media war / images

the title of today's wall street journal op-ed reads:
"Media War Images Drain the Wells Of Moral Outrage"

but after reading through this piece, i wonder if a more apt title might be "media war... the wells of moral outrage."

why? henninger disputes the now-familiar claim of an al-jazeera affiliate that mainstream media tones down its images of war for an american public (which public?). but, he says, it doesn't matter. the graphics of war are no longer enough to horrify a public into a sense of moral indignation. rather, the public will "eventually become inured to the images."

there's a number of positions that henninger is staking out here-- this is israel's war, not that of the wsj reader. by permitting israel the sole right to act on the grounds of moral justification, henninger is giving iad/idf a carte blanc to continue their operations (i'm trying to maintain civil language in this post). excuse me, but the states is the supplier of this war. our hands are filthy (and our pockets now filthy rich).

but what i really hate about this article is henninger's case for the superiority of american media over arab media. yes, this is another contribution to the "clash of civilizations." how exactly? arab media argues that a good chunk of this war is being fought on the media, as much as on the ground. in some cases, nasrallah has been lauded for putting his money where his mouth is, such as that first friday (omg, that was three weeks ago!) when he foreshadowed "surprise" and then hit an israeli ship sitting not far from beirut's main port. furthermore, the war is a complete loss for israel and for the states in terms of the public perception front. what i think that henninger is saying is that the us public should not get caught up in a media war that is based on images because we are too good for that. and those who are caught up in it (such as those who track al-jazeera's videos and other footage) have not made "progress."

so, henninger, what rhetorical headway do you really want out of this pursuit of hegelian "progress"? for me, progress is dismantled by the events of the day. foucault might agree, of course. but i'm thinking in reality-- progress is dismantled by today's bombing of beirut's main highway in jounieh. folks, this is like bombing the dan ryan between o'hare and downtown chicago. this is like bombing the bqe by the atlantic ave. exit. this is central beirut.


and quickly,
my other issue with this piece is that henninger ignores the blogosphere. he claims that his questions addresses how government and its public manage war "in an E-bay world" but the salient question for me is how civilians propagate propaganda without federal intervention. consider, for instance, the infuriating israeltolebanon shots that were photoshopped in the first week of the war. these shots of girls writing on israeli missiles quickly left the control of the AP photographer and were hastily forwarded on those who position themselves as victims or sympathize with the victimized.