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GoPro Occupation, the Digital Promise and the Case Study of Pokemon Go

Today’s blog post will put two essays in conversation. First, we will discuss Rebecca Stein’s essay, “GoPro Occupation: Networked Cameras, Israeli Military rule, and the digital promise”, and then secondly, Fabio Cristiano and Emilio Distretti’s essay “Along the lines of the Occupation: Playing at diminished reality in East Jerusalem”.

Rebecca Stein’s essay discusses the usage of digital technologies and how they can be applied in the Israeli-Palestine situation. She starts off by investigating the usage of combat cameras. Meaning, the cameras used by soldiers with the purpose of filming the front lines and situations of combat. Cameras and the images that they produced became a weapon and enabled further construction of who was the “victim” of the war. We further see this view being constructed when we come to understand that the Israelis were using the images of war to contrast the political claims of the Palestinians. The Israeli’s were striving to have more “original content” as to be able to show that their nation was the one that was under fire. As Israel continued to increase their media usage throughout the military and the human rights community, simultaneously. There was a belief that the images being captured would further enhance an argument on abuse or miscount. However, Stein disagrees and states that there is no “digital guarantee” provided by these images since they can be manipulated, produce gaps, and take away from other investigative approaches. These lapses are rooted in the functions of the technology. The laps show where the failures in technology are.

In Israel, as the military gains momentum and the political decisions continue to call into question what is just, we see that human rights organizations are attempting to combat the occupation. Interestingly, these organizations were threatened when it was assumed that they were inciting anti-Israel thinking. These organizations is using cameras to capture what is occurring. They are hoping to have a greater influence on creating justice by providing greater proximity and precision in the images. Previously, the Israeli military had discredited the images produced by these organizations by asserting that they were flawed or the Israeli military would simply ignore the actions and direct attention elsewhere. As technology has become increasingly common, it has become a means of exerting power over others, especially in Israel. A soldier, Eitan Stern, mentioned how he was told to go into poemless homes and take pictures for “mapping” purposes. There is no proof that they were ever used officially, The assumption is that the images were taken to instill fear in the people.

When the Gaza incursion into the Gaza Strip occured in 2008-2009, the Palestinians had technology on their side and were able to bring a visual elimant to the harm and horror that was taking place. Stein mentions how the Israeli’s felt a need to create a visual amplification, a counter to what the Palestinians were showing, to put themselves in a better position while defending their actions. As Israel continued to try to control the narrative on media, they appeared to be “messing up”. In 2010, the Mavi Marmara, filled with international activists and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip was intercepted by the Israeli navy. Nine activists were killed and many others wounded. The horrors were covered on the news globally within the hour, but it did not reach the media in Israel until eleven hours later. This showed the world Israel need to control the narrative. They allowed themselves time to justify their actions rather than admitting fault.

The ongoing conflict between Israeli’s and Palestinians has caused the Israeli people to be seen as the perpetrators and the Palestinians as the victims. B’Tselem, an Israeli NGO that aims to protect human rights throughout occupied terroitories is said to fuel this public opinion. B’Tselem, in its desire to increase human rights, trains civilians to record and document the abuses inflicted by soldiers. Presently, Israeli’s do not want to see that they are the perpetrators because they feel as if they have always been cast in this light.

When the Israeli soldiers have been caught killing innocent Palestinians (especially in the youth), they will not admit fault. Instead, they have stated that the videos produced proving the Israeli soldiers to be guilty are productions from Palllywood, the Palestinian Hollywood tasked with creating videos that reflect violent acts committed by Israeli’s.

In the second essay, “Along the lines of the Occupation: Playing at diminished reality in East Jerusalem”, we read about an analysis of the use of Pokemon Go in augmented reality. The essay discusses the lack of ability to play the game in East Jerusalem and the impacts of this on the view of the ongoing conflict.

The game is played through walking around and “capturing” different characters. Pokemon Go is a version of a game that was previously played through cards but altered its mode of operation due to the increasing desire to appeal to a healthier lifestyle. Interestingly, the authors of the essay noted that there had been research showing that in 1967 there was an established green line that was deemed the border of Israel. In comparison to the capabilities of the Pokemon Go app, the app appeared to account for this line. This then translated to the game not being able to be played in east Jerusalem further emphasizing the political and ethnic division through its online interactions.

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The Impact of Drones

This post will discuss the main points from a chapter in Drone Vision by Robert Stahl, and a chapter from Zeroing in: Overhead Imagery, Infrastructure Ruins, and Datalands in Afghanistan and Iraq by Lisa Parks. To start, we will look at Stahl’s chapter then discuss Parks’ concepts. 

Stahl discusses the drones. He says that drones are perceived as weapons so commonly that they are not discussed as a medium. By medium, he implies that the drone could be the communicator of the weaponized action instead of just being only a weapon. Stahl mentions how drones have had the ability to capture images that have been pushed into the media. These images are referred to as drone vision. The images have the ability to select what the viewer is intended to see before they have seen it. The reading refers to 9/11 as being the promoter of the usage of drones. It become normalized post 9/11 through the American government. However, by no surprise, the government’s usage was not transparent and did not comply with international conditions. The usage of drones was done to keep assassinations going on without the media picking up on it. Drones continued to not be seen in media for the actions that they were used for. There was a disconnect between what was happening and the still images that were being shown of the drones. 

We can refer to our discussion on video games versus reality. The images of the drones were that of a video game instead of depicting the real situation that they were used for. Instead of the drones becoming realistic, they maintained as being this unrealistic futuristic device. Drones were not widely promoted in the media, they were able to stay out of sight of the public continuing the idea of their lack of existence (a figment of imagination).  

However, this imagined drone was becoming more and more concerning to the public. Following the death of three American citizens during Obama’s Administration, there was a stronger demand and desire for transparency from the American government.

While drones were being publicly shamed, on YouTube, videos taken by drones gained more and more popularity. This could be attributed to their game-like appearance and overall appeal to the younger generations who have not experienced war situations. Drone operators were viewed as being martyrs. They were the ones who had to make a sacrifice for the greater good. But this begs the question, are their actions really for the greater good?  Stahl argues that the drone operators’ actions could justify the deaths because the lives they took, were in the single digits to the same lives in the triple digits. Commonly, these drone operators, although they may not have been physically in the war situation, experienced PTSD and other moral injuries that are referred to as warrior ethos.

The morality of their decisions does not come into question if the ultimate execution of an individual could save hundreds of others according to their logic. Similar to the deaths of the three American’s, there is this view that sometimes deaths of innocent happen and that they are the sacrifice for the benefit of society. Stahl refers to them as being collateral deaths. They are just as valuable as an accidental building getting blown up in war. 

Going off the point on drone images being disconnected, Lisa parks discusses the images taken overheard and how they are used in the media, and how they have spread using the internet.  Every location is now a feasible target. Through platforms like google maps, we can now see every place we want to with a few clicks. There is an ability to target important locations that allow for communication and collaboration. Parks refers to Mirzoeff’s “weaponized image”, which could also connect back to the “orientation of the gaze” to “direct the look”.  In the images we see of war events, we are told where to look and how to perceive the image. This inadvertently causes less questioning of the images, which Park says, will reduce investigation. But this is something that we want to continue to support and promote. You can never fully know a story from one new source, and the same can be said about images. You will be influenced by the angle or the perception that the photographer (or drone) had. But that does not mean you are  “seeing it all”.

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Normalization and Globalization of Torture

This post will cover the paper “Torture and the Material - Semiotic Networks of Violence Across Borders” written by Jonathan Luke Austin and the movie A Clockwork Orange By Stanley Kubrick. 

In the paper by Austin, we are introduced to the term globalization of torture. It is described as being a comparison between the torture practiced by people in the United States and the torture practiced by people in North Korea. These two examples of countries are given because they both seem to torture people similarly. For example, they both use stress standing positions for their prisoners which forces people to stand for long periods of time which inadvertently leads to them urinating on themselves and depriving them of sleep. This form of torture is not only punishment to the individual but also entertainment for the torturer. Sadly, this seems to be a common reason for punishment in all countries that actively employ it. This implies that no matter the actively used system of the country (democratic or autocratic), there is the usage of the same space of violence. Austin refers to this through the Actor-Network Theory (ANT). This states that everything shifts in life in relation to others. Applying this concept to torture, it states that there is a relationship between the material-semiotic networks and other entities, set spaces, and human and nonhuman objects to further understand how torture occurs. 

No one country is much different than the next. When it comes to torture, it seems instinctive that humans view it as a game. When there is so much power over another, the power will be taken advantage of. For example, Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University conducted an experiment where people perceived they had the power to give pain to others (more study info here). The people involved in the experiment were “given orders” to electrocute another person and they were to follow orders (told not to question authority but not explicitly). The bigger question of the experiment was on World War 2 and the execution of actions. It came after the Nuremberg War Criminal Trials. In conclusion of the trial, it was found that ordinary individuals are likely to follow the orders that they are given without questioning them. It was stated that “obedience to authority is ingrained in us all from the way we are brought up”. This also applies to torture, unless we actively see someone in our environment stand up against it when it has become normalized, we will continue to believe it is “okay”. Taking this back to Austin, he states that the usage of an online platform such as YouTube has further normalized these practices.  

Videos of US torture tactics are being viewed by extremist groups in Al-Queda. Although they may be on the opposite side of the world, there is still an equal desire to commit violence against those that they perceive as the enemy. Violence is universal and no longer is from one original source. Just like we can teach each other how to be more accepting and tolerant, we also teach each other how to hate. Our torture techniques have modernized with time. Consider the electric chair, it employs technology through the means of wires exerting high levels of watts to inflict pain on the tortured. But now, the “thing” that is inflicting the pain is no longer a physical person but a nonhuman force. It is a human creation, but it is also technically a natural material that is already in existence but conducted by humans. 

In Clockwork Orange, we are introduced to the character named Alex who has no regrets in life as he commits horrible acts against innocent people such as rape, theft, and murder. Alex is eventually arrested and either has to spend 10 years in prison or become a part of an experimental treatment that would allow him to be released in 2 weeks. He decides to go with the “Ludovico Technique” experiment. It is said to be able to make him no longer have any of his negative impulses such as violence and sexual. He’s given the experimental drug and it makes him sick. This feeling of sickness is was controls him from committing his bad actions. However, the “cure” is a form of torture. Alex will feel debilitating pain every time he thinks about his former normal tendencies. He will now forever be controlled. The controller in this situation is the government. This experiment was done to see if there was a way to decrease crimes and criminality overall. Alex has now become a victim of the government.  This lack of choice that Alex now has to live with can be viewed as an example of Alex being reduced to bare life. He has a limited choice in life if he does not want to experience pain. 

This image of life-long torture brings into question what is right and wrong to do to a criminal. Criminals are still people even after they have committed a crime, petty or extreme. This can be compared to the US excuse for using waterboarding on their victims. They claimed that it left no physical damage on the people they detained so, therefore, as an alternative to harmful approaches. However, the long-term psychological impacts would still remain present as well as PTSD. What might be seen as okay to one party may not be seen as okay to the other. A perpetrator of violence could also become the recipient of that same violence.

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Video Surveillance, the power of Torture,  and Zones of Indistinction & Saw

Both the movie, Saw, and the book, show and/or discuss the usage of video surveillance apparatus. The technology used in the narrative creates more tension and fear in the victim. It causes the person being interrogated or tortured to doubt themselves and to question what they have done to deserve such treatment. This doubt motivates the victim to believe they must have done something that they need to admit to in order to be freed from their pain. More than that, video surveillance apparatus acts as an additional method of torture. Due to the victim, in the case of Saw, being trapped in a room with no contact with the abuser, the surveillance cameras acted as a spying mechanism. It allowed for the enforcer of the pain to have a none physical presence while still maintaining the ultimate control. Zimmer explains this as the usage of a disciplinary function, in which the victims are fully aware that they are being observed causing heightening tension and fear in the victims. In an attempt to add value to the lives of the victims that the “Jigsaw” selects, the victims experience a reduction to “bare life” where they are stripped of all rights and put into a “zone of indistinction” aimed at testing how much they value life. 

Surveillance Cinema, written by Catherine Zimmer, the first chapter discusses how, in films,  the system of surveillance and torture are interconnected with sovereign power and politics. Zimmer argues that this portrayal leads to the creation of zones of indistinction. 

Zimmer describes what “torture porn” is by explaining Giorgio Agamben’s definition. “Torture porn” is a place where rights are revoked. It is characterized by the viewing of torture scenes that refer to economic, social, or ideological elements. Due to the wide usage of torture in films, we see it has merged into the zone of indistinction as we now view it as a state of exception. Zimmer emphasizes that in America, there is a tendency to disassociate this “torture porn” from themselves and transfer it to being an act committed by others - to them. This shows the victimization of American’s, rather than an aider to the violence as we know it. Commonly in films, such as the Born series, the negative actions happening to the Americans are only done by the international hosts. Connecting this to another movie, Zimmer focuses on the saw and its usage of a game scenario. In summary, Saw is a movie about a serial killer nicknamed “Jigsaw” who kidnaps people who are not fully appreciating the fact that they are alive. He puts these people into game-like situations and forces them to make decisions that will either let them live or lead them to their death. It is all about the sacrifices one is willing to make in order to continue living, even if it means ending another person’s life. However, not everyone in the game is put in an even position. For example, the two main characters that we are introduced to, Adam and Lawrence, have not done the same things and we can see one person is being heavily pushed to pay a higher price than the other. 

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Regarding the Pain of Others: The Power of Value

Susan Sontag, the author of Regarding the Pain of Others, discusses the concepts of the viewer as a bystander to violence and suffering that is experienced at a distance, the impact of distance on our view, and the representation of war and conflict and how it further affects our views. In the second and third chapters of her book, she focuses on how our distant view makes us view the situation as being calmer. She highlights how war images are seen so frequently, we are no longer impacted as heavily by them. Sontag states that the construction of the images, through the usage of photography, can be understood as a tool of mediation. Photography is universal because it communicates in one language. This in turn allows for images of war to have a higher effect on those who have never actually been to war. They, the viewer, now believe they’ve seen war and understand the suffering from the images alone.

Sontag comments on the impact of “shock photos”. If the image is more shocking, it will gain more attention and be referenced for that particular conflict or event. Shock images have become what the consumer wants because it leaves a lasting impression. Photography has acted as a means of recording events. Sontag discusses the usage of photography during world war one and notes that the photos allowed for more stories to be told about the individual experience. We could see the actors in action.

Interestingly, Sontag discusses the irrelevance of credit to photographs. Stating that, photography is one of the few professions where experience could and can have little impact if the image you’ve captured is taken at the perfect/right time, place, and angle. Whatever the intention is of the photographer, does not impact the meaning of the photo itself. The interpretation is dependant on the viewer.

In the third chapter, Sontag discusses how the viewers prefer to see cruelties and suffering over joyful images. There is an underlying desire to have the right to look at horrible events, without being in the place where it happened or experiencing the emotions and weight of it all. The images of suffering allow the viewer to feel like they are having an impact through their power to look. She also discusses the value of photography versus paintings stating that you “make drawings, and you “take” photographs. Relating back to ideas from chapter two, Sontag comments on the relevance of artists for paintings or drawings having more weight than that of a photo.

In Judith Butler’s blog post titled “Precariousness and Grievability - When Is Life Greivable”, there is an exploration into self-identity and how it is bound with other human beings. We see that Butler believes that those that are living, are those who are grievable. Butler poses a question on how to measure the value of life through how we perceive who is valuable during times of war and who is disposable. Someone that is considered disposable, or ungreivable, is someone who was never given life with value or merit. Butler also says there is a need for an understanding of what precariousness is. Different social and economic needs and standards should be met. Living socially. As a society, we have higher care and compassion for each other because we are satisfying our overall needs. In order for the life of an individual to have more value, they must be valued. They should be loved and cared for by others. This puts grievability and precariousness in conversation with one another because one allows us to denote the next.

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Blog Post 5: James Der Derian: “Critical Practices in International Theory,” Chapter 15 and 17

From virtual war to virtuous war. James Der Derian, the Director of the Center for International Security at the University of Sydney discussed the impact of these two key terms throughout his book, Critical Practices in International Theory. 

Both virtuous and virtual, share the same etymological origin. They both carry a sense of virtue that implies a form of qualities and notions on the right conduct. However, presently, they do not share the same meanings. Virtual has a more technological relevance. We can use virtual to describe virtual wars. Virtual wars use online software to accomplish what would be done by a man (human) on the battlefield, but instead of a physical person being present, the “operation” is executed by a drone. Virtual wars decrease casualties of the country that is able to operate it. But, in turn, increases the casualties that the country of operation is attacking. Virtuous war establishes the truth of the environment virtual wars describe. Virtuous wars have the power to keep death out of direct sight allowing for a person to kill without seeing or taking responsibility for the death. There is less tragedy to the action. Because the death is no longer visible, it’s less impactful, and therefore, less humane. 

Virtuous war detaches the actor from the action. There is a detachment from death. But also, it creates a “dream state” or a symbolic realm that represents a new set of beliefs based on mythos and ethos. Der Derian makes it clear that “all but war is a simulation”. However, with current graphics in online gaming software, it is hard to notice a difference between the war simulations and the real event. This reduces the consequences of death furthering the detachment. Der Derian addresses the issue of the lack of difference between the online gaming wars and the real wars by saying that there is a need for a virtual theory.

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Blog Post 4: Necropolitics and the Becoming Black of the World

“Necropolitics”, an essay by Achille Mbembe translated by Libby Meintjes focuses on what necropolitics means in modern senses. He references terms like biopower and sovereignty to build up his contemporary definition of necropolitics. More specifically,  when referring to biopower, French philosopher Michel Foucault would emphasize that when biopower is taken into the political sphere and then used by the government, it turns into biopolitics. Mbembe, basing his definition for necropolitics on our understanding of biopolitics, states that necropolitics is “the power and the capacity to dictate who may live and who must die”. Through necropolitics, the eases of living becomes binary. Life is subjected to the power of death. Mbembe proceeds to also say that sovereignty then becomes about who we allow living and who we have the right to kill. Pushing the power of decision on the “free individuals”. Sovereignty, through tying in arguments made by Mbembe and Bataille, is said to be tied to death. To elaborate, sovereignty is related to the idea of there being a violation of the prohibition against killing. This then means that sovereignty is closely linked to violence instead of reason. It has now become a tool for allowing violence in a legal way. Mbembe gives an example of this new form of sovereignty when he brings up the Nazism camps (Auschwitz). In the extermination camps, we understood that the state was taking on the right to kill people based on if they met a “standard” of superiority/inferiority. In this case, we saw disregard of care on if the actions were moral. The executors acted as gods deciding who lived and who died. They had the power to reduce a human to what was referred to as “bare life” while using their “state of exception” to torture and dehumanize. 

Mbembe shifts his focus to the experience of a black slave on page 20 and ties in the experience of extreme exclusion from humanity as being what he calls “social death”. In essence, he explains that the plantation system on which many slaves participated during colonial times, became the constant state of living for many where they were not allowed to be seen as having any rights over their personal status (home, political status, body). 

Regarding the usage of necro power currently, Mbembe refers to the status of Palestine. A country where two groups claim sovereign right to land. Mbembe states that an example like this leads to modern-day features of necro power to appear such as territorial fragmentation, vertical sovereignty, splintering occupation, and medieval siege warfare. 

Necropower also ties in the usage of high-tech means of war. An example of this is the usage of drones. The United States has been the highest user and consumer of military drones in recent years, with their highest place of usage being Pakistan. When oppositional military leaders fled Afghanistan into Pakistan, the United States defaulted to drone usage as they did not have a military presence in Pakistan at the time. This then became their primary means of engagement which led to fewer unnecessary fatalities. But it did not exclude them. 

Modern-day drone that is unmanned

Forecast of purchasing for the US on lightweight surveillance drones

In Achille Mbembes’s book, A Critique of Black Reason, we explore the concept of becoming black of the world. Mbembe discusses the term “laboring nomad” and says that it is the approach people have now where we have become superfluous to the global economy and now feel a need to move to find a place in the world. He says that this is related to how the individual has become dependent on materialistic goods, implying that we are “prisoners of desire”. We have therefore become contributors to a system of enslavement through constant consumption of goods. Due to our new approaches, Mbembe argues that this has brought us to a universalization of the black condition. Meaning, we have been engrossed with the sentiments experienced by Black people - implying the experience of anxiety and constant uncertainty - we are then (as Mbembe says) “the becoming black of the world.

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Understanding the Endangered and the Endangering through texts from Judith Butler and Elsa Dorlin

Judith Butler, an American-born philosopher, takes on the infamous trial of Rodney King and the means in which it was argued in her essay “Endangered/Endangering: Schematic Racism and White Paranoia”. Butler starts her essay by describing the events that occurred one night in March of 1991. A taxi driver by the name of Rodney King was pursued by three cop cars and one overhead helicopter on a chance. He was eventually stopped and told to exit his vehicle. Upon doing so, he was approached by several police officers (we know of 10, but according to the video there were roughly 20) and repetitively hit with batons while having racial slurs being yelled at him. A passive viewer by the name of George Holliday recording the events. This recording would go to to be used the following year in a trial to prove the innocence of the police. This same video is what sparked protests in LA against police brutality.

In Butler’s essay, we come to understand that the perception of the innocence of the officers came from the video being observed: “within a racially saturated field of visibility”. Meaning, when this video was presented, to a predominately white jury, it was interpreted through the lens of a caucasian bias. This inherently led the jury to believe that the videos (better yet, the still images of the video) were constructed in a way to show the officers only acting in self-defense, against an African-American male who was on the ground attempting to shield himself.

(Image: Still Frame taken from Holliday’s Video of Rodney King)

Rodney King, through his desire to protect himself, was seen as a threat and therefore was seen as the agent of violence. In defense of police brutality, the defense attorneys were able to structure the narrative to claim that the officers were within their rights to react to threats. The threat being, an African-American male. Butler explains this defense need through a term: “white paranoia”, which encapsulates the fear white Americans carry with them through the misidentification of African-Americans as danger, and the source of fear. Through this lens, the defense attorneys were able to argue that the images were clearly identifying why the “blows” King experiences were done out of reaction to the potential blows that he could have inflicted on the police officers, therefore, they were an act of self-defense.

Now, let’s take a closer look into how the original video by Holliday was manipulated. As stated before, the video was dissected to show images, Butler refers to them as “still frames”. These images were decontextualized to such a point that it no longer was an honest report of the events from that March night in 1991. Instead, it was the image that the defense attorney desired for it to be. As stated on page 3, the “truth” of the photos was what the people in that courtroom wanted it to be. What was seen in the video was described as evidence that could “speak for itself”. But the images apparently did not.

In both the essay by Butler and Elsa Dorlin’s book, What a Body Can Do, we see an explanation as to why the victim is painted in such a grim light. In the introduction the Dorlin’s book, we learn about a phrase: “defensive apparatus”. In summary, this term/phrase is used to describe and distinguish between the “defended subject”, that we understand has the right to defend themselves and to also be defended, and a “defenseless subject”, which is someone who will aim to defend themself but in the end will only aid in being defeated through their defense. Butler mentions the LA protests that followed the trial and the number of people that were killed and injured throughout the days of unrest. After 60 deaths, and roughly 2000 injured, President George H. W. Bush publicly supported the actions of the police officer, stating that the “Black people” were responsible for the actions being committed against them. Both the case of Rodney King and many others in the early 1990s showed how indefensible the African-American community was in situations of police brutality.

(Image: Protests Against the Unjust Killing of Trayvon Martin)

Although the events that we are discussing were in the 1990s, we can still see similar approaches in more current cases. For example, Trayvon Martin vs. George Zimmerman. In this case, a high school African-American male (Treyvon Martin) was seen walking around a neighborhood in a black hoodie while it was raining on February 26, 2021. Meanwhile, a caucasian college-aged student (George Zimmerman) was driving by in an SUV. Zimmerman considered Martin to be suspicious so he called 911 and reported what he saw. Zimmerman then took it upon himself to approach Martin. As there were no witnesses, no recordings, and only one side of the story, we do not know how the following events occurred. Martin was shot by Zimmerman and the gunshot was heard by neighbors. On February 27, 2012, Martin’s father files a missing person’s report and explains he did not return the previous night. Police show Martin a picture of the crime scene and he identifies the dead teenager as his son. During the trial of this case, which occurred in Florida, the initial defense attorneys and prosecutors had sided with Florida “stand your ground law” but that was then overruled and Zimmerman was convicted of second-degree murder. However, in the initial undertaking of the case, the dead teenager who had the ability to be defended was instantly taken as the antagonizer although he was described as going for a walk, in the rain, with his hood on, when he was then approached by Zimmerman. This case continues to show was both Butler and Dorlin alluded to in their texts. Martin was just another “defenseless subject” to all the onlookers and yet claimed all the fault with no ability to be questioned.

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Blog Post 2: How to Control the Narrative: Abu Gharib

Essay: Invisible Empire: Visual Culture, Embodied Spectacle, and Abu Ghraib

In Nicholas Mirzoeff’s essay, “Invisible Empire: Visual Culture, Embodied Spectacle, and Abu Ghraib” we take a closer look into the images taken by US soldiers in Abu Ghraib. At the beginning of the essay, Mirzoeff hints that although we are able to see the images of the torture and abuse done in Abu Ghraib, the horrors were able to remain invisible. How? 

As the people viewing the image, it is our job to question what we are seeing. Mirzoeff addresses the notion that what we may see may not be the truth and that the truth could be hidden or less visible. When applying this to the gruesome images released of Abu Ghraib, we must understand and view these photographs with a preconceived notion that they are being manipulated to show what they want to show, not what the truth of the photo may actually be. When Mirzoeff refers to the work of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri on the “Empire”, this term refers to the complete control over the visual understanding/culture. In relation to the United States, we saw that the control of the visual impact was so drastic that when George W. Bush was up for reelection (and won), these photos weren’t ever talked about. What is most interesting about this point is that the Bush Administration was ultimately responsible for the abuse of those Iraqi prisoners. Additionally, no higher-up official was held accountable for the actions taken and committed, only the lower-ranking officers served jail time. 

Additionally, when referring to the visible and the invisible it is important to note that the US Government was able to be selective on the images the public saw. They were able to control the damage that the American soldiers caused. In other words, the US Government controlled the narrative. 

In the images we see in Mirzoeff’s essay, you do not see any Iraqi children or women. The only females that we see in the photos are American soldiers. In the images that are shown, we see the US soldiers manipulating the Iraqi prisoners to do what they want them to do either to themselves or to others. Many of the actions being of sodomy or of a sexual nature. This put an emphasis on the idea that Arabs may be naturally wrong, misguided, and not heterosexual. Meanwhile, the Americans were heterosexual and claimed superiority (both in terms of physical power and imperial stances). Additionally, in the essay, Mirozoeff explores the idea that one of the soldiers, Graner, believed that he was acting within the Army Field manual 34-52, Intelligence Interrogation, under the procedure called “Pride and Ego Down”. Graner, who is commonly seen in the images of Abu Ghraib, would force Arab Iraqis to eat pork and drink alcohol then would strip the Iraqi naked and force them to stand in sexual, dehumanizing (general usage of sodomy) positions until they “confessed”.What is interesting to note about the use of sodomy in Graners case is that it does not technically go against the Geneva Convention. The form of sodomy used in Abu Ghraib is viewed as an acceptable means of gaining information in the United States and it has been used many other times besides just in Iraq. This is just another example of the USofA abusing those that they capture through aggressive means in order to establish dominance in a toxic means. 

(Image: American personnel (Graner and Harman) behind a pile of Iraqi prisoners forming a human pyramid with the usage of sodomy)

Documentary: Standard Operating Procedure: 

In the documentary, Standard Operating Procedure, we are given an insight into the individuals who were present in Iraq when the pictures were taken. The film, made in 2008 by Errol Morris, shows the perpetrators in a more humanistic light. The approach of the film makes the audience question who was to really be blamed for the acts: those that committed the abuse or those that knowingly allowed the abuse to happen? 

Within the first 30 minutes of the film, the soldiers that were interviewed continued to focus on the fact that they were simply following orders when they arrived in Abu Ghraib. They would then continue to state for the rest of the documentary that they were only doing what they had seen others do, therefore, they did not question it or stop doing it. 

The producers of the documentary were able to put visual aids (images of letters and of the prison) throughout the film. Having these two visual aids made the story of Sabrina Harman very hard to believe. In her verbal interviews, obviously taken after 2004, she tries to state her questioning of the actions (that she had written in letters to her wife), but then in the images that are obtained of her, she is seen smiling and with her thumb up next to lifeless bodies. Similarly, Lynndie England is heard saying that she never questioned what she was doing, simply because “that’s what we were told to do”. This leads us to why they called this documentary “standard operating procedure” (S.O.P.). The acts that these soldiers committed were not seen as wrong. There was a belief that the abuse that the Iraqi’s endured was completely necessary. What makes this more disturbing is that none of the information that was obtained from prisoners in Abu Ghraib helped capture anyone in Al Queda. Meaning, the abuse committed in Abu Ghraib was for personal pleasure and entertainment.

 (Image: Sabrina Harman smiling and showing a thumbs up while standing over the body of recently killed Manadel Al-Jamadi)  

[courtneysmithblogs]

Blog Post 1: Week 2

In An Introduction to Visual Culture, Nicholas Mirozoeff starts off by introducing the abstract definition for visual culture by explaining the paradox. He states that visual culture has the ability to be nowhere and everywhere simultaneously. We can think of examples of visual culture as being social media platforms, online search engines, or other mediums that we are communicated through. What is being communicated may vary, but we are able to have our own interpretations of the media altogether. All of the mediums mentioned can assume the role of communicator, but they are not the only ones in existence, which leads us to understand that we can not have simple one visual medium. Mirozoeff makes it clear that although we may be able to take in visual mediums as we wish (through our own perceptions), we can obtain different narratives depending on the medium we are relying on.

We have recently passed the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Major news networks in the United States and around the world show images of September 9th, 2001 in memory of those that died. The ability to have images and to publicize them has made the average US citizen more aware of the events than what would’ve been possible during WW1. This, in turn, allows for a deeper sense of patriotism and desire for a stronger defense. Since the events of 2001, we have seen an even stronger usage of images to cast light on issues internationally both in a positive and negative way.

The images presented by General Colin Powel to the United Nations in 2003 were evidence of what the US was saying was their reason to intervene on ISIS. As mentioned in The World of War, “There is no longer a battlefield, only zones of surveillance”. This quote is referring to the efforts many militaries are taking to use drones to spot out their areas of attack to minimize damage. This then leads to another point brought up by Mirozoeff but stated by Malik Jalal “drones may kill relatively few, but they terrify many more”. This implies the big worry that we are constantly being threatened through the same means that we are being kept safe: surveillance.