2 posts tagged “war”
Don't let the title of this post mislead you - the minister of home affairs and I were not embroiled in a conflict! We took our cameras to the South African National Museum of Military History, otherwise known here as the "war museum" or "military museum".
Both of us have so far concentrated on nature photography, so we wanted to challenge ourselves a little and see if we could take decent photographs of something different to what we are accustomed. War is pretty much the opposite of nature - the one is creation, the other is destruction - so we really jumped into the deep end.
I'm not sure I met the challenge properly, although I did get one or two more or less interesting shots. I put a whole lot on my flickr page (link on the sidebar on the right of this page) purely for the historical interest. I think as far as non-nature photography goes, I have much to learn. Practice makes perfect, though.
Photography aside, the museum is a fascinating place and well worth the visit. I'd recommend it unhesitatingly. Some of the things on display leave one wondering where on earth the museum acquired them. There are items from many wars in which South Africa has participated, including both Boer Wars (1880-1881 and 1899-1902), World War I (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945), and the Border Conflict (1975-1989).
There are also artefacts from earlier periods, including uniforms, weapons, vehicles and so on. The display of swords from as early as the 1600s is also impressive.
If you can do so, go for a visit. At R22 per adult, it is worth it.
The North Korean nuclear test will be a test of a different kind - for American ruler George Bush.
Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq because he believed the country to possess "weapons of mass destruction".
Now, more than three years later, Iraq is still occupied and in a mess, to say the least. And still the weapons have failed to materialise.
North Korea's weapons of mass destruction, on the other hand, are not phantom ones. They are real. And the North Korean government appears to be rattling its sabres. Remember its missile tests in July?
So what will George Bush do?
My prediction is he will do nothing - apart from protest and tell the world what bad people North Korea's leaders are.
North Korea, you see, has nothing that George Bush wants. The Americans already have allies in the Far East and if they are involved in any war in the region they have places from which to launch strikes. So they don't need North Korea for that.
North Korea is also not rich in natural resources (like oil). In fact, the economy has been pretty dead since the 1970s, with a huge chunk of the GDP spent on military resources.
The problem is this - if George Bush does not take action against North Korea, it will raise the question: why Iraq and not North Korea?
But will his citizens even ask?
