ALKHOBAR, 3 August 2004 — It has been often said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Information technology in itself is good and pure. It’s what happens when people and IT come together that results in new tarmac on that road to hell.

On July 29 Kuma\War launched its “Stories From The Front” contest (http://www.kumawar.com/contest.php) to find the most compelling real battle story from a US soldier. Kuma will then use their advanced game tool set to re-create one of these important personal experiences and share it with the American public. The winner and three buddies will appear in the playable episode as 3D game characters and in the broadband video new show which accompanies every Kuma\War episode.

“It’s our intention to create an interactive record of this war, and gaining the personal involvement of soldiers who participated is essential,” said Keith Halper, CEO of Kuma Reality Games. “Kuma’s advanced 3D game technology is a powerful — and totally unique — means of communicating the actions and impressions of (American) soldiers in combat. It is our hope that the Kuma\War experience will impart a deeper understanding and respect for the service and sacrifice of fellow (American) citizens in uniform. It is, as we’ve been told by returning servicemen, as close to being there as most people will ever — or will ever want to — get.”

Kuma Reality Games, headquartered in New York, is a privately held company. Kuma\War, is an online game service that allows players to experience re-creations of real world military events weeks after they occur. Combining video game technology and extensive research from news and intelligence sources including the Associated Press, US Department of Defense and expert analysis from a team of military advisers, Kuma\War has been able to give consumers a “boots on the ground” point of view. Players experience intense 3D re-creations of real battles that are taking place today in military hotspots such as Fallujah, Samarra and Baghdad’s Sadr City.

Kuma is accepting submissions from military personnel and their families who have stories to share from recent action. The promotion is open to legal residents of the United States who are on active duty or retired United States military personnel and their immediate families. The winner will also get a high-end video camera to help gather background video for the game and a free online game subscription to Kuma\War.

At the Kuma site right now there are 16 playable missions available for download including: Uday and Qusay Hussein’s Last Stand in Mosul, Iraq; Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan; Samarra Bank Heist; Iran Hostage Rescue; Fallujah Police Station Raid; Fallujah Abizaid Attack; Samarra Stryker Brigade; the Multiplayer Mission Pack; Fallujah Vigilant Resolve, Mosul: The Al-Qaeda Connection and Battle in Sadr City.

In every mission the Americans are the good guys and the Muslims are the bad guys. The death and destruction caused local populations are not considered. To Kuma it’s all a game after all.

If you’re already revolted by today’s column, take a deep breath. There’s worse to come. Last month I received a press release from Federal Express Company stating that they would be embarking on a worldwide project to provide free shipping for the photographic exhibition “Return, Afghanistan” throughout its two world tours. According to the release the exhibition is the work of award-winning photographer Zalmai, a former Afghan refugee and Swiss citizen. It is an account of the return journey of some three million Afghan refugees and the patient and arduous reconstruction of a country devastated by more than two decades of war.

With FedEx, the Aperture Foundation and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) are also sponsors of the exhibition. Images from “Return, Afghanistan,” which is a book as well as an exhibition are available at the Aperture Foundation’s website — aperture.org.

To get a better idea of the value and meaning of the exhibition I sent e-mail to several Afghans living in Saudi Arabia, asking them to take a look at the photos at the website.

Disaster struck. I had not looked at the website personally before putting out the e-mail. The Aperture website homepage contains not only images of “Return, Afghanistan” but also images of another book titled “Love and Lust.” The homepage flips through all the featured books and their images continuously without user intervention. One cannot help but be exposed to an image of a naked woman in a Jacuzzi with two men, taken from the “Love and Lust” publication. The Aperture home page links to a microsite, which has several pornographic images from the book.

Afghans who saw the photographs showing their leader and Afghan family scenes posted at the Aperture website that also featured pornography were outraged. I was shocked myself. Desperately, I contacted FedEx, the public relations company for FedEx and the Aperture Foundation. I urged them to make an immediate change in the Aperture website. FedEx sent back the following statement:

“FedEx holds the culture and values of the Middle East region in the highest regard. It is for that reason that FedEx agreed to be a sponsor of the United Nations’ High Commission on Refugees’ (UNHCR) photographic exhibition on Afghanistan. We were approached by UNHCR to provide free transportation so that this exhibition can travel around the globe. We are very proud of our role in telling the world about Afghanistan through this traveling exhibition.

“It is our understanding that Aperture, a non-profit photography foundation, is UNHCR’s other sponsor of the exhibition on Afghanistan. We are not aware of their other photography projects nor do we have any direct working relationship with them. We understand that you are concerned that their website contains materials that may be insensitive or offensive. Perhaps by expressing your concern to the Aperture Foundation directly, you can find a mutually agreeable solution.”

Then e-mail came in from Ellen Harris, the Executive Director of Aperture Foundation, who wrote:

“For over 50 years, Aperture Foundation has been dedicated to promoting significant photography worldwide through our critically acclaimed books, magazine and traveling exhibitions. The artists’ work that we publish reflects our mission to present a rich diversity of viewpoints and voices on a broad range of subject matters.

“Love & Lust, the subject of the complaint in your e-mail, was just published by Aperture and represents the work of Donna Ferrato. Ms. Ferrato is a critically acclaimed photojournalist who has received numerous awards, including The Robert F. Kennedy Award for Humanistic Photography. In Love & Lust, Ms. Ferrato continues her exploration of human relationships with a look at the entire spectrum of human intimacy in all its consensual manifestations.

“Please note, in response to the complaint that is the subject of your e-mail, we have moved the link to Love & Lust on the home page of our website so that it no longer appears directly underneath the link to Return, Afghanistan also published by Aperture.”

What Aperture has actually done is separate the listing of the two microsites by only one line on their home page. They have made no other change. The Love and Lust pornography is still there. Despite several requests to FedEx, the company has refused to place the information and photographs about the Return, Afghanistan exhibit at their site.

The situation at the Aperture Foundation website shows what can happen when an organization chooses to be culturally insensitive online. Aperture.org is not a private site.

It is a site targeting the general public. There is no disclaimer that the Love and Lust images are pornographic. And please note those images are not unacceptable just to Muslims. In a quick survey, all 30 people who viewed the site for Arab News, no matter what their religion or ethnicity, found at least some of the Love and Lust images pornographic and all stated that the majority of those images should not be viewed by children.

What do Afghan’s think of the situation online concerning Return, Afghanistan? Maqbool Sharifi, an Afghan living in Riyadh, shared his indignation over the Aperture website:

“The two books, “Return, Afghanistan” and “Love and Lust” are written by two different authors and are poles apart. Both books were released at the same time but I cannot make a link between the two. It might have been a coincidence. I couldn’t figure out if there could be a purpose behind it.”

Sharifi continued, “Aperture claims to be a not-for-profit arts institution and its mission is the advancement of fine arts and photography. To me it doesn’t seem to be the case, as there is no element of art in “Love and Lust.” Aperture could be trying to make a business out of it, with no regards to its mission whatsoever. Should this organization be trying to bewilder a conservative Islamic society like Afghanistan? It can be true but it seems to me a remote possibility. Is Aperture a credible organization? If yes then it has put its own credibility at stake.”

The Internet has turned our wide world into a global village. If we are all to live together happily, in peace, then respect for each other’s cultures must be at the foundation of our relationships. Within Afghanistan, Internet access is extremely limited. Outside Afghanistan live approximately three million Afghan refugees, many in abject poverty, unable to afford Internet access. Most Afghans cannot see and will not know the slur against their culture perpetrated by the Aperture Foundation but this does not make the actions of this organization any less objectionable. By respecting and protecting the weakest among us in our use of information technology, we respect and protect ourselves.

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