Blog Assignment 7

The original question that I posed was about why we were fighting the war and what our definition of success was.  My inquiry has changed because as I researched this, I came to realize that I wasn’t finding much of an answer.  I already knew that we as Americans didn’t really know why we were fighting, so I guess I should have realized that I wouldn’t be able to get the answer either.  However, this did lead me to my new inquiry, which is about why we know so little about the situation.  I feel that I can still discuss the old subject in this paper anyway, since I will need to talk about the situation itself.  Then I can provide my own original idea as to why we don’t know why we are fighting or what our definition of success is.

            One big thing that I learned is that the government has not provided us with a concrete answer to any of my above questions.  I didn’t know this before because I never took much interest in this kind of subject on my own.  I need to research some government documents to make sure that this is the case, but I haven’t found an answer from them yet.  I need to use research that shows that we don’t have an answer, and that will lead into my hypothesis very well.

            Again, I need to make sure that the government hasn’t provided us with a legitimate answer as to why we are at war.  I need to make sure they haven’t before I make any claims about why they haven’t given one.  If they have, and I don’t find it, it will destroy any point I make about the subject.   In order to make sure, I want to research as many government documents as possible on the subject.  I could also look at some of Bush’s speeches that addressed the matter, and I could compare them to one another to look for similarities or differences.  I will obviously have to analyze the rhetorical situations for each speech, and I will take that information into consideration as I compare them.

            The main gap I am noticing is that a lot of sources disagree as to why we are at war, which makes sense, considering that no one knows, so it seems to be a matter of opinion.  This provides me the opportunity to come up with an original idea as to why no one knows, and to take information from many different places and piece them together to formulate my own opinion on the subject.  I can also compare these sources with any answer that the government did provide, to see if they match.  I think I will be able to implement this kind of comparison in my paper.

            This biggest idea that I have is that the government is deceiving us as far as what they are doing and why they are doing it.  I’m sure someone has made this argument before, so that’s probably not an original idea.  However, I could lead that into an argument about the effectiveness of our system, whether or not it really is a democracy, or about whether our election system is effective.  I might not focus on points like that, they seem a little off topic as far as the course itself goes, but I could mention them in my paper to make my idea original.  I could easily justify points like these as well because we have had many examples of corruption in our government, so an idea like that would be perfectly legitimate.  Overall, as of this point, I would have to argue that the government is lying to us, and we obviously don’t have any control over them, so we really need to implement some kind of change to change our government to one that is actually by the people, they way it was intended to be.

Images for paper

This image comes from what I believe to be a personal website.  It looks to be done mostly in a language other than English, so it doesn’t look like an American mafe the site.  This definitely could show some bias.  I need to look into the site more, because I couldn’t figure out everything about it.  Also, I am unsure if this image was taken from somewhere else and posted on this site, or if the author of the site created it.  The link is: http://www.afmaal.com/media/specials/war-in-iraq-710_reasons.jpg.  The argument of this cartoon is that we are fighting the war for oil.  Also, it implies that President Bush either doesn’t know the real reasons, and someone showed him, or that he was lying to the country and was exposed.  The audience for this is smaller, because I think it only came from this website, and since it is only a personal one, it won’t get too many visits.  Those that are searching for that kind of material are going to be the only ones that see it.

            This image is relevant to my paper because it shows how our reasons for war are being hidden from everyone.  This will impact the reader because it actually shows the government being exposed, even if oil isn’t the main reason.  It actually gives a visual of the government hiding the truth.  As far a psychological effects, the image could cause emotions like anger or resentment, because it shows the government’s actions.

 

 

I cannot figure out much about the creator of this image.  This person’s name is in the bottom right corner of the picture, but I cannot read what the last name says.  I found it on about.com, which basically is a search engine type of site.  The link is: http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/I/S/iraq_warprofiteers.jpg.  This image argues that big business is driving for war.  It also shows that it is a war for oil.  It is definitely against the war, because the companies are represented as pigs.  The audience here is large, especially considering that this image is readily available for people to find when they search for anything like it.  So the internet population is the audience. 

            I could use this in my paper because it shows different reasons for war, but doesn’t just pick out one.  It shows two different ones, although they are very similar.  Business and oil are the reasons.  They are interrelated, but I consider them a bit different.  I don’t see any biases here, but I need to figure out who the author is and research that person first. 

            I could use this to show that we don’t really seem to know what our definition of success is in Iraq.  Also, it gives a new perspective of big business causing the war, and I didn’t have any research that had said that yet.  This has a similar psychological effect as my other image, causing anger or resentment.  The characters are pictured in a very negative light, being pigs with dark suits on.  The reasoning behind this is to cause the viewer to understand how uncaring those people are and to speak out against the war.

Blog Assignment 6

Cortright, David, Linda Gerber, George A. Lopez, and Alistair Millar. “Unproven: The Controversy over Justifying War in Iraq.” Joan B. Croc Institute and Fourth Freedom Forum. June 2003. 22 Jul. 2008. <http://www.ciaonet.org.

libezproxy2.syr.edu/special_section/iraq_review/ciao/pi_jrw_04.pdf>.

 

I think this source will be very helpful for me, since I want to discuss our reasons for war and or definition of success in Iraq, since I feel that those to topics are very interrelated.  This is a secondary source, and it mostly focuses on our reasons for war in Iraq.  I think that this is credible information.  I looked a little bit at where it came from, one of the main sources being the Joan B. Croc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.  I didn’t look at much about this, but I feel that the information it provided, especially as far as the facts go, is credible.  I didn’t check out the Fourth Freedom Forum, so I will have to do more research about that one.  I will have to look at both of them more to see of there may be any biases.

The first significant quote comes from the very first page.

“The second claim, more odious in form and substance, is that the administration inflated and manipulated uncertain data, possibly even requesting that material sent to it be redone to fit preconceived notions.”

            I think that this quote is implying that the Bush Administration had other reasons in mind that looking for weapons.  I think that they are saying that the government in essence lied to the public so they could go off to war for their own reasons.  I think that many Americans either feel this way or would agree with a claim like that.  It is a matter of opinion at this point, because no one really knows why we went to war right now.  I think that I personally agree with that idea, so it would be helpful in supporting my points in my paper.  It is a little vague, because I need to add context to it, but I could use it.  this doesn’t really challenge my thinking, because I was expecting to find some material like this.  The only way I see this challenging me is that making a claim like that requires a lot of proof, which is difficult to find in this case.  However, this paper does provide a lot of evidence for their claims, so it is possible to do.  The only new inquiry that arises from this paper in general is that it mentions the UK a lot, and I didn’t know they were involved.

Another quote I found interesting was on the last page.

“If the problem in Iraq was not intelligence but the way information was selectively interpreted and misrepresented, this raises doubts about the integrity of political decision making.”

            I think this is a very logical thought.  I was thinking the same thing before I had seen this quote.  It raises the question of whether or not our political system is effective.  I also believe that it questions whether we really are a democracy, or at least a government by the people.  This makes me think a little differently about my topic because it just adds a new dimension to it.  This is another angle I can take in my paper, adding a little more depth to my thinking about our government.  I don’t think I would actually use this quote in my paper, it’s mainly just another idea for me to consider when writing my paper.

 

Cronin, Patrick. “Iraq: On the Precipice of Failure?” CSIS. 14 April 2004. <http://www.ciaonet.org.libezproxy2.syr.edu/special_section/iraq_review/pi_viol/pi_viol_csis01.pdf.>.

 

            This is a group discussion moderated by Patrick Cronin.  First of all, I am sure I didn’t cite this correctly, but I did the best I could.  Also, I’m not sure where this discussion was held, whether it was on radio or television or something.  And I haven’t looked up CSIS yet, so I still have more research to do on those parts.  I thought the information was good when I looked it over, but I will need to do research on the speakers as well in order to evaluate their credibility.  This was the best example of primary research I could find.

            The first quote I picked out came from the beginning, on page two.

“Let me begin in dealing with Iraq by very briefly saying that President Bush made some points last night that I think are important to remember. One is the strategic priority for success. It doesn’t matter how we got here, we are here. The priority for success is very high.”

            This is a quote from Anthony Cordesman.  The only reason I picked this quote out is because he hays that the priority of success is very high.  Well, obviously it’s high.  But he doesn’t talk about what success is.  He later mentions that success depends on Iraq’s ability to make a stable government work.  But he still does not talk about how that helps us, at least I didn’t see it if he did.  I wouldn’t use this quote in my paper, but I just illustrates that we don’t really have a definition of success, and any other analysis about winning in Iraq is useless without a definition.  I feel he didn’t make much of a point in this part of the discussion.

 

Another quote I found that made me think was on page seven.

 

“We clearly do need more international support and assistance in Iraq, not only in terms of more troops and more money but also in terms of the real backing that has been missing in terms of giving this effort the international legitimacy that it needs.”

 

Similarly, I probably wouldn’t use this quote in my paper, but it showed me something I was forgetting.  I never even considered whether other nations were supporting us or not, or how this would affect the war.  It also made me question how much support we could actually get, because if Americans don’t even know why their own country is at war, are people from other nations going to know?  Could our government be deceiving foreign nations as far as reasons for war in order to gain support?  I never even considered issues concerning nations other that Iraq and the United States.  Reading this made me consider a new perspective as far as our reasons for war, why we don’t know these reasons, and how we define success in Iraq.

Personal Interview Questions

Why did America go to war with Iraq in the first place?

 

Are the reasons that we are still at war the same as those for getting involved in it?  Did they change over time?

 

If so, why did they change?

 

Why do you think the American public knows so little about why we went to war or why we are still at war?

 

How do we define success in Iraq?

 

What goals are we trying to reach by fighting there?

 

How long do you think we will be fighting this war?

 

Do you see any improvement in the situation since we began fighting the war?

 

If so, what improvements were there?

 

If not, what do you think we need to improve on to ensure our success?

Primary Research Method

For a primary research method, I would like to conduct an interview with a military recruiter.  I want to discover what information a person like this might promote to the public as far as our reasons for going to war.  In order to do this, I will create an interview and go see a recruiter.  Gaining access to a recruiter should be pretty simple.  I live in Auburn, and there is an armory right down the road with a recruiter inside.  I don’t think I have any biases about the topic, since I don’t have any idea or opinion on why we went to war or why we are still at war.  Just in case, I just have to make sure that my questions in the interview are unbiased.  I expect to hear a generic answer from him or her.  I expect it to be something along the lines of freedom or liberty, something that might sell someone into joining the army.

Blog Assignment 5

I intend on researching how much control we as Americans actually have over our government.  I will only be looking at the aspect of international relations, or more specifically, the current war in Iraq.  Therefore, the time period will only be in the last ten years at the most.  I will only be considering the United States and the Middle East.  As far as context, I will consider many different factors such as how Americans can control the government, how many Americans actually supported the war throughout the years it took place in, the terrorist attacks on the United States, the actual cost of the war, not just economically, but its effect on Americans as well, and many others.  I hope to find out why we actually went to war, or at least formulate my own educated opinion on the subject. 

I also want to find out why Americans know so little about our reasons for fighting the war.  Do Americans not care?  Is our general ignorance a reason that the rest of the world resents us?  Is the government hiding information or lying to us?

Another subject that I want to evaluate is the credibility of the sources that are providing Americans with the knowledge that we do actually have about the war.  Are they giving the actual facts?  Do they have a reason to lie or bend the truth?  Are they any more knowledgeable than the average American?  I plan on looking at sources directly from the government as well.

This topic is relevant to our discussion of war because one of the first things we looked at in this course was a documentary on Americans’ lack of knowledge about the war, and that the government could be lying to us.  Also, my final paper in unit one made me think more about this.  The ad that I analyzed was from a company that was asking for funds to help support the war.  That made me question whether they even know why we’re fighting the war or not.  This made me question whether the influence of organizations like this, along with those against the war, impacted American support for the war or not, and whether this influenced the statistics given about their support or lack thereof.  Mainly, I would like to see if those kinds of influences impacted American knowledge of international relations.

The reason why I want to research this topic is because this course has caused me to take more interest into international relations.  Before the summer started, I know little to nothing about the war or why we were fighting it.  I was not planning on voting at all in the presidential elections, but if I can learn enough over the next few months, I will consider it.  Again, I want to learn enough so that I will have my own educated opinion on why we are fighting the war, and also about the strengths and weaknesses of our government.  I also want to learn about the presidential candidates, because I know nothing at all about their views.  Writing this paper probably won’t help me learn about those people in particular, so I might have to figure that out on my own.  But my goal is to create my own opinion on our government and actually be able to analyze the current political situation, at least with Iraq.  Overall, I hope to be able to answer my questions, and somehow come up with a way that our system could be better.  I won’t likely be putting something like that in the paper, that’s something that is just for my own personal gain.  As far as my fears, I’m afraid that all I’m going to find is a random assortment of opinions about why we went to war; and I don’t want to form an opinion that is the same as someone else’s.  I am also afraid of finding a lot of biased information.

In order to research this topic, I am going to need to use a variety of sources.  I already have found a few blogs that show different opinions, but that doesn’t help me much.  I am going to need sources from the government itself, some news sources that regularly report the kind of information that I am studying, and some more public opinion sources.  I want to look at several different polls regarding American support for the war, and I will need to look at the changes over the years, and then compare that to the changes in American knowledge about the war.  I am considering going to see a recruiter, but not to see how he or she recruits me, but to hear his or her answer about why we went to war.  I’m sure this person is trained on what to say to that question, so I could see what they are telling people and see if it matches up with anything else I find.

This topic should matter to all Americans.  One of my questions has to do with many Americans not having an interest in the subject, but I feel that they should.  This should be a topic that Americans are inquiring about, especially with the presidential election coming up.  We will have to choose candidates based on their views about the war, so we need to know as much as possible.  Answering questions like these, at least to the best of our abilities, will affect the outcome of the election, deciding who will become one of the most powerful people on earth. 

Blog Assignment 4

In “War Porn, Violence, and the Public Screen: Revisualizing Abu Ghraib in the Name of Democracy,” the authors main rhetorical purpose is to identify the reasons why war porn was created and its role in our society.  First, the author gives an original idea when describing war porn itself, right after giving popular examples of it.  The next original idea comes after introducing Bresheeth’s question.  In essence, the author attempts to answer that question right off the bat, and then back up the points.  The author describes war porn as a social actor here.  She disagrees with points given by others, saying that dismissing war porn is wrong because it carries a lot of meaning; she also says that it is wrong because it takes the blame off of high level officials.  The author introduces these people and their ideas, and then explains why she disagrees and gives her own ideas.  Other important points the author makes comes immediately before and after, “the point I’m really trying to hammer home…”  First of all, the author gives war porn the role of mediator.  Next, she describes it as “the origin of social activity.”  This is where the author saw a gap, because while she did agree with the others’ points in a way, she added in her ideas, trying to expand on the previous points.  She saw war porn not just as an end product of social action, but as a mediator as well. 

            As far as research, the author uses research right in the beginning to introduce the topic to the audience.  She describes the Abu Ghraib files and the impact they’ve had on our country, along with how widespread they’ve become.  She also gives specific examples of websites that contain this material.  Next, she uses research to introduce her own point.  She mentions a question posed by another person, and uses her response to it as her point.  The author then uses research to introduce different ideas of other people, then argues against those points.  So she was using research for something to argue against in this case.  She also uses research to describe different roles that something like war porn could play in society, then talks about which one war porn fits into.  So she uses it as a catalyst here.  She also puts different sources into conversation with one another.  She does this when she discusses the public screen and democracy, and the differing views about them.  Lastly, the author uses personal research to back up her points.  She talks about how searching the Abu Ghraib scandal on Google brings up a lot of different information.  So she uses research to illustrate the impact the impact that the Abu Ghraib files have had.

            The first appeal made by the author is logical.  She talks about how other people think of war porn’s role in society, and argues against them logically.  She then talks about how the soldiers themselves have mainly taken the blame, and how their superiors have gotten away with everything.  This doubles as both a logical appeal and an ethical one.  As far as other ethical appeals, an example is when the author talks about how the treatment of these people is a reflection on our society.  She uses research to introduce this point, because it was someone else’s.  I also think that the last sentence of the paper, posing the question, “how can we not?” is an ethical appeal.  It makes the reader consider how wrong it is that this kind of behavior is occurring and what they need to do to stop it.  the author makes emotional appeals in the paper as well.  This comes in right at the start when the author describes the horrors that the prisoners faced and the hands of the American army.  It makes the reader feel sorry for those who had to go through the torture, but also makes them feel ashamed of themselves, for being represented by those people responsible for the torture.  In order to reinforce this appeal, the author uses images throughout the essay.  In many cases, pictures can say a lot more than words can.   Actually seeing the pictures of these people being tortured does a lot more than what just saying that they were tortured would do.  The pictures also serve as research to give examples for the reader.  Again, it is easier for the reader to understand if they can actually see the images, rather than having the author describe each image when she wants to use one as an example.  Also, they are used throughout the paper to remind the reader of the feelings that they felt in the beginning of the paper, so they keep them in mind while interpreting the author’s points.

Blog Assignment 3

It helps for a reader or writer to have knowledge of the subject that he or she is dealing with, but it isn’t necessary.  Mainly, a strong reader and writer needs to be able to do more than just repeat or summarize the material.  He or she needs to be able to interpret the material in an original manner and present an argument that is original as well.  It is also better for them to be able to use a structure that isn’t exactly the same as the structure of the source.  Students should also be able to read the material as an argument, rather than just reading it as a list of facts or a story.  They need to be able to evaluate it.  The ability to understand and interpret the context, the author’s purpose, and the effect on the audience are also important skills.

In order to create a strong argument, the rhetorical situation must be completely understood.  The writer must understand and consider the “gaps” in this situation, and interpret what effects the gaps have.  The question of “So what?” must always be answered as well, providing relevance of certain information included in the essay.  Answering this question creates the argument.

As far as opinions and facts, Kantz states that they are both claims, and the writer must understand this.  She also says that the only difference is in how they are received by the reader.  The varying levels of truth allow the audience to interpret the validity of the source with or without proof.

Also, sources need to be integrated with these claims.  These sources will again allow the audience to decipher whether the claim is fact or opinion.  In other words, the source will establish the credibility of the claim that it is backing up.  A claim without a source or some kind of proof to back it up is a weak statement and does not help to create an argument.

            This also plays into the ethos that she wants the writer to create.  Backing up claims with sources will develop the proper ethos for an author.  This is how Said established himself in the documentary in orientalism.

            Said can definitely be considered a role model for proper ethos.  He was established by the narrator to begin with.  So when the viewers are considering his ideas, they aren’t questioning his authority.  Also, Said does an excellent job of analyzing the situation the world was in at the time.  Not only does he analyze it, but he gives his opinion on why things were going the way they were.

            In my sustained research essay, I plan to establish ethos in becoming as educated as possible on the topic at first.  I have never been that interested in the war in Iraq, nor in international relations, so I need to educate myself more on these issues.  Next, I plan to just make sure that I’m establishing the credibility of my sources.  As far as research methods, I am planning on using online sources for most of it, since there is such a variety of sources I have access to from a computer.  I’m not sure about what specific sources that I will be using yet, so my ethos will depend on research yet to come.

            I hope to be able to effectively analyze my sources and the rhetorical situation involved.  I want to recognize the gaps present here as well, and to consider them during my analysis.  As far as what I hope to accomplish, I want establish a clear and credible argument, either about our democracy or our reasons for war in particular.  I do see a few obstacles involved with this.  Again, I have never been interested in the war in Iraq or politics at all, so I need to educate myself on the matter.  Also, it seems that I have a slight problem with organizing many different complicated ideas in a clear, logical manner.  I also need to learn to make my writing more concise.  I think these are going to be the biggest obstacles. 

Blog Assignment 1

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2007/11/are_we_winning_in_iraq.html#comments

 

http://airamerica.com/maddow/blog/2008/jun/19/maddow-we-are-winning-iraq-winning-oil-contracts

 

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/inteldump/2008/04/adding_insult_to_injury.html

 

I think these blogs will be useful because I found a variety of opinions in them.  Also, in a few blogs that I found, there were a lot of posts that were either unrelated, simply insulting to another person, or both.  I didn’t see too much of this kind of material in these, if any at all.  Also, since I want to do my research about what “winning” in Iraq will actually do for us, I think these will be helpful because they cover a variety of topics that can be related to that subject.