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[escepticos] La Guerra del Web (Irak-EE.UU.)
Hola:
Si pensaban que la guerra del WWW era por el estándar Java, o por la
cuota de mercado de los navegadores de MS o NS, están equivocados.
En ABCNEWS.com apareció ayer un artículo titulado "¿La primera guerra en
el Web?", hablando obviamente del conflicto latente de Irak. El primer
párrafo es bien significativo: «The Vietnam War was the first televised
military conflict. The savagery of the 1960s-era war was beamed into the
homes of average Americans and caused a popular backlash that's still felt
today». A lo que le sigue: «Twenty years later, CNN made a name for itself
by providing 24-hour television coverage of the 1991 Gulf War».
Parece ser que la preocupación de los medios de comunicación
estadounidense (no dudo que en otros paises también) es que las
conversaciones de la ONU, la presión de Rusia o la actitud de Saddam
Hussein cambie el plan que Bill Clinton tiene. "La mejor noticia es una
mala noticia", repiten en sus películas los estadounidenses. Y esta vez, la
batalla va a poder disfrutarse tranquilamente desde Internet, un nuevo
medio de comunicación de masas en el que, además, todo el mundo puede dar
su opinión sobre qué piloto tuvo mayor puntería o si es mejor un ataque con
F-18 o un bombardeo con los B-2. Y para terminar de rematar, el artículo de
ABCNEWS.com asegura que los del Pentágono saben muy bien que habrá mucha
desinformación.
Hablando del Pentágono, éstos muchachotes ya tienen preparadas sus reglas
para informar a la opinión pública: «Pentagon officials say reporters will
be free to report what they have access to, but the Pentagon controls the
access. For example, reporters can't transmit reports about an air strike
until the planes have returned».
Por si aún les quedaba un resquicio de duda sobre la prepotencia
amerikana: «If I were an Iraqi intelligence officer and I was reading on
the Web about all this stuff lined up against me, I'd go in waving a white
flag».
Como si de las campanadas de fin de año, o de la Superbowl, imagínense la
de contratos publicitarios millonarios que se deben de estar manejando en
la CNN TV y sobre todo en la CNN.com y otros webs informativos (donde es
posible ver varios anuncios a la vez y con un applet Java cambiarlo cada 5
minutos como si de una valla publicitaria se tratase).
Después de esta subjetiva selección, aquí tienen el artículo completo (lo
siento, olvidé anotar la URL exacta).
PD: Por cierto, vayan bajándose el MS-NetShow, ya que la empresa que
desarrollaba el VXtreme Theatre (plug-in de video utilizado por la CNN) fue
comprada por Microsoft a mediados del pasado año.
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Iraqi Crisis As Seen From The Internet
First War on the Web?
By Michael J. Martinez
ABCNEWS.com
Feb. 18 ? The Vietnam War was the first televised military conflict. The
savagery of the 1960s-era war was beamed into the homes of average
Americans and caused a popular backlash that's still felt today.
Twenty years later, CNN made a name for itself by providing 24-hour
television coverage of the 1991 Gulf War.
If there's a military incursion into Iraq in the coming weeks, the world
will witness its first war on the Web, and the Net is already buzzing.
Dozens of Web sites are offering up everything from Iraqi recipes to
detailed speculation about the military action dubbed Operation Desert
Thunder.
?There's a lot of information out there,? says Barry Fulton of the Center
for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. ?Like always,
though, it will be up to the people to decide what is genuine and what is
spurious.?
Debates Waged Online
If you're an information junkie, details on Iraqi culture, Saddam Hussein
and the U.S. forces allied against them are just a search engine away. If
you prefer commentary, there's plenty of that too.
Conservative groups such as the Heritage Foundation have taken to the Web
to call for strikes on Iraq, the destruction of Saddam's weapons of mass
destruction and the overthrow of Saddam himself. Iraqi opposition groups,
such as the Iraq Foundation, wouldn't mind seeing Saddam overthrown either.
Of the nonpartisans sounding off from bulletin boards and chat rooms, many
want an end to U.N. sanctions and a ban on military action, arguing that
the Iraqi people have suffered enough.
The Iraqi government does not appear to have an official Web mouthpiece
(a site for the ruling Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party listed on a search
engine was not in service), but the U.S government has invaded the Web. The
military operates more than a dozen sites featuring information on regional
strategy, and detailed descriptions of troop strength and weapons
capabilities.
?If I were an Iraqi intelligence officer and I was reading on the Web
about all this stuff lined up against me,? Fulton says, ?I'd go in waving a
white flag.?
A Window On Military Life
Both the U.S.S. Independence and the U.S.S. George Washington aircraft
carriers have home pages, which offer the world a glimpse of normal
military life?or as normal as it gets while patrolling the Persian Gulf.
Indy sailor Joe Rehana posts a daily ?notepad? complete with photos and
notes on the day's events. The entries are designed to give the sailors'
families a taste of Navy life, and a bit of reassurance that all is well.
?It's about people,? Rehana says in an e-mail from the ship. ?It's also
about our ship, but I want to be able to highlight what we go through on a
day-to-day routine, the mundane activities to the morale-boosting events.?
Rehana says he is swamped with e-mail requests from families hoping for a
picture of their loved ones on board.
The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Army garrison in Kuwait also
have home pages. But although most Naval pages allow e-mail to get through
to sailors on station in the Gulf, the Army and Marine sites do not.
Security Still An Issue
But when it comes to press reports on Operation Desert Thunder, don't
expect a wave of exclusives from the Internet media. Though there will be a
ton of information and live reports from briefings on news Web sites, a
military action is not like the story about President Clinton's alleged
affair with Monica Lewinsky. Leaks are very rare.
According to Navy spokesman Lt. Steve Movika, soldiers have been briefed
about their use of e-mail to ensure that no military plans get sent out
over the Internet. Tight security measures will likely prevent online media
services from enjoying the same ?scoops? they had in the Lewinsky affair.
A Carefully Planned Trickle of News
Pentagon officials say reporters will be free to report what they have
access to, but the Pentagon controls the access. For example, reporters
can't transmit reports about an air strike until the planes have returned.
With lives at stake, national security officials will be careful to
control the flow of information over the Web.
"There's always the concern that misinformation might get out there,"
says P.J. Crowley, an official with the president's National Security
Council. "And once it's out on the Internet, it takes on a life of its own."
·············
Pos eso.
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Víctor R. Ruiz rvr en idecnet.com
Agrupación Astronómica de Gran Canaria
Sociedad de Meteoros y Cometas de España
info.astro http://www.astrored.org/infoastro
http://ccdis.dis.ulpgc.es:8086/AAGC/aagc.html
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