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Would public opinion have been different for the War in Iraq had Iraqi civilians had access to smartphones? (hexbear.net)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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There’s no doubt a key driver behind opposition to the Gaza massacre, especially among normie types, has been the footage from smartphones showing the mass destruction and casualties.

Hypothetically, if the War in Iraq occurred with 2023 smartphone technology, how would this have impacted public opinion?

Would Bush have been re-elected in 2004?

Also, for historians of the war, is there a particular atrocity during the war that has been documented by activists or watchdogs but has limited photographic evidence, that had it been recorded by smartphone, could have single-handedly turned the tide of public opinion?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

If smart phones of today AND social media platforms of today existed, maybe public opinion might have turned a bit sooner than it did.

But once you've got the blood machine going, it really doesn't matter what anybody's opinion is. Momentum will take it pretty far.

Smart phone documentation of the photo op "Special Forces Raid Hospital to Rescue Captured Soldier Jessica Lynch" would have blown that bullshit up way sooner.

Shit, it would have been hilarious if I had been recording the Sergent and Lieutenant fumble around trying to unjam a Mk-19 automatic grenade launcher in the dark after me telling them it was stupid fucking idea to try to "hammer it out from the front of the barrel with a cleaning rod". The video is just me jogging farther and farther away from them towards a firefight with the camera pointed back at them waiting for the flash and bang.

The mercs running rampant might have been something that could have actually got some traction though. Wouldn't have stopped the US occupation but it might have made it harder for the mercs to operate. It took years before there was enough international support/produced evidence of what the private contractors were doing.

Bush would have been re-elected, I'm 99% sure. If somebody else got elected, they would have kept the occupation going one way or another.

Also, for historians of the war, is there a particular atrocity during the war that has been documented by activists or watchdogs but has limited photographic evidence, that had it been recorded by smartphone, could have single-handedly turned the tide of public opinion?

I mean, there was the Abu Ghraib prison that the soldiers doing the war crimes were documenting and sharing among themselves that didn't do much to 1)keep the psychos excited and 2) the anti war folks repulsed. Didn't stop anything though.