Donna and I went to a party today. At one point our host put on a DVD his son sent from Iraq, where he’s serving with the US Army. We’ve known our friend’s son since he was in junior high, and we’ve seen him grow up into a fine young man.
The DVD he sent was composed of still photos of him and his comrades, their forward operating base, some of the weapons and equipment they use, and weapons they’d confiscated from Iraqis. Interspersed with the stills were short digital movie clips he’d filmed while on patrol in Baghdad.
Now I am obviously not in Baghdad, and some would say that fact disqualifies me from saying anything about what I saw on that DVD. I’ll try to bear that in mind.
What I saw, mingled in with what I’ve already described, were clips of American soldiers in military vehicles ramming Iraqi cars on Baghdad streets, ramming them and shoving them off the road simply because their Iraqi drivers didn’t get out of the way quickly enough. Another clip showed an American soldier stopping an Iraqi driver at a checkpoint, punching him in the face twice through a rolled-down window, then motioning him to drive on.
True, I also saw photos of bombed-out American military vehicles, vehicles in which American troops must have been horribly injured or killed . . . but I did not see the Iraqis our troops rammed or punched in the face blow up those vehicles or maim and kill our soldiers.
Most of us have seen similar videos on the internet. Before, I would have said those videos depicted exceptions to the way American troops normally interact with Iraqi civilians. After seeing what I saw today – especially knowing those videos were filmed by a young man I know, a young man who was raised with good values and taught not to treat others with contempt – I’m starting to think otherwise.
I need more time to think about what I saw today. But right now, my gut’s telling me this shit’s going to come back at us.
Update (1/6/08): Of course, this shit (treating all Iraqi civilians as the enemy) has been coming back at us all along, as one of the major motivations of Iraqi insurgents. What I meant is that in addition to furthering the misery in Iraq, this shit’s going to come back at us at home. Many would say it already has, and would point to the increasingly arrogant behavior of police, and our own willingness to truckle to them.
meant to ask before – have you seen No End In Sight? I highly highly recommend it but only if you’re ready to be outraged and horrified and ashamed of our current administration. i’ve watched a lot of war documentaries lately and this one is impressive.
My new year’s resolution is to help elect a Democratic president. Yes, the movie’s in my queue. God, we’re going to be paying for the sins of this administration for a generation, maybe two. What’s a little more outrage?