Your BAG/World Press Wednesday: PKK

World Press '08 - People in the News: 1st prize stories

Philippe Dudouit, Switzerland, for Time magazine.

PKK fighters, Northern Iraq

The rest of the series

http://www.phild.ch/

Comments

[black dog barking]

Some natural tears they dropt, but wip'd then soon;
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
They hand in hand, with wand'ring steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way.

Eve's got a gun.

[Chris Stowens]

Quite a remarkable photo in many respects. The clarity and length of her hair, which shields and camouflages her gun, are exceptional. Also, compositionally it is right on the money. Color, clarity, composition - all perfect.

[jtfromBC]

I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

[black dog barking]

jt, nice choice. I'm completely unread in Keats so this is a pleasant introduction. The passing of a couple of centuries haven't dimmed the poet's eye. Down the page a few stanzas there's a passage that could have been on CNN last night or last week (assuming CNN had the slightest interest in either informing or delighting us)—

I saw pale kings, and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
Who cry'd--"La belle Dame sans merci
Hath thee in thrall!"

I saw their starv'd lips in the gloam
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke, and found me here
On the cold hill side.

And this is why I sojourn here
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing.

I, for one, could do with fewer pale kings, more birds singing.

[jtfromBC]

bdb, happy to share - La Belle Dame sans Merci, when combining our respective verses I see that -

'War is like love; it always finds a way'. - Brecht

[MonsieurGonzo]

ref : “Color, clarity, composition - all perfect”

meaning. . . what ?

in reality the PKK are ruthless, not romantic. Are we here swayed by the warrior's gender = beauty apparent? or her classical contrapposto poise? ...such that the image engenders our empathy; or, some at ease promise of passivity ?

Perhaps we fail to see “the warrior” because she does not confront us. Foolish we would be,

demeaning it is to believe: her concealed carry as being any less potent than that by any he!

imho, this image propagates “the myth of the noble savage” : The idea of the "noble savage" may have served, in part, as an attempt to re-establish the value of indigenous lifestyles and illegitimatize imperial excesses - establishing exotic humans as ‘morally superior’ in order to counter-balance the perceived political and economic inferiorities.

[jtfromBC]

Guerrilla Girls of the PKK - Turkey
(24:27 January 2005)

Following a spate of recent attacks, Turkey is desperate to eliminate the PKK. But as this exclusive report reveals, uprooting them from their heavily armed base in Northern Iraq will be difficult.
The PKK have effectively set up their own mini-state in the mountains, complete with dental surgeries and medical clinics and powered by hydroelectricity. This retreat is guarded by an army of 10,000, making it difficult for the Turks to approach. But with American support, Turkey hopes it will finally crush the rebel movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRsw5s28jxY