Uncertain

As I was reading through my Google Reader account, an article which relates to the two themes mentioned in the previous entry caught my attention. I found the article listed in the BBC World News, The Age World Headlines, and USA Today. Provided is a summary of the event.

An American convoy was under attack by suspected Al-Qaeda fighters near the town of Iskandariya, 50 km from the Iraqi capital. US soldiers called for air support and warplanes flew into the scene. After the warplanes arrived, they fired at the enemies who were hiding in the buildings. The attack killed nine Iraqi civilians in the process.

Source: BBC World News

The death of Iraqi civilians relates to the two themes. The first theme mentions that “War affects people directly and indirectly.” Typically, civilians do not go into battle. They only go into battle if they voluntarily enrolled themselves or are forced to. In this situation, they are indirectly affected by the war because their lives are at stake when the battle occurs in their area of residence. The fear of being attacked again in a middle of a battle will cause psychological damage (Theme II “War affects us psychologically”).

There are many questions that are raised in my head when I read this article. Who is responsible when US solider unintentionally kills Iraqi civilians? In the US states, unintentional killing has consequences. The sentence may not be as harsh as intentional killing, however, the consequences is still severe. Is it fair for Iraqi government to hold US responsible when their attacks are acted based on retaliation? The enemy is at a higher advantage than the US because they do not have to exercise care for citizens in an attack. It seems it is more difficult when you are fighting a group within a country rather than the country. Enemy lines are not clear so more care must be placed on operations.

Last week in my English class, we had to read “Testament of Youth” by Vera Britain. After reading the book, the class discussed main themes that were prevalent. One theme that caught my attention while reading the book was “War affects people directly and indirectly.” This theme was also mentioned in our class discussion. In addition, another theme that caught my attention was “War affects people psychologically.” The two themes made me realize that the effect of war affects a greater number of people than we realize.

The theme, “War affects people directly and indirectly,” tells us that war affects those who are in the war and those who are not involved in the war. One way to have indirect connection with the war is by having some type of relationship with those who are in the war. It could be family, friends, or relatives. The second theme, “War affects people psychologically,” talks about the mental and emotional side of war. War worries those who know people who are in the war. They fear that their friends will be killed. They fear that they will not see their partner in the future.

When I was reading the book, one of the passages that emotionally lifted me was when Vera Britain described her dream of her husband being dead. In her dream, a group of men was chit chatting in a circle. Standing in one corner, said she “Somehow I realized that the people I the room were speaking of Roland.” Then she heard one of them yell out “He is dead: he has died of wounds in France.” She hurried over and demanded that who was dead and quickly found out that it was not Roland. Instead, the name was Donald Neale. She described, “I awoke, feeling very limp, staring at the window and repeating to myself in a kind of ecstasy: “That wasn’t his name! It’s all a mistake. It isn’t true-thank god” (pg. 168). After reading the passage, it made me question who suffers more in war, those who are in the war or those who know someone who is in the war. Soldiers are torn physically and mentally when they are engaged in battle. Friends, family, and relatives are torn mentally when they do not hear from their love ones. Some may say that soldiers suffer more because they suffer physically. But I would disagree because physical pains sometimes help numb the mental torture that is given off by our thoughts of despair and hopelessness…