John Pilger’s 2010 documentary ‘The War You Don’t See’ is an important and essential investigation of the true war in Iraq. The truth in which is either unreported, obscured or concealed is due to embedded journalism in which their assumed obligation to accurately informing society of news and events is further diminished due to the fact that the information they have access to, its interpretation and what is reported, is controlled by the military unit they are embedded with.
John Pilger’s 2010 documentary ‘The War You Don’t See’ is an important and essential investigation of the true war in Iraq. The truth in which is either unreported, obscured or concealed is due to embedded journalism in which their assumed obligation to accurately informing society of news and events is further diminished due to the fact that the information they have access to, its interpretation and what is reported, is controlled by the military unit they are embedded with. The most horrific scene shown in the documentary is 2007 footage of US military shooting innocent civilians and camera men in Baghdad as well as the commentary that goes with it, ‘Light em’ all up’, ‘oh yeah, look at all those dead bastards’, ‘nice’. When a van came to attempt to collect the pieces of what was left of these bodies, the military again opened fire. There were 2 young children inside the van, their father in the drivers’ seat. Up to 90% of deaths during the war in Iraq are of civilians and over a million people have been killed. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949, ‘The killing of civilians and wilfully causing great suffering is a war crime’. So why are our military forces above the law? With further efforts of independent journalism could something be done, perceptions changed? 300 journalists have been killed during the war in Iraq including British reporter Terry Lloyd, shot dead by American Marines. Lloyd was injured in crossfire between US military and Iraqi troops and when a makeshift ambulance picked Lloyd up and drove away, US military fired upon it killing the reporter along with his translator and cameraman. No one has been charged over the deaths and while forensics identify that it was an American bullet which killed Lloyd, they cannot determine exactly who fired the shot. None of the men involved gave evidence or were questioned. Journalist and author of ‘Beyond the Green Zone’ Dahr Jamail states, ‘seeing what I see (and) contrasting that with what has been reported by most of the mainstream, it’s like two completely different worlds’. Viewers of mainstream media do not have any idea of the civilian death toll, of the scale of suffering and of the unprecedented and unnecessary brute force of western military forces.
Pilger states independent journalists don’t have to risk their lives to tell the truth, ‘but we do have to be brave enough to defy those who seek out collusion in selling their latest bloody adventure in someone else’s country.’
J. Bingham (28/07/08) No one to be charged over shooting of ITN reporter Terry Lloyd in Iraq, The Telegraph, UK.
J. Pilger (2010)The War You Don’t See, A Dartmouth Films Production, Strand Films MMX
J. Simpson (15/10/06) Are the killers of Terry Lloyd getting away with his murder?, The Independent, UK.
Very interesting, I haven't seen the movie/doco. I guess in terms of the posting, it would have been good maybe to explore the role of journalism, and maybe analyse how much they simply reproduce the line of the powerful (Marxist analysis).
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