Words Of War

From Rhizome Artbase
2007
Description

Words of War is a website that I created that is designed to show that the leadership of both sides of the war on terror use the same techniques to convine their people that they are right and that the others are wrong. It does this by translating the rhetoric from one regime to the rhetoric of the other. The user is able to enter any text in the rhetoric of one side of the arguement and the page will translate it to the rhetoric of the other.
The page is coded in visual basic.

Ronnie Shahmoon
30 March 2007

Ever since September 11 2001, America has been gripped by the fear of terrorism. In parts of the Middle East, America is seen as an agressor seeking only self gain in exploiting the region. As a result there are many people on both sides who are angry with their opposition. They cannot rest until they defeat the enemy. This senario is neither new nor unique, the only thing that changes is the villain.
Politicians thrive on pointing fingers and having someone to blame is very useful. Words Of War demonstrates how both sides of this particular conflict use this to great effect, laying blame squarely on the opposition. The site translates the rhetoric used by President George W Bush to that of Osama Bin Laden and vice versa. The results are clear. Even though the terminology is different, they are both simply projecting blame at each other.
Looking for someone to blame is not going to fix the problem, it will only perpeuate it. Seeking a peacful compromise can also be frustrating. Neither seem to work. This is because the unrest always remains. The bitter aftertaste of not feeling contented soes not go away. It would be much more productive for people to take ownership of their own discontentment and work on dealing with that before pointing yet another finger.

Ronnie Shahmoon
30 March 2007
Metadata
Variant History
outside link
2007
Ronnie Shahmoon