FRANCE | Fear of the consequences Controversy over a picture of a French soldier with a skull in Mali

In each battlefield there is always a provocative image that generates debate while becomes icon , a symbol of the devastation anddehumanization that breeds war . The violent context creates new layers in photographs where reading, perhaps in the shot, there was no intention to generate controversy. From the graphic evidence published since the beginning of the war in Mali is one that is subtle, possibly innocent and maybe also inconvenient , but that has not gone unnoticed, at least for Paris. In the picture one of the French soldiers present in the African country poses illuminated by the rays of a sun that opens between tanks of gunpowder and smoldering trees. The sitter seems to defy the target covered by a mask of a skull viodeojuego inspired by the 'Call of Duty' . The photo was taken inNiono, in central Mali , and flows through social networks and has upset the military hierarchy, believing that, intentional or not, the gesture associated death to the French mission in the country and not identifies intervention targets. " This behavior is unacceptable. This image is representative of the action that led to France to Mali at the request of the African state and the action of the soldiers whose lives are in danger, "said ColonelThierry Burkhard , spokesman for the Army Gallo, according to the country's media collected.

"The soldier was posing"

In the video game 'Call of Duty' a character named Ghost and is a member of the American special forces of the same type of mask . The gesture of the imitator was taken by AFP photographer Issouf Sanogoand other professional French newspaper Le Parisien. According Sanogo account on his blog, when the picture was "a helicopter was about to land and was raising a lot of dust" .Therefore, "all soldiers instinctively it was close and stopped with their handkerchiefs to protect from dust. Upon the scene and found no shocking nor particularly remarkable. The soldier stood, there was no staging , "he defends. Acquitted by the author of the snapshot, some believe that the gesture may harm the image of France and his war "to liberate Mali" terrorist yoke. "The mask is a talisman to defy death. The military has played a symbol inscribed in the collective unconscious which means I am the exterminator, I have no fear of anything," he told Le Monde François Bernard Huyghe , director Research at the institute Iris.

Counterpropaganda

According to this expert Gallic photography creates a communication problem military and political, because, he says, "could be exploited by jihadist propaganda, you see it as a kind of crusade in the service of death" ."Beyond references to video game hits the viewer photo by evidence of the message (...) The liberator soldier reminds us that, in this war against terrorism, where there are few images and only official statements, clashes have murderers place every day, "says the newspaper 'Libération'. The Army analyzes the image to identify the sitter . Last November some members of the elite unit of the U.S. Navy SEAL, which killed bin Laden in 2011 were sanctioned for revealing secrets about the operation to prepare delivery of another game, Medal of Honor .

Prince Harry of England, criticized for his statements on his mission in Afghanistan

The Prince Harry son of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, was criticized after revealing that during his second stay in Afghanistan as a combat pilot, the Taliban shot and killed possibly suggest some. The statements of the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, published after the announcement that its four-month mission in Afghanistan was over, were described as "arrogant" for peace while the press associations praised his bravery in combat. In addition, a spokesman for the Taliban crossed the prince of "coward" and "did not understand" the conflict in Afghanistan by comparing its mission to "play the Xbox or the Playstation" , as published by the Daily Mail. coalition coordinator "Stop The War" (Stop the War), Lindsey German said Tuesday that the comments of Prince Harry, 28, are "stupid" and "arrogant" and wondered "how do you know if those killed were actually Taliban". "In recent months, many civilianshave been killed in air strikes, "said German, who said the prince's words show an" arrogant and insensitive to the deaths of Afghans,whoever they are." For his part, the secretary general of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Kate Hudson, criticized that, after more than a decade of war, is "unacceptable" that the media only give relevance to a conflict "bloody" and "long" is involved when a member of the British Royal Family. Most of the British press on Tuesday praised the courage of the prince on their covers and highlighted some statements that have been interpreted as an acknowledgment that Enrique has killed Taliban insurgents. "Yes, many people have done.'s Squad has been out there. Everyone has skyrocketed. Yes there are people trying to do something bad to our children, then we let them play outside , "said the prince after being asked by his role in the fighting. defense spokesman of the Labour Party, Jim Murphy, questioned Tuesday in any case the language used by the son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. "was naive, perhaps it was more sincere than the Palace (Buckingham, Elizabeth II's official residence) would have liked, "said Murphy. Harry, third in line to the throne, was sent last September to Camp Bastion, the main British base in Afghan territory , located in the southern province of Helmand. In 2008 Prince Harry spent ten weeks as second lieutenant in Afghanistan, but had to return after leaked ahead in the UK the news of his presence there.

Google removes racist stereotypes

"Make me asian" and "Make me indian" caused a furor a few weeks ago, when organizations defending civil rights and ethnic Chinese citizens began a movement on the Internet to ask Google who removed applications. even had options for transform a face with black features ( "Blackmaker" ) or left Auschwitz ( "Auschwitzmaker" ), which abounds in Jewish characteristics. While the search said in principle that it was not an own product if an application was offered in their store, received a barrage of criticism through emails and comments on social networking lapidary. "If Google's motto is do not be evil, why keep these contents?" , asked one of the protest leaders, Peter Chin. According to specialized sites, applications came from a designer identified as Kimbery Deiss , whose website and has no trace of these projects and which page within the Google store also has disappeared.