If World War II was experienced through radio and Vietnam via television, the current crisis in Afghanistan is the first conflict to be followed online. What’s interesting about the Web is the amount of information available at your fingertips to help you break out of the box and consider things from different perspectives. Various papers from around the globe can help you develop a more well-rounded understanding of what’s going in the world.
Version Anglaise
With the UK playing a major role in the action, you might want to see how things are perceived from the British point of view. England’s two major newspapers have websites — www.thetimes.co.uk for The Times and www.guardian.co.uk for The Guardian — as does the BBC located at news.bbc.co.uk. For a Canadian angle surf to the CBC network’s site at www.cbc.ca. All of the local newspapers and television stations in France have online versions, though — for news published out of Paris — non-francophones will head for the International Herald Tribune at www.iht.com.
News from the Front
Reading accounts of daily life in the Middle East during the crisis can be quite an interesting experience. Afghanistan Online is a private website operated from within the US featuring Afghan news items and official statements from around the world. Log on at www.afghan-web.com and you’ll first be confronted with “We do not support terrorism — we condemn it in all its forms.” Then click on a host of selections including news, culture, “Afghan women,” Kabul museum and more. And while you’re at it, check out the Beirut Daily Star at www.dailystar.com.lb, India’s English language paper: www.timesofindia.com and an English paper based in Karachi Pakistan: www.dawn.com, while www.Ahram.org.eg/weekly features links to 20 US newspapers (including www.usatoday.com, Chicago’s www.suntimes.com, Los Angeles’ www.latimes.com and New York City’s tabloid: www.nydailynews.com). If you are fluent in Arabic, there are a score of Arab press sites to choose from along with radio and TV and a world atlas.
Bioterrorism
Following all those reports focusing on anthrax-laced envelopes, the threat of chemical and biological warfare developing on US soil is a staggering prospect. But, don’t just sit there in fear, educate yourself by logging onto the Center of Disease Controls site: www.cdc.gov. There, this Atlanta-based agency provides information and FAQs on anthrax as well as facts about botulism, smallpox and the pneumonic plague. The state of Texas has a site that also discusses basic questions connected with bioterrorism. Find them at www.tdh.state.tx.us/bioterrorism or log onto www.nbc-med.org, the US Army-NBC medical site with online references to this subject.
