Themes revisited.
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.
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.
