

I thought it was interesting that prisoners in Abu Ghraib have been killed by Saddam, and now the US has, in the past, used the same jail to torture them.  I would also like to research UN’s side of this story to re-affirm this quote.  

 

“But in the catalogue of Saddam’s evil, perhaps the most gruesome entry concerned the use of torture.  Favored methods included the disfigurement and branding of criminals, such as chopping off fingers or tearing out tongues that had uttered anti-Saddam thoughts.  Other methods involved rape, electric shock, beating with an axe handle, the penetration of victims’ limbs and chests with a power drill, or the gradual lowering of bound captives into a bath of acid … A general who had earned Saddam’s displeasure was devoured by rabid dogs”  (101-102)

I felt that this quote was very powerful and stresses the amount of fear he had on the public.  As Vincent is a witness of the victims that have undergone such torture, I am led to believe that Saddam’s actions are true.  The kind of evidence that he mentions are the things I would think that I would see in a movie, not in actual life.  Although it makes me feel relieved that Saddam is no longer in power, I personally do not believe in the death penalty.  This quote also convinces me that the US is doing the right thing: replacing Saddam’s tyranny with democracy, where there will be free speech.  

     

2. Bacevich, Andrew J. “Redefining the War on Terror.” Council on Forein Relations. 5 Aug. 2008. 11 Aug. 2008 http://www.cfr.org/publication/16878/redefining_the_war_on_terror.html

 

This source is an interview that Greg Bruno did of Andrew J. Backvich, who is the Professor of International Relations and History in Boston University.  Since Professor Backvich has written a “highly critical” op-ed against Bush’s Administration for the Boston Globe, I generally felt that he was promoting his own ideals and view on the Iraq War during the course of the interview.  However, the fact that Backvich criticizes even that “fundamental questions” about our involvement in Iraq are not being answered by politicians leads me to look into his ideas.

 

“To me, one of the problems of the paradigm of global war is that it has not signified war in the metaphorical sense, like war on AIDS, war on drugs, and war on poverty. It has signified war in a literal sense that the employment of military power, on a large scale, in pursuit of very large ambitions—like the liberation or dominance or transformation of Iraq”

To me, I like this quote because it simplifies the “war on terror” to the changes the US are making in Iraq government.  I very much agree that our role in Iraq is to prevent future violence based on terror and a democratic, peaceful environment.  Also, Backvich also hints at the greater plan that US foreign policy may have in its “war against terror”, which the Bush Administration has not clearly defined.

“I’ve reviewed [Robert] Kagan’s new book [The Return of History and the End of Dreams] in the most recent issue [of Foreign Affairs] … The plan that they [Islamists] have, the concept for how people should live, is simply not responsive to what ordinary folk want for their lives. They are fighting against modernity, and as Robert Kagan says, that is a fight that they cannot win.

Almost everything on this struggle is on our side, and therefore we should approach it with the confidence and patience, and shouldn’t run pell-mell into these military adventures that the Bush administration has approached. … Our adversaries are murderers. We ought not to dignify their cause as if it were the equivalent of Marxism or Leninism or National Socialism or something of the last century, because they don’t deserve that type of status.”

I like how Backvich brings in someone else’s viewpoint, Robert Kagan. He uses his novel to lead to his own claim that the US should not reach down to the level of violence that terrorists use to correct their mistakes.  In turn, Bachvich proposes that political tactics be used.  Although more time would be required for such a step, we have nothing to lose because we will eventually win.  I am hesitant to believe that we have the advantage in reducing terror; there is still an air of mistrust among Iraqi civilians.  However, I would like to believe that Iraqis would choose democracy over their previous life of dictatorship.

Analysis of Iraqi Troops

I’ve done my own analysis on the number of Iraqi Troops that have been in Iraq.  I personally feel that there is a lot of controversy involved with the troops that are currently in Iraq.  Although US troops plan to keep terrorism and violence down in Iraq, it also gives extremists groups a reson to keep fighting.  It has also given Iraqis the reason to believe that the US’ occupation of Iraq will lead to a “US dominion” over Iraq and other Middle East countries. 

After extensively researching, I have found that it is hard to get exact numbers and statistics for the number of troops in Iraq.  However, I have noticed some general trends.  Here are two excel graphs I have made from two sources:

The figures in these two graphs differ greatly.  However, I noticed that both graphs show that there were about 150,000 troops during the Iraq Invasion in March 2003 (which is relatively high) and then gradually fell.  An interesting observation was that the number of troops increased during relatively new governmental innovations, such as the parliamentary elections (December 2005).  The number of troops also increased in November, 2006 when Saddam Hussein was given his death sentence and the number of terrorist attacks rose again in Iraq. 

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, admits that “additional troops [provide] security for political actions to take place” (http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50582).  I am sure that terrorist attacks increase as the new democratic government is put in place.  However, I hope this is not infered as a US measure to make sure that their governent is “safely” and undeniably implemented in Iraq.  Mullen eventually hopes to decrease the number of US troops and transfer them to Afghanistan, to achieve the same “progress” in Iraq. 

Blog Assignment_5: Research Proposal

President Bush has proclaimed since our invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that we have been fighting a “war against terrorism”.  He justified the war claiming that Iraq is at the source of terrorism, with Saddam Hussein’s regime and extremist groups.  On this war against terror, Bush now focuses on “helping the long suffering people of [Iraq] to build a decent and democratic society at the center of the Middle East” (19).  Bush, as well as his administration, hope to create a democratic government in Iraq to reduce violence and terrorism in Iraq. 

What I hope to research and to look into during this course is the primary reason we are still in Iraq:  what steps are being implemented in Iraq and how does it directly or indirectly influence the lives of Iraqi civilians.  Is the new government that is being formed in Iraq solving the imminent problems of violence?  I also wonder if the conditions in Iraq improved (or worsened) after the fall of Saddam Hussein. 

I feel that creating a stable government and economy in Iraq is essential before we can fully and consciously leave Iraq.  Although there has been past controversy over whether the Iraq war was just, many Americans agree that we cannot leave Iraq empty-handed.  The Iraq War was just a stepping stone to the real problem that needs to be fixed: Iraqi unity.  Mark Katz, a government and politics professor at George Mason University writes in an article about the possible actions that could occur if the US were to leave Iraq right now: “the Shiite clergy might set up an Islamic republic … the Sunni minority … might reassert some form of dictatorial rule; or a Kurdish attempt at secession might trigger Turkish and Iranian intervention” (68).  The tension between different ethnical groups endangers the unity and peace in Iraq.  Consequently, these tensions and ethnical intolerances previously developed by Saddam Hussein have to be replaced with tolerance and freedom of speech and religion, according to Katz.

Within this topic, I have done some general research online as well as textbook resources at my local library.  One specific book I found, a book titled “Iraq” by the Greenhaven Press (of which I have quoted a couple of times above), has a list of essays that have been written since the Iraq War (2003) and includes both sides of controversial issues about the war.  However, I think magazines, newspapers, and online information will give me more recent information.  I think a good source would be an Iranian newspaper, which I have found online (translated into english) which may help me to better understand the Iraqi perspective. (http://66.111.34.180/look/english/index.tpl)

Blog Assignment_4

Larie Gries titles her war porn essay to the San Francisco convention as “Revisualizing Abu Gharib in the Name of Democracy”.  This title alludes to the general claim she concludes by the end of her essay: that these images of war porn are a catalyst to our political policy and democracy in the US.  Gries begins by showing examples of war porn from the well-known and infamous photographs from the torture of victims in Abu Ghraib. She uses these images, as well as the fact that they are easily found on the internet, to prove that they symbolize a “cultural phenomenon unique to the 21^st century visual culture” (2).  She cites specific websites, such as “NowThatsFuckedUp.com”, to further support the fact that these quick images taken by soldiers are easy to access to the everyday American.  Moreover, Gries makes a personal observation that the number of sites related to Abu Gharib has increased by 830,000 since the beginning of her research.  The fact that Haim Brethsheeth, an author of Third Text that Gries mentions in her essay, mentions the “ineffective role [of warporn] in the public sphere” leads Gries to question “What is the functions of the war porn?”  Gries’ further analysis, including a comparison and contrast of Jean Baudrillard’s definition of war porn as an “immediator” and Susan Sontag’s description of war porn as a medal of superiority, Gries concludes the active nature of warporn in society.  Gries backs up this claim by stating the “politically explosive events” that have happened after these images have been shown.  These political actions include the interrogation of the US soldiers responsible for capturing war porn and the passing of the 2008 Army Field Manual Provision of the Intelligence Authorization Bill, which prohibits “inhumane” techniques to interrogate suspects.  War porn, Gries claims, has led Americans question their own democracy and our current ethical values as we continue to fight Iraq today.  Ultimately, Gries commands that “war porn is a public vehicle in participatory democracy … and affects real change”. 

The images that Gries uses throughout her paper serves a key role in her essay (including the map that she intends to present during the speech).  Photographs greatly illustrate the torture and infliction that the victims had to bear.  It brings a greater emotional appeal to her audience, as it brings a literal image to the reality of what is happening in Abu Gharib.  Gries also gives a detailed description of “the most disturbing content of war porn [she has] witnessed,” as if to erupt even greater disappointment of our own soldiers and shed light on the real function of war porn.  A use of logos is also used when Gries defines torture as “any act by which sever pain or suffering… is intentionally inflicted on a person”.  We are therefore led to believe that Gries is not using the term “torture” lightly.  

Blog Assignment_3

Throughout Margaret Kantz’s article, she uses two model students Sandy and Alice to demonstrate the reading and writing skills needed to write a good research essay.  Kantz illustrates that while Sandy reads her sources as if it was an unfolding story, Alice regards her sources as a rhetorical or argumentative work.  Sandy therefore accepts the facts in her sources to generally be true and does not question her sources, limiting her ability to create an original or creative argument within her paper.  However, if one learns to rhetorically analyze their work, as in Alice’s case, he or she can question each work with “why,” “how,” or “so what” to understand the solutions that these texts are trying to solve and create one’s own solution to the existing problem.  An important step to asking these questions, Kantz writes, is to understand the concept of Kinneavy’s triangular diagram.  This triangle that is claimed to be in every rhetoric work is an Encoder (author), a Decoder (audience) and a Reality (topic).  By defining these three points of the triangle in a text, a student or writer can begin to understand the rhetorical situation or the message or purpose the author(s) are trying to communicate.  Furthermore, a student will also be able to recognize the gaps between these three points (such as a gap between the Encoder and Decoder, when the reader is not part of the author’s intentional audience).  Students like Sandy, therefore, do not read information just for a story or timeline but an argument or persuasive motivation.  Kantz wants her students to realize that all sources do not clearly illustrate a concrete line between what is true or false, but that facts are just another type of claim, or a warrant that is used to back up an argument.  That is why it is important to understand that “both facts and opinions are essentially … claims”.   If this small difference in facts and opinions is known, it is easier to understand the “why” or “so what” of a source.  Overall, Kantz writes that to be a strong writer, one has to rhetorically analyize a source, come up with a creative motive or solution to their sources, and relay their thoughts in a complex yet organized fashion.  Kantz stresses that to understand the rhetorical strategy that many writers make in their work is necessary to writing a good research paper.  

I feel that, in order to create a sense of ethos in my own audience as I write my paper, I will need to gain enough research and facts that will help me back up my arguments.  A deep analysis and research of the topic I am considering, the democracy that the US is implementing in Iraq, will be necessary.  Gathering opinions about the new Iraq government from different view points as well as the affect this government has on the unity of Iraq will be important.  Initially, I want to read all of my sources with an open mind – to understand their point of view and the message each writer is communicating.  Inevitably, however, I will begin to form an opinion of my own.

Initial blog

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2006/01/international-teams-report-concurs.html

This first blog posts daily news reports about the “model” government that is being placed in Iraq as we speak.  It seems to get its sources from other well-known internet sources such as Google, BBC, Yahoo, etc. However, I like how this news is told from the perspective of someone living in Iraq. 

http://www.washingtonbureau.typepad.com/iraq/

This blog is also written from the Iraqi perspective, although the news is run by the McClatchy Newspapers.

http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2005/IraqElection_Dec/

Although this is not a blog, the website is written by the US Defense, which I thought was interesting