this is gulf war 2

[verbminx]

Images of Iraqi civilian and military casualties, and Coalition casualties and POWs. Very, very graphic. I got these from Plastic.com, so they're probably already floating around LJ. The commentary on Plastic was that the rest of the world is seeing these images and you should too. Up to you.

Comments

[boadiccea.livejournal.com]

I was too horrified by the first two to keep going...

*gulp*

[eac.livejournal.com]

Me, too.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

FWIW, those two are the worst. most of the others are a lot less distinct and/or gory. poor kids. :(

Too bad that the only reaction of Americans is...

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

"La la la la la I'm not listening, la la la la la I can't hear you..."

Or, to put it another way, as always, see the Onion. (http://www.theonion.com/onion3911/pt_the_war_on_iraq.html)

Re: Too bad that the only reaction of Americans is...

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

the onion - ever-brilliant, and frighteningly starting to resemble an actual news source.

my mom doesn't want to see 'em. but she is anti-war.

[amanda-mary.livejournal.com]

Absolutely horrifying.

I cannot believe that "we" are capable of doing such things to fellow human beings. In my mind, it is completely unjustifiable.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

i have so many issues with modern warfare and ballistics. on one hand, i suppose it does help to minimize casualties. on the other hand, i think melee combat is a lot more honest - real battles where people have to look each other in the eye when they fight, rather than bombing some kid from a few hundred miles away.

but nothing can help those poor kids who didn't sign on for a war. geez. :(

[eac.livejournal.com]

It IS completely unjustifiable, but I can't determine how to make it stop. :(

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

i want to retire from the human race now, please.

[pezzgrrrl.livejournal.com]

yes, me too please.

i couldn't look past the first two. i can barely breathe right now.

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

actually... i didn't look at every image on the page, because i got sick of waiting for them to load, but of what i saw, the first two were the absolute worst. the second set of two is bad but not quite there, and the rest that I saw were pretty indistinct.

but yeah, retiring seems to be a good prospect.

comprehension

[flynngrrl.livejournal.com]

It was hard to understand what was happening in those pictures. I don't see people with injuries that bad that often. I had to look more than once to understand.

I'm sad now. But not sorry that I saw them.

Re: comprehension

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

it's kind of surreal, isn't it? i mean, if those were special effects, they'd take some serious expertise to create. the girl with the cracked skull reminds me of the video for the NIN song for "closer", where a facemask sings by itself. the real thing can apparently be created a lot easier and faster. :(

Re: comprehension

[tropiquena.livejournal.com]

It was hard to understand what was happening in those pictures. I don't see people with injuries that bad that often. I had to look more than once to understand.

me too.

This is probably the third or fourth time I've seen the second photo (the child with the opened skull), and I stll don't fully "get it."

[astroasis.livejournal.com]

I didn't click the link for reasons of my own, but I want to thank you for being respectful enough to post a link instead of posting the images themselves. I was faced with the images themselves whilst scrolling down my friends list the other day and was utterly appalled.

Unfortunately, I wasn't just appalled by the images - I was also appalled by the person posting them like they did. That's not because I'm blind to the death and horror of war or wish to ignore it... I just don't feel I need to look at blood and gore to BE aware of it. A picture of a dead child with body parts having been blown off does not make that child's death any sadder to me than if someone simply told me a young girl was dead. It just makes me go, "Ew." And, frankly, I'd rather not taint the memories of the dead by going, "Ew" at them. I'm sure that the dead would rather be remembered for the lives they lived and the sacrifices they made than for, "How sick and appalling! She has no legs!" Not to mention that the person who posted them before clearly did so just to evoke a reaction... which I don't feel is appropriate NOR does it show proper respect for the dead.

Anyhow, I just wanted to thank you for having the decency to post these pictures as a link. I appreciate that some people might want (or need) to see images like these - but not everyone fits into the "wanting to see them" OR the "turning a blind eye" category. So, anyhow... thank you for treating the subject with grace and respect. It's nice to still see that these days.