It’s going to be “interesting” to track the narrative and cultural revisions of this war in the west as time goes on. However unjustified/wrong Russia’s act of aggression is and noble/just Ukraine’s defence is, I have not been able to shake thoughts of the Iraq war in regards to mainstream western treatment of the war and just how much it seems to have forgotten that war is hell. I recall, just as it was starting, it was more acceptable or normal to talk about how the war lasting a long while would probably be the worst outcome simply due to the human toll and what are/were the likely inevitable outcomes. However true that was then or is now (I personally have no clue or expertise at all), forgetting that this human toll matters, at least for us to not forget that it’s always there, seems to have generally been pushed aside (unless that’s just the bubble I’m living in).
I have not been able to shake thoughts of the Iraq war in regards to mainstream western treatment of the war and just how much it seems to have forgotten that war is hell.
Those people were mostly brown and Muslim, these people are mostly white and Christian.
In Iraq the west were the aggressors, in Ukraine the “enemy” of the west is (except Putin isn’t really an enemy to those on the right who he helped get more power).
An expectation of anything but polar opposite reporting on these two wars can only come from not paying attention (or being extremely naive)
In Iraq one side of the soldiers dying were Americans or westerners with families at home. In Ukraine none of the soldiers are western. Not sure it’s entirely that oppositional, at least as far as media coverage is concerned, especially if a side is “taken”.
Jesse wtf are you talking about
In short …
- How much has the mainstream western view/media been … “heck yea, go Ukraine, fuck Russia … you can do this!”.
- And how much has the actual horror of war been neglected/ignored,
- And why so?
More broadly, in 20 years time, I wonder what will be thought and said about how this war was viewed and handled both politically and in the media and what, if any, mistakes or awkward biases will be tackled on the part of the West.
It’s also all a big question where I’d be very happy for people to try to answer the questions or correct any misapprehensions I might have.
Idk what media have you watched, but it’s mostly shown as a costly struggle
You’re commenting this on an article covering the human toll of this war. Telling us individual stories of people having to deal with losing limbs and chronic pain. As well as mentioning veterans battle with ptsd and even mentioning how one man that lost his leg wanted to kill himself. Not to mention recent articles from other mainstream outlets covering russias human trafficking of over 700,000 Ukrainian children and how there are currently over 90,000 reports of russian soldiers raping Ukrainians. The human side is being covered.
Yea the article was the prompt. The implication being that we might be seeing a shift in coverage at the moment compared to, say, a year ago.
Also, I’m asking questions about the mainstream and what’s common in it. Just did a quick check on The Guardian, as a random example, and couldn’t find any similar reporting. Big difference between “it is reported on some places, if you know where to look” and “mainstream media cares about this issue”.
And you missed his point
He is worried about the revisions/gaslighting that will happen 10,15,20 years from now.
mainstream western treatment of the war and just how much it seems to have forgotten that war is hell.
What an incredibly Seppo take. Yes, we know, you don’t know shit about war. But you didn’t forget that war is hell: You never knew it in the first place. Your cities didn’t get bombed, you’re not halting construction sites and evacuate a couple of kilometre radius because yet another dud was found which has to be disposed of first.
War, for you, is something soldiers do abroad. Not something a people is subjected to at home.
Europe does remember, and that’s precisely why we’re backing Ukraine.
Don’t know what a Seppo is, sorry. Also not talking about whether one should or shouldn’t back Ukraine. And just talking about media coverage. No need to get aggressive, IMO.
You were talking about US media coverage, at the utmost Anglo media coverage, and equated it with western.
Are you backing Ukraine the same way the US backed Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war?
No. It’s like supporting Finland in the Winter war.
There are honestly a lot of parallels between the war in Ukraine and WWI, Putin’s actions remind me a lot of the leaders of some countries in WWI who were super wrapped up in their egos to the point of wanting a “gentleman’s war”, only to end up killing and traumatizing millions.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
During six weeks in a coma, Bilyak underwent over 10 surgeries, including his jaw, hand, and heel, to recover from injuries he received April 22 driving over a pair of anti-tank mines.
Ukraine is facing a future with upward of 20,000 amputees, many of them soldiers who are also suffering psychological trauma from their time at the front.
Yurchuk has himself become the chief motivator for new arrivals from the front, pushing them as they heal from their wounds and teaching them as they learn to live and move with their new disabilities.
That’s a really complicated adjustment to make and it needs to be made with another human being,” said Dr. Emily Mayhew, a medical historian at Imperial College who specializes in blast injuries.
There are not nearly enough prosthetic specialists in Ukraine to handle the growing need, said Olha Rudneva, the head of the Superhumans center for rehabilitating Ukrainian military amputees.
Lytvynchuk, a former battalion commander, draws strength from his family, especially his 4-year-old daughter who etched a unicorn on his prosthetic leg.
The original article contains 999 words, the summary contains 175 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
