In anticipation of an Iraqi and Kurdish military operation to reoccupy Mosul (which is currently controlled by ISIS), two news outlets began\u00a0streaming the confrontation live on Facebook for anyone to view. Starting early Monday morning, U.K.-based Channel 4 News and Al-Jazeera\u00a0live streamed\u00a0the battle as captured by Kurdish media organization, Rudaw. U.S.\u00a0forces are on the ground and plan to back Iraq\u2019s push to reclaim the city with air strikes, Mashable reports, although the U.N. has repeatedly warned military leaders of the deadly consequences an operation of this magnitude could have on civilians.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This is a first for digital war coverage and many are questioning whether it\u2019s a good idea or an alarming indicator of our cultural desensitization to violence. Outpacing the bizarre sensation of watching a war unfold in real time is the ability to like, comment on the event, or react with an emoticon just as with\u00a0any other benign Facebook post.\u00a0Some users have voiced their concern for the spectacle of live streaming war on social media while many others have expressed being deeply unsettled by it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, there is ample evidence to suggest watching acts of war can be detrimental to the mental health of civilians. Since the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, American culture has been imbued with wartime fear, thanks to startling headlines and the Bush administration\u2019s heavily used battle metaphors (i.e., the \u201cwar on terror\u201d and \u201cglobal war on terrorism.\u201d)\u00a0As\u00a0Scientific American<\/em> points out, terms like these simplify complex problems and instill a sense of fear that can be paralyzing and even damaging.\u00a0It\u2019s hard to imagine how watching a war broadcasted live can instill the kind of empathy and depth of understanding required to eliminate prejudice-fueled terrorism.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even while far from the front lines, experiencing war can have long-term effects for those exposed.\u00a0A study written by coauthors R. Srinivasa Murthy and Rashmi Lakshminarayana and published in the journal World Psychiatry<\/em> stressed the importance of prioritizing mental health care in times of war, stating, \u201cThere is no doubt that the populations in war and conflict situations should receive mental health care as part of the total relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction processes.\u201d According to the study, women are more vulnerable to wartime\u2019s psychological consequences than men; however, across the board an increased exposure to trauma directly correlates with an increased level of psychiatric problems.<\/p>\n As we wade deeper into an era of conflict, it\u2019ll be up to us to decide how we\u2019ll strike a balance between staying informed, staying sane, and avoiding the exploitation of our world\u2019s most vulnerable populations.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In anticipation of an Iraqi and Kurdish military operation to reoccupy Mosul (which is currently controlled by ISIS), two news outlets began\u00a0streaming the confrontation live on Facebook for anyone to view. Starting early Monday morning, U.K.-based Channel 4 News and Al-Jazeera\u00a0live streamed\u00a0the battle as captured by Kurdish media organization, Rudaw. U.S.\u00a0forces are on the ground…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}