War comes calling

Again.

Published on April 29, 2004 By dharmagrl In Politics

I, as I'm sure a good proportion of the American public are, have become somewhat unaffected by all the images of war and conflict pouring out of Iraq these days. We're exposed to it on a daily basis; it's easy to become immune to photos of blood, battle and gore. Every newspaper and news channel shows so much of it, so many scenes of death and destruction that I tend to just not take much notice anymore.

Until this morning. I logged into MSNBC and was confronted with an image that made me hitch in my breath and stop what I was going to do. It was another reminder of the human face of this conflict, one that I had convieniently managed to compartmentalize after the bombing of Balad where I thought that I had lost friends and colleagues.

This photo is relatively simple, but very powerful nonetheless. It's a kevlar helmet. Bloodied and torn, laying on a road. You can see it for yourself:

Link

Why does this bother me so much? Because I've seen my husband's head in one of those. I've worn one of those, I've held one, I've had one sitting in my house on my husband's dresser. I've seen those things in regular use around my 'hometown'; the base that I live on. As a matter of fact, there's an exercise going on this week and everyone's walking around in chemical gear wearing gas masks and kevlar helmets. It's a common thing, pretty much everyone who's active duty has one regardless of their job title or rank. We all make jokes about 'turtle shells' on people's heads; my kids have all gone up and rapped their knuckles on my husband's helmet and agreed that it's harder and heavier than it looked.

That's why I found it to powerful...because it's something I can relate to seeing daily. All too often the pictures coming out of Iraq are alien to us; they're of a foreign land that most of have never been too. What we know about the terrain, the country, the culture is just what we've learnt in school or have been told by the media. It's easy to remove ourselves from it because it IS so far away.

This hit pretty close to home for me. Again.

Comments (Page 2)

InfoGeek

on Apr 29, 2004

Mr. Sulu, we're off course!
Sorry Captain!

Sorry... back on topic... pictues...

They are very powerful things. A visual representation of what is or what could be. My big "moment of sadness" is usually unexpected. I will be watching a movie or a show and they will show a shot of the NYC skyline and show what is not there anymore, and I just look, remeber the other, more graphic images and be sad.

Then you see pictures of women in Iraq reading and teaching. Soldiers and Iraqis working together. Those are also important.

I guess you have to see both the good and the bad to understand what is going on.

IG

dharmagrl

on Apr 29, 2004

Actually, my point was more about my being desensitized until something like the image I saw today smacks me back into reality. Last time I got smacked back like this was when the base my friends are at got bombed.

That, and the abundance of idealology and lack of understanding that people are dying pisses me off.

InfoGeek

on Apr 29, 2004

Sorry again. But you do have a good point. Desensitization is always a problem. Your mind does become "hardened" to the images.

I do not know what the solution is. Too many pictures you get hard, too few, there is no impact.

IG

Janders

on Apr 30, 2004

I found myself becoming desensitized latley, and then i was watching the news and they showed a little ice cream social for military families with a parent oversees. And seeing all those kids drawing "I miss you" pictures, hit me HARD, I was bawling in no time. I agree with you that we need to think of all these men and women as not just soldiers, but as parents, children and loved ones.
Bless you Dharma!

SSG Geezer

on Oct 16, 2004

Yes this deserves a top rating from all of us.

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on May 01, 2006

I like what you do, continue this way.

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