Not So Far From '84

Although at first I thought the comparison between Saddam and Big Brother from Eric Blair’s (George Orwell) 1984 was unoriginal. Then I realized why it had been made: when Tony, the other foreign reporters, and the Iraqi officials are going to the battlefield to see the “bodies,” the airport’s attempt at normality is described. “To bolster morale, the Iraqis also tried to carry on as though the war hadn’t disrupted everyday life…Every passenger on board was a reporter or Iraqi official. No commercial planes had flown to Basra for years.” (pg. 120) None of this is strange, least of all in a country where the regime in power is very strict. By creating the situation on the flight that without a doubt had no commercial intent, reminded me of 1984. Another large similarity was the extreme press censorship. Of course every country has it-the U.S. supposedly leaves out the most graphic stories, images, etc.-but Iraq got away with ridiculous amounts of it. “…In eight years of war, no Iraqi defeats and no Iraqi casualties were ever reported.” (pg. 106) C.S.