Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2003 21:53:01 +0100
From: "steve.devos-AT-krokodile.co.uk" <steve.devos-AT-krokodile.co.uk>
Subject: war as spectacle


As the days have passed and the images and sounds of the war have have 
outnumbered the bullets and smart bombs - I've wondered what the real 
weapsons were in this war. I'm told that this was the most journalised 
and documented war in history - each "war" translates into unbelievable 
soap opera before your eyes and ears. It has reached the extent that 
next time I almost expect each soldier to have cameras embedded into 
their helmets or even their skulls. Alternatively the camera-gun 
alternating between bullts and digital images. For the state and the 
military the gap between life and death has been shrinking all the time 
- i've read elsewhere that we are no longer simply living alongside the 
military-industrial complex but in the military-entertainment complex. 
So far it's not quite reached the internet - but there is always next 
year, during the next police-action - but as we've just been watching 
the biggest snuff movie made so far - it is now impossible to seperate 
the the controlled information, the news and the entertainment images 
that are plastered over the media, like an ancient roman circus. The 
event happens - and the difference between an engagement and an 
infomercial, between a weapon fired at someone and a media weapon firing 
at the stars, between intelligence gathering and intelligence deployment 
is nothing..

As the men dance around the tanks on the streets of  'B' - showing yet 
another meaningless event  - I could assume nothing but the desire to 
make a noise.

I work for an infant american transnational - looks unpromising doesn't it.

silence really cannot be forgiven

regards
s