Seeing Iraq

It seems that everyone has their own idea and own opinion of the war in Iraq. Some are for it. Some say it's a waste of time and money. To us here in America, Iraq can seem unreal. We can't imagine the violence and destruction over there. For most of us we only hear and see what the news will let us know. With modern technology though, we can see so much more than what the news will let us see. With websites such as You Tube, Iraq can come to life in America.

In the Newsweek article How the U.S. is Losing the PR War in Iraq military spokesmen explain how the war is being broadcast today. It is explained that insurgents are using videos of our soldiers being shot down and killed as a way to inspire new recruits. These are glorified over there. I couldn’t believe that these videos would be glorified over there.

Not only are these videos glorified over in Iraq, but also they show everything. The content on these videos is so much more than we as American's are use to seeing. Technology allows them to get more footage, edit it, and get it out to the world so much quicker than a normal studio. These videos are edited with inspiration music to glorify the act more. This article made me realize how evil these people are. They love killing us. They think it's something to be proud of. I just can't imagine living this way. It makes me really scared and sad for our troops. They are fighting everyday to escape the enemy. These aren't your normal "bad guys" either. They are so much more. They're sick. They love watching us die.

This article opened my mind to how evil and sick the enemy was, but when I watched videos on YouTube of the actual footage, my eyes were open. I watched Ambush on U.S. Marine and I couldn't believe it. The video showed the enemy approaching then killing the Marine. Then it showed the dead, mangled Marine. If that wasn't enough, they then stripped him of his belongings and displayed them as trophies. They even took his Dog Tags. Them taking his Dog Tags really bothered me. That was his identity. That was personal. They have no respect or any sorrow for what they do.

I also found myself getting mad at Hollywood while watching this video too. When they showed the dead Marine, it took me awhile to realize he was dead and this wasn't just a movie. We are so use to seeing this in Hollywood that we don't remember that death and war are real. Once I left my movie mind frame and realized what was really going on I was sick. I was looking at a real fallen soldier. Some one who was fighting for our country and was brutally killed. It made me realize how selfish we can be over here in America. We fight about is the war right, is it wrong, and what to do. While we are bickering about it we have people of all ages dying for us everyday and I think we forget that. We forget just how safe we are. We need to stop bickering and support those who are facing the enemy everyday for us.