Comparison of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and The Iraq War of 2003 Essay

Comparison of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and The Iraq War of 2003 - Essay Example War and reports of war have been a reality of our life, more so in recent times. After 9/11, the threat of war had been looming large, especially with the President George Bush coming out with knee-jerk jingoistic reactions, which was pardonable considering the shock and dismay generated by the incident.Then came the actual war in 2003. The question of the political expediency of the War of 2003 was drowned in a collective American fear of threats to security. George Bush's speeches were also engineered to keep the morale of the people high, in the tradition of past war leaders of the world (Churchill, for instance)In this war rhetoric, the image of the American soldier was glorified. The soldier was a savior and a friend. In the First Gulf War of 1991, George Bush, Sr. had done the same thing. He depicted through his speeches, the perfect image of an American soldier. Our soldiers, he said, are "some of the finest men and women of the United State of America" who "leave their spouse s and their children, to serve on the front line halfway around the world. They remind us who keeps America strong: they do." (Bush). He continues, "in the face of danger, they are brave; they are well-trained, and dedicated" (Bush) He mentions that they are willing to sacrifice their lives and their time to be with their families to fight for peace for the whole world (!)There is deceptiveness, conscious or unconscious, in a speech of this nature. It is implied that peace is brought about through war - a debatable statement. There is also an implication that those who fight are there, by their own free will. "There was an American soldier who said to an Iraqi soldier: 'it's okay, you are all right, you are all right'. . . Let us always be caring and good and generous in all we do" (Bush) The image is sought to be created as if the American soldiers have gone to have a party in Iraq. It needs a vigilant media to talk of an Abu-Ghraib or a Guantanamo Bay. Bush's American soldier is t he perfect gentleman (something like the British image of their 'bobby'- the gentle policeman - who nevertheless shot an innocent Brazilian immigrant on mere suspicion that he was responsible for the London train station bombings!) Bush's speeches are cleverly done, and achieve the purpose they want. In that sense they are masterpieces of their own genre of political writing. However, they seem to fall on the border of fact and fiction. Coming to Swofford's Jarhead- the irony is that this is 'fiction', but it gives a more real picture of war than do Bush's speeches! Swofford talks of the war from a soldier's perspective. There is no attempt to romanticize it. He talks of the dirt and the dust, and the rape, pillage and arson that taint war. He brings home to us that there is never a clean war or a good war. All war is terrible and dehumanizing. Swofford himself fought as a young marine in the Gulf War of the 1990's. He had written his memoirs then, and he uses this to liberally create the atmosphere of his story. He writes of writing to loved ones, " I was in the desert, sending out messages worldwide, claiming for love with my pen, and with each letter I wrote and sealed part of me escaped the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At time I thought I might write myself away" (Swofford, 37). Swofford's book is a powerful book about the truth of war. As a matter of fact, we must remember that throughout history, there have been many who have fought wars and have come back convinced that peace is the only solution for bringing about lasting comfort to all humanity. Swofford tells what we all perhaps instinctively know, that the real reasons for war are "the old white fuckers and others who have billions of dollars to gain or lose in the oil fields, the deep, rich, flowing oil fields of the kingdom of Saud" (Swofford, 11). Solyan's article, What Bodies talks about the attempt by the US government to hide truth from

Social Psychology of the Learning Environment Essay

Social Psychology of the Learning Environment - Essay Example It is evident from the study that when social psychology is being linked with the learning environment, student-teacher relationship is often given high regard. Social psychology as defined by Mashek and Hammer is the study of how individuals are influenced by other people and the situations they find themselves into. Conversely, according to Fiske et al., the science of social psychology is predicated on the simple fact that human thought, emotion and behaviour are immensely affected by the real, implied and imagined presence of people. Moreover, there are times that individuals’ thoughts, feelings and actions are influenced when they simply think about other persons, speculate about their objectives, visualize their reactions, or even fantasize about them, and a great deal of attention has been paid to how people respond when they think about other individuals. However, social psychology is concerned mainly with how individuals are influenced and affected by those people who m they relate with as stressed by Fiske et al. Social psychology is said to concentrate at three varied levels of analysis. According to Mashek and Hammer, the three stages of analysis are individual processes, interpersonal processes and group processes. Individual processes are employed when regarding phenomena such as impression formation, attitudes and persuasion. Subsequently, interpersonal processes form the groundwork for romantic relationships, friendships and helping behaviours (Mashek & Hammer, 2011). Lastly, group processes are taken into consideration when studying conformity, group decision making and jury behaviour (Mashek & Hammer, 2011). The aforementioned levels of analysis provide the foundation of social psychology as well as the diverse kinds of influence that social methods can take (Mashek & Hammer, 2011). In the classroom setting, the previously cited levels of analysis can be utilized to understand erudition and instruction. For instance, interpersonal proces sed are apparent in the teacher-pupil relationship which may have an impact on learning. Furthermore, the learning environment also employs the use of group processes which aids in facilitating learning. Learning Learning mechanisms provide means through which information about chronic developmental environments are acquired (Fiske et al., 2010). Moreover, it provides strategies through which organisms obtain information about temporary contexts, hence giving them the means to resourcefully modify behavioural responses (Fiske et al., 2010). Affiliation Affiliation as defined by Fiske et al. (2010) is the act of associating or interacting with one or a variety of individuals. The concept of affiliation bears no indication of the quality, affective tone, or length of the social encounter or the nature of the relationship between the people (Fiske et al., 2010). As Fiske et al. (2010) describes it, when people want to affiliate, they only wish to be in the company of and to relate with others. Hence, many theorists supposed that relating with and being in the company of other persons is an essential social behaviour (Fiske et al., 2010). Having an affiliation is crucial in learning because such relationships may greatly contribute to the learning process of a specific individual for the reason that their experience of interacting with other individuals may teach them a variety of new things and to help them explore a wide array of concepts that may be unique to them. Tutor-learner Relationship The tutor-learner relationship can be effective if it imbibes a positive and caring development of the space or time, interpersonal and