War in Iraq (rated R for violence and nudity)

Depictions of war have come a long way.
War.
The first depictions of war that I can think of is the Greek epics. That was oral, as well as written, and there are also accompanying drawings of death. Then I guess some artists decided to tag along with armies and draw noble steeds and brave soldiers defending their way of life against the Barbarians/Jews/Pagans/Ajam/crusaders/Imperialists/racists/communists/terrorists. Artists, however, were soon overtaken with the advent of photography, but not quite. For a great example of this, one can see photographs of the American civil war and compare them with illustrations. This was when there was competition. Photographs were black and white, while drawings could be any color. And I say that this is when depictions of war began to shift from Romanticism from Realism. But black and white is still black and white. It didn't offer what war really looked like, but it was a step closer. And then in the 1900s, a miracle happened: moving films! That's right, you can now see action. Hence World War 1 footage. And after the war, All Quiet on the Western Front, an antiwar novel, was published. And of course let's not forget the contributions of Wilfred Owen. And by world war two, movies had become well established. But the start of world war two also introduced a new chapter into depictions of war: propaganda. Of course, propaganda is as old as war itself, but the extent of propaganda in world war 2 was massive. The flag at Iwo Jima, the Hammer and Sickle on the Reichstag, the videos of "Russian soldiers" surrendering, Der Ewige Jude, Triumph des Willens, and so forth. It became glorious to die for one's country again. But this only lasted for a while.
Enter Vietnam.
This was another revolutionary war, in the sense that the media was heavily involved in it. And in color! Imagine that! Draftees could see on television what their fate was. Romanticism is dead now. "This is war" finally carried a negative connotation. Kim Phuc's picture was ingrained into us all.
Exit Vietnam.
And then wars such as the Iran-Iraq war, Chechnya, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, India vs Pakistan, South American revolutions, etc. came along. Video cameras on the front lines. And then the first Persian Gulf war. Flip to channel whatever and you can see someone with PRESS written on them. Imagine if such things were told to Eisenhower or Napoleon! Or even Saladin! What would they say? Who knows.

But now the war in Iraq. The youtube war. Homemade videos of soldiers getting hit by IEDs, shooting insurgents, handing out candy to children, shooting civilians, or in other words, just being soldiers. And we even have the other side now; insurgent videos abound. People can see exactly what both sides compose of.

We've come a long way from cave drawings of one tribe battling the other. But what's next? Who knows.

Lyndie England, 3 years.. Charles Graner, 10 years

Is there any reason at all that these two haven't been given the death penalty? Ten years of prison for killing, mutilating, torturing, and humiliating so many people? What the hell? Am I missing something here? Here in California we give the death penalty to people who murder several people. So why is someone who has done so much worse being allowed to live? Life in prison!? no? What the fuck? A 10 year sentence? Remember Tookie? What was his crime? He killed four people in a burglary. Four people, and he got a death sentence. How many people killed at Gitmo? How many killed at Bagram? How many killed at Abu Ghraib? Who knows. The photographs show at least 5 people have died (the rest were "just" tortured). And that's just the photographs currently released. Who knows what else is there? And also, the videos. A lot of people do not even know of the videos. And the punishment is 10 years in prison? If we really wanted to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis, every single officer acknowledging the abuse should have been executed. That would have been the correct message to send. America is the fucking defender of freedom, and we take our freedom seriously. If some "bad apples" do something, then we will punish them to the fucking extent of the law. There is no excuse. By any means necessary.


וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס׃

Terrorists: "We will bury you"

ы вас похороним!

That's right! You are going to get buried! So just give up already. Bring it on!

...

So let's see, Nikita made that statement in 1956, and 35 years later they crumbled. Bush, with his declaration of the "war on terrorism" effectively made a similar statement in 2002. So... we have to wait until 2037? ugh.. Well, at least that sets a timeline.

But more importantly, this raises the issue of how (in the world of politics) words speak louder than actions, albeit for a short time. Everyone (well, in the United States at least) was convinced of Bush's rhetoric back in 2002. "Mission accomplished", "stay the course", "Weapons of mass destruction", and so on were effective. But, now that's over. The bridge can be built over nothing only so many times. After a while, people are going to start questioning. But I'm not sure how much the similarities between the Soviet Union and the current administration can be reflected upon. We've had Amnesty International refer to Gitmo as a "gulag", and then in response we have a huge PR campaign by the United States which attempts to portray Gitmo as pleasing to the detainees. (I got tired of seeing lawnchairs and sunglasses in political cartoon after political cartoon). Yet another idea stolen from the Soviet Union. See the picture up top. Look at that worker! See, that's how well the People were treated at the wondrous "self-improvement through commitment to architectual excellence" camps, also known in evil capitalist propaganda as "death" camps. More parallels: Mr. Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (we need to liberate the Afghan people!), please meet Mr. American invasion of Afghanistan (no, WE need to liberate the Afghan people from YOUR liberation). And of course, "liberation" is just a code word for bombing the country. Secret prisons in Europe... hey, the Americans stole that idea too! Premier Bush, stop making this so easy. I mean honestly, Khrushchev and Cheney are starting to get more and more similar in appearance (But Cheney is still incredibly uglier. Also, I've never seen a political cartoon of Khrushchev in executioner attire. Mad props.). Bush, please grow a moustachio so the last nail in the coffin can be placed.

The next president should be a good Gorby; McCain looks like a nice candidate for that. And then America can have гл́асность about its torture and extradition. Oh God, please tell me this isn't true. I don't want the hippies coming back.