Internet In The Time Of War
World War II was covered on radio. The Vietnam War was watched on television. The first Gulf War was beamed in via cable TV, and now we're in the first full-fledged war of the Internet era.
Now that the war with Iraq has started, people are turning to the Internet for news and information from government and news sites as well as Web sites operated by anti-war protestors. It's even possible to use the Internet to find out what "the other side" has to say, by clicking on sites operated by the Iraqi government and its sympathizers.
Just about all of the major news organizations are working overtime to keep their Web sites up-to-date. Of course, the Web can't take the place of television, which is beaming live pictures from the battleground, nor can you access it from the road as you can with radio. Still, the Net can give you more detail than TV or radio, and it's certainly a lot more up-to-the-minute than print media. Even newspapers and magazines, which are accustomed to publishing on a daily schedule, are using their Web sites to provide readers with news throughout the day.
But one big advantage to the Net is that we can also get information from overseas sources. I use two sources for finding international news sites. AbyzNewsLinks.com is organized by region and also includes a listing for "hotspots," including Iraq.
Guardian Unlimited World News Guide (http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldnewsguide/) also is an excellent international news portal. Click on a section of the world map and
you'll find listings of both news sites and background sites. Both of these
portals tell you the language of the news sources, which makes it easy to find one in English or other languages. I was able, for example, to find English-language French newspapers that gave me an inside view of France's opposition to the U.S.-led war. It's also interesting to read the Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) to find out what the Israelis are reading. A free subscription is required.
There are a number of Iraqi sites, including the Iraq News Agency http://www.uruklink.net/) that has official statements of the Iraqi government, including messages from Saddam Hussein.
I was able to access that site before the bombing started, but since the U.S. began the ground war, I haven't been able to get into it. The Web site
of Iraq's mission to the United Nations (www.iraqi-mission.org/) was working when I last checked and was surprisingly up-to-date. Of course, in this fluid situation, it's hard to know how long it will continue to be available.
The U.S. government operates a number of Web sites that are now focused on the Iraq situation. The White House (www.whitehouse.gov) provides transcripts and videos of President Bush's speeches as well as the video of press briefings from White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Broadband users will notice that the video quality is extremely good. On my DSL, it looks better than broadcast TV. The Department of Homeland Security now has its Ready.gov site running, with plenty of information on how to protect yourself and your family in case of an attack. It's not exactly fun, but it's a must-read for parents and others who need to be ready for anything that might come.
The Department of Defense and each branch of the service also operate informative Web sites. Defense Link (http://defenselink.mil/) provides access to all military Web sites, including some that provide inside (though obviously not confidential) information for military personnel such as pay schedules, vaccine information and other critical data. There also is news from the American Forces Press Service as well as TV and radio newscasts from American ForcesRadio and Television Service.
The Army's Web site (www.army.mil) has a link to Soldiers Radio Live.
You don't have to be in the Army to listen, but you do need a computer with a (free) copy of Apple's QuickTime media player software.
The Navy (http://www.navy.mil/), which is one of the most cyber-savvy branches of the U.S. government, has an excellent Web site that includes a "lifeline" section with advice not only for service men and women but also for families and other loved ones.
Sailors about most ships, by the way, have access to e-mail, as do some personnel from other services. The military, however, may limit or monitor access for security reasons.
The popularity of government Web sites caused some to slow down during the initial hours of the war. Keynote Systems, which measures Web site performance, found that the Army, Marines and Defense Department sites were slow to load. On Wednesday -- when the first attacks occurred -- the Army site took 80 seconds to load -- 20 times slower than normal. The Arab-language Al-Jazeera Web site (www.aljazeera.net) was extremely slow during the initial phase of the war.
Of course, the anti-war movement is also using the Web to mobilize its forces. MoveOn.org has been very active on this front, as has United For Peace & Justice (www.unitedforpeace.org).
By Larry Magid