U.S. marines gather around a wounded Iraqi girl as they try to treat her in central Iraq March 29, 2003. Confused front line crossfire ripped apart an Iraqi family on Saturday after local soldiers appeared to force civilians towards U.S. marines positions. The four-year old girl, blood streaming from an eye wound, was screaming for her mother while her father, shot in a leg, begged to be freed from the plastic wrist cuffs slapped on him by U.S. marines so he could hug his other terrified daughter. The girl's mother died in the crossfire.
From an Essay by Peter Howe:
"Wounded Iraqi children and the corpses of US soldiers may be your tax dollars at work, but don't put them on the American breakfast table. Whenever they have appeared, even if they show the corpses of the enemy, angry letters to the editor follow in their wake. During the Vietnam War Walter Cronkite, (you remember him, the Most Trusted Man in America) was criticized for showing bodies at breakfast. His response was that not only should the American public see them at breakfast, but at lunch and dinner as well, and once again before they went to bed. While on the surface this may seem arrogant and insensitive it serves the nation well. The fact that the Iraqis didn't roll over and surrender and that the war would continue for at least two weeks came as a shock to many Americans on the first weekend of the conflict. This was a direct result of the fact that for many years we have not seen the reality of war, especially during what is now known as Gulf War 1. The Monday morning quarterbacking that went on after that first weekend of Gulf War 2 was the direct result of the way that the Pentagon over controlled the press coverage then. Gulf War 1 looked so easy, really more like a video game than an armed conflagration. As you sow, so shall you reap, and the harvest of disinformation is unrealistic expectations. Information is the fuel upon which democracy runs, and unless it accurately reflects reality we are at a disadvantage as a society to make honorable and sensible decisions. Furthermore we do a disservice to the young men and women of our armed forces that we send to fight on our behalf if we get a distorted view that minimizes their courage and sacrifice as well as their humanity."
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