With a sandstorm blowing behind him, Defense Secretary Robert Gates greets a reporter on his way to a television interview at Camp Victory in Baghdad. This image (from Time.com) was particularly interesting to me moreso than the other "Images of the Week" because of the irony of the picture. The Defense Secretary, there to restore order and calm, is speaking with a reporter while a wild sand storm is raging behind him. In a way the sand storm could be an odd metaphor for the general turmoil in Iraq. The two seem to be unaffected by the sand storm which is strange because it seems as though they are right in the middle of it. Perhaps the same could be said about the fighting in Iraq in general with these two men.
1 comment:
I agree with you on this picture. It's interesting to see the irony in this picture that you pointed out. As these two men calmly and even cordially meet, their smiling faces make them seem ignorant of the turmoil going on around them. It's also interesting to think about how the background being so distorted but the foreground so clear. The diplomats in Iraq give us a 'clear' picture of the conflict, while the truth is really harder to discern. In much the same way, we get secondhand knowledge of the Iraq conflict, but the truth may not be so black and white.
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