"You cannot wage a war without voices, without media, without propaganda. Any military planner who plans a war and does not put media and propaganda at the top of his agenda, is a bad military,” says Al Jazeera senior producer Samir Khader. In wars, the image takes on iconic status. Coverage of the bombing of Baghdad during the First Persian Gulf War put CNN on the media map. Today, the spread of digital technology means that an image can be distributed around the world in seconds. But are we better informed? “You have to see it to believe it,” but should Americans really trust their eyes? The Complexity of War Coverage in the News and Media: Can America Really Get the Full Picture of America's Foreign Reports on the War with Iraq? Images can end wars. At least this is the thesis of Vietnam War veteran Larry Stimeling who states on his website "The United States ended the war in Vietnam, not because of defeat on the battlefield, but because of photographs that turned the world upside down. stomach to America". His message highlights the power of the image and draws heavily on American coverage of the Vietnam War. So where are My Lai's Iraq War images in the press? Despite the ongoing violence in Iraq, the American media does not comprehensively report civilian casualties or the deaths of American soldiers. Statistics are printed like test scores in press reports, but without photos they are meaningless. Yet as the conflict continues, the nation's mood is changing: Is America waking up to the reality of war? How have the American media and press portrayed the war with Iraq differently? And what are the implications for news and war journalism in the media? The war media has certainly changed over the last 40 years. Gone are the days when CNN was the only news channel capable of dedicating 24 hours of news coverage to a live war. Thanks to deregulation and improved communications – satellite and cable channels – the war against Iraq received saturated coverage on all major networks. Despite this wealth of information, America may not be better informed. The nature of war journalism has also changed; the war in Iraq introduced the concept of the “embedded reporter” to the world. Journalists have unprecedented access, and with the help of new technologies (such as videophone, satellite and broadband), journalists can broadcast clips of the action from the front lines within seconds of events unfolding..