I have no idea what would bring people to do these things, but at the same time I’ve never been over seas for months knowing that I could die at any moment. The military is an extremely well disciplined group of soldiers, but one thing like this and everyone looks like a criminal, or that they can do whatever they want while overseas and no one will care. They need to make a big deal out of this case and punish these men to the fullest to keep this from ever happening again. It is horrible that it had to happen, but if things like this have been happening all along, hopefully this case will change the rules and scare soldiers from ever committing any acts like this again. Knowing the consequences will deter any other soldiers from trying anything close to this ever again. These civilians had nothing to do with the war, and shouldn’t have been killed just for a group of soldiers to have fun one day.
In the write up on the blog there is the statement, “But this is the type of thing that inevitably happens in war, just like accidentally killing civilians.” I find this to be completely ridiculous. Yes killing civilians is something that accidently happens in war, but actually choosing innocent people to unnecessarily kill is completely different. These men went out to find civilians to kill. They had no other purpose of being out that day, and no other reason to kill these people. It was basically a game to them. It wasn’t an accident that happened when they were defending themselves or trying to kill the enemy, they were just bored. Hopefully, this isn’t something happening often in foreign countries, but it makes us look bad as a whole. I’d like to think that this is the only time that something like this has happened. It is outrageous some of the things these men did. I have read that they were apparently taking drugs and I almost hope that they were. They were so proud of themselves that they were cutting off a finger from each one the people they killed and keeping them in a water bottle.
In the video, Andrew was immediately sent home when he finally spoke up, after initially being turned down when trying to get help. I’m not sure what’s worse; being sent home and not cared for properly, or then being sent back and expected to relive these situations every day. We need a more efficient way of detecting post- traumatic stress disorder and depression, or another way of preventing it all together. These soldiers need an outlet to tell someone how they are feeling and hopefully get the help they need. We are the country with almost half of the worlds spending on war and yet we can’t find a way to protect our soldiers when they are at home. That doesn’t make any sense. There should not be soldiers dying from the affects of war after they return home. If we are going to continue to send soldiers to war we need to find a solution to keep them emotionally stable.
As I am sure this is the case for the majority of Americans this situation hits close to home. It is hard to imagine that in just 6 short months the majority of my closest college friends will be faced with many of the issues mentioned in this article and video. I am scared to see the various reactions they will all endure after their first tour overseas.
This is an extremely large problem and after having watched the video I am ashamed to see how some of their fellow soldiers react to these problems. They clearly need help. It’s not like there are only a couple of soldiers are having these issues while at war and after returning. They are seeing life altering things happen on a daily basis and need help coping. The supposedly unaffected soldiers are just lying to themselves acting like nothing affects them, when in reality they are just as scared. None of Jeff Lucey’s team had any clue he was feeling this way, but that is the environment we force them to fight in. If you tell someone about these feelings you are immediately tagged as a wimp, and unable to fulfill your duties.
I am ignorant to the fact that there may be nothing they can do, but I feel like someone should be protecting their citizens. Some of these women’s biggest fears are that their children will have so much hate in them from what they have lived through that they will continue the tradition. It is hard to imagine having grown up so scared that you want to continue to kill people. These women are keeping life going and leading the backline discussion, and are just waiting for the schools to reopen so they can go back to their way of life. They are just hoping for peace. We’ve been learning in class in light of the new tuition increase that we need to stand up and fight for what we want or need. And in this case all I can think is, ‘I wish there was more we could do to help these people.’
When the discussion is started about a female centered world people begin to laugh. It is funny to think about how feminine our way of life would be that feminine means we would always be scared and unable to control things. That women are too emotional to run a country, and that once a month all hell would break loose. After watching this video it is obvious that during times of war, in these countries, women need to be heard. They are the ones supporting the family and holding together the community. They are making sure that there is still a civilization to be fighting for. They are not involved in any discussions about war and therefore there needs are dismissed causing them to live in fear of rape or mutilation everyday. I think that in the U.S. we don’t understand what happens in these countries. We are uninformed about the horrible things that are happening around the world, or just believe that it is only happening every so often. I could not imagine living everyday in fear of loosing a loved one. They are constantly scared. 90% of modern war casualties are civilians and 75% are women and children, and no one in these countries seems to care.
Electricity isn’t necessarily something we “need” to live, but people enjoy it and use it daily, and unless we run out of sources of electricity we will always want it. Religion gives people a sense of comfort and purpose. Some people need to believe. It also answers the unanswerable question, where do you go when you die? It is one of the longest lasting establishments in society. When people loose everything they have religion is the one thing they can turn to. They continue to believe to stay positive. A perfect example is the lifers in prison. They find God as a type of rebirth to help them keep going. Otherwise, they would have nothing to live for. Religion will never be completed gone. There will always be people who believe. As unreligious as it is people’s faith can have its ups and down, but if they truly believe they will eventually realize things are ok. We need religion to help us keep going when things go wrong.
I don’t think religion is going anywhere. Religion will never be completely eliminated from society. We rely on religion as a way to stay hopeful when things go wrong. So what, if in light of relatively recent events our faith has been temporarily depleted. There will always be people who believe. Some countries entire way of life is based on religion. Without religion they would have no authority to regulate their lives. I do think that peoples belief may continue to dissipate for now, but what doesn’t have its up and downs. One day people are interested in one thing, and then change their minds the next. Most people need religion in their daily lives to keep them going. They need a way to stay positive when everything is going wrong, and their will always be people who need this. I think that the decrease will continue for now, but they then bounce back again. If we saw on the news one day that people’s electricity use has decreased in the past 10 years would we just decide that it would eventually be dismissed completely?
This statement makes the argument that being gay is not a choice and is biological, but either way who cares if a gay couple that you have never met wants to become legally married. I think it is selfish of the majority of the population to try and keep marriage as something only for straight couples. Half of these so-called “normal” couples are horrible at raising children to begin with. Gay couples are put through many invasive and nerve-racking tests to prove that they are fit parents. If they want to adopt it is a huge drawn out process for them to finally get the child. Most straight couples wouldn’t even be able to pass these tests. Zach Wahls is proof, along with many other children of gay couples that they are just as fit parents as any else, so why stop them from getting married. They want to be able to truly become a family, and I think we should allow them to finally do this.
This speech by Zach Wahls really brings into perspective the issue of gay marriage. What difference does it make if two people, who have no affect on our lives, of the same sex want to get married? Zach is a perfect testament to the fact that gay parents are completely capable of raising healthy, intelligent, and successful children the same as any straight couple. This amendment to the constitution has no effect on the daily lives of anyone, but the gay couples themselves. Why not let them get married instead of forcing them to live as second class citizens? We discussed in class the various responsibilities of families and parents, and not one of these goals is not able to be accomplished by a gay couple. They are able to keep a child safe, while helping them to grow and learn the same as any other couple. Statistics prove the children of gay couple are not different from other children. They aren’t more likely to become gay themselves, they are just more likely to be open about it given the way they grew up.
![[Avatar]](/images/avatar26.png){kind=avatar}
Experiment