ABSTRACT
When viewed with a historical sensibility, this war photo (Figure 1.1) migrates almost irresistibly into two frames of reference. One is a history of images that juxtapose interior sanctuaries and exterior loci of danger. The other is a long trajectory of violent engagements in diverse global venues. One belongs to media history, while the other is situated in a history of inter-state hostilities. However, the two frames of reference have tended to merge since the advent of the massproduced and disseminated image. In the case of inter-state wars, photographic and cinematic technology bring remote battle venues into view all over the globe. Accordingly, as Allen Feldman notes, while observing the media portrayals of contemporary U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the danger that “eludes everyday sensory perception becomes socially available as a cinematic structure.”1 It has become evident that the way we experience war history is inextricably linked to the forms it has taken on in media representations. Nevertheless, despite the evocative historical summonses it delivers, the photo’s accompanying description belongs to a temporal present; it references political after-effects of the United States et al.’s 2002 invasion of Afghanistan, a U.S. “policy” reaction to the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center:
A U.S. soldier mounts guard in a tower of the village of Mangal Khan, the main village of the Khakeran Valley, Zabul province, Afghanistan, June 27, 2005. From the U.S. and U.N. officials down to Afghan villagers, there is growing fear that this country may be at a seminal moment with three years of state-building in danger of succumbing to the barrage of violence.2
