The first video is a presentation of the events that lead to the war and the occurrences during the period of war. From the video, Iran and Iraq have an agreement to maintain peace. According to Iraq, Iran broke the deal by getting involved with the Zionists and the Americans. These events led to the declaration of war on Iraq on September 17th, 1980, by Saddam Hussein (Guardia, 2021). Both nations reiterated by force leading to a full military invasion. The simple happenings of that war marked the start of a fatal eight-year-long conflict. Though Iran could conquer a section of Iraq, they faced various challenges, such as logistics issues leading to their small failure and loss of the already captured cities.
The defeat sustained at Khorramshahr was the primary discouragement that made the Iraq leader, Saddam, withdraw his soldiers from Iran to the borders. This was mainly due to the troops’ financial constrictions and lack of morale. Saddam made an offer for peace rejected by the Iran leader, leading to further fights and massive loss of lives. In 1983, the Ira-Soviet arms treaty was signed in Moscow (Guardia, 2021). These signings made Iran to better equipped though Iran was advantaged following their large number of troops. The empowerment led to another phase of the war with more focus on the northern region of Iraq. The fighting intensified in 1984 following the introduction of missile attacks by Saddam on the Major cities of Iran.
The war advanced to the tankers, with Iraq attacking Iranian oil tankers. Iran responded similarly by destroying Iraq tankers. The tanker war was specifically Saddam’s tactic of making the Western countries feel the effect of the war and force them to intervene. Following these effects, the United States of America threatened to attack Iran if those attacks did not stop. Such an intervention from the USA made Iran soften. Saddam finally resolved to use chemical attacks on civilians and soldiers of Iran. This move led to massive deaths and environmental effects. The war ended in 1988 with about one and a half million deaths.
The second video tells of the role of the media in selling the war. In 2003 the Iraq invasion was aired through all media, including TV, radio and the Internet. The sharing of the war events through TV was to bring in the American people. However, it can be argued that the media was just but one of the war weapons. Some thought the enemy could be compelled to surrender if they viewed the full force waged against them on TV (Journeyman Pictures, 2014). The American government recruited reporters who could cover live pictures of the wear process. At times of war, the government seeks to wage an effective attack with the full support of its citizens. To achieve this goal, it has to marshal a persuasive force to attain the goal. In the Iraq war, the media was used to sell the war by enhancing the individual patriotic fervor to make people support the troops and the course of the war irrespective of its rights and wrongs.
America, for instance, amassed great support from its people. The media was explicitly used to show their soldier’s successes. The American government shared a positive cause of their war strives through the TVs, radios and the internet. They also portrayed the enemy as a monster who deserved to be destroyed for the better good making the fight against her just and necessary. The country’s leadership could boost the civilian’s morale and support through the media by sharing their military capabilities and strength. Such doings entrapped the citizens into the experiences of the war (Journeyman Pictures, 2014). The press could generally be termed as a tool of war that specifically was meant to show the enemy how might the US military was and the reason why they should surrender.
During the Iran-Iraq war, the United States of America had no natural partners. However, it was evident that in their interests, the country was unwilling to allow either Saddam nor Khomeini to govern the region and dominate the global energy supply. At the beginning of the war, Iran held some American diplomats hostage and tortured them for over 444 days (Chitsazian & Taghavi, 2019). Iran seemed to be on the verge of victory for the better part of the war. The tanker war approach attracted the attention of the USA in an effort to control energy. The USA, therefore, had no option but to public support Iraq. At some point, it threatened to attack the nation. Their differences in views lay in the fact that America seemed to believe that, unlike Khomeini, the Iraq leader was redeemable. The United States of America tilted support to Iraq, hoping that Iran could not gain control of the oil reserves.
The relations between Iran and USA deteriorated completely to date, with Pakistan being the sole protector of Iran in the USA. Switzerland, on the other hand, serves to protect the interests of the USA in Iran. Iran and the United States of America have had no diplomatic relationships since 1980 (Chitsazian & Taghavi, 2019). Efforts to re-establish a stable relationship have failed, with both counties condemning each other for various reasons. The United States of America attributes its poor state to the Iran hostage crisis during the war and the continued abuse of human rights. On the other hand, Iran blames the United States for taking sides with Iraq and supporting its course during the war. According to Iran, it was unfair for them to be held responsible for a war that Iraq started. The Iranian people also blame the United States and the United Nations for not condemning the abuse of human rights and the destruction of innocent lives caused by the Iraq chemical attacks.
The third video describes the stereotype held against the Arab people. The video can be termed a cry of the Arabic nationalists. According to them, the world has not been fair to them as it has failed to unlearn its prejudices against them as it has done with others, such as the blacks and the Jews (Challengingmedia, 2007). As per the video, it is evident that Arabs are the blindest and most stubborn people. Their desire for war, blood and death is uncontrollable. The Hollywood images, for instance, portray all the held theories of the Arabs. According to them, the Arabic people are wealthy enough but stupid and cannot determine the value of money. Their desire for women is outrageous, and, in some instances, they can kill without a legitimate cause.
Generally, it can be concluded that the videos describe the chaotic nature of Arabic nations such as Iran and Iraq. These nations are portrayed as aggressive and irrational. Their cause of war cannot be determined, and, in most cases, they fight with no real purpose. The Iran-Iraq war, for instance, lasted for eight years. At the end of the war, neither of the nations achieved any set goal. The only result of the war was the massive destruction of infrastructure and the loss of more them one and a half million deaths.
References
Challengingmedia. (2007). Reel bad Arabs: How Hollywood vilifies a people [Video]. YouTube.
Chitsazian, M. R., & Taghavi, S. M. A. (2019). An Iranian Perspective on Iran–US Relations: Idealists Versus Materialists. Strategic Analysis, 43(1), 28-41.
Guardia, M. (2021). The Iran-Iraq war in HD [Video]. YouTube.
Journeyman Pictures. (2014). The propaganda war waged over the Iraq invasion (2003) [Video]. YouTube.