It has only recently begun to disturb me that I have a type of complacency and aloofness about the war that we are currently in. And it has only really come to my attention because one of my best friends wants to join the Army National Guard. How is it that we are in a war and it is something I never really have to think about? This relates to the issue of media control and government control of the media and the power of the image. Photographs can certainly lie, but the lack of photographs and images can also create the same effect of a lie in our minds. The lack of imagery coming out of Iraq is certainly a contributing factor to the pall of complacency that abounds with regard to the Iraq War. It is truly tragic that we don’t realize the full scope of just how much sway the media’s selection of stories and images has on out perception of the world. It is up to each of us individually to decide what is and is not important, but unfortunately it is not up to us which information is implanted in our consciousness for pondering in the first place.