"No more late news," promises the Minister of Defense Ignazio La Russa during a press conference convened to return from his visit to Afghanistan . For days we have not known how he died the Alpine Matteo Miotto. Only after waiting too long we have learned that our military had fallen during a fight.
It reopens the debate on the transparency of our military intervention in the ISAF mission. It will seem to many a paradox, but it is a center-right government and not the "democratic" left to promote it. When he was Prodi government, we knew little or nothing about Afghanistan. Only a few independent journalist, as Fausto Biloslavo (for Panorama), Henry Piovesana (for PeaceReporter ) and Gianandrea Gaiani (for Defence Analysis ) in 2007 and 2008 about the events on the field, documenting the battles fought by our contingent. For the rest: silence. As if in Afghanistan there was a war. On the misinterpretation of Article 11 of the Constitution, which the left requires an absolute non-violence. While, if read correctly, prevents us from conducting offensive war, or resolve with weapons "international disputes" but does not prevent us not to defend the government in Kabul as part of an international mission approved by the UN. Italy rejects the idea that all wars draws a veil of hypocrisy that is at odds with our missions abroad. If we fight for self-defense, it should not be mean. If an Italian soldier died doing his duty, he must disguise his death as an accident. Not honoring the dead, nor the soldiers who continue to fight.
In another mission initiated by the will of the government of the left, the Unifil2 in Lebanon, we know even less. Fortunately not fought in Lebanon since 2006, but the situation remains tense and at least two occasions (in 2007 and 2008) has threatened to erupt again. Our troops and those of other European contingents were involved in an accident several times with the population, with Hezbollah and the Lebanese army. But we know something of these events almost always late, and only thanks to the Israeli press. For example, we learned only indirectly to the recent outbreak of an arms depot in southern Lebanon, leading to clashes between UN peacekeepers and the population Local. As we read in the newspapers of the Israeli Italian UNIFIL patrol disarmed Hezbollah, moments of tension with the Party of God militia
We know very little, although there are fewer suggestions for interesting news, but two other fronts where We are heavily involved: Kosovo and Bosnia. Only a few are interested in the development (and ethnic tensions remained, in some cases increased, as in Kosovo) in two regions of the Balkans where they fought hard until 10 years ago.
short, in Italy we have not yet developed a culture of information war. Reporters at the front there, lacking the "embedded" with all the loro esperienza di reporter che seguono l'esercito, giorno dopo giorno. Manca un interesse, negli editori, prima ancora che nell'opinione pubblica, a documentare sistematicamente le azioni dei nostri soldati. Salvo, poi, non lesinare la retorica quando qualcuno di loro muore facendo il suo dovere. L'invito a cambiar registro non dovrebbe venire da un ministro. Ma dalla stampa, dai media, dalle stesse forze armate. Però, in mancanza di altri stimoli, ben venga un ministro della Difesa che invita ad essere più trasparenti.
0 comments:
Post a Comment