Slashdot Mirror
Pentagon Monitors War Videos Online
jonfr writes "According to the BBC, the Pentagon is monitoring online war videos on YouTube and other webpages." From the article: "There is no specific policy that bans troops from posting graphic material. But troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are hearing the message that they should consider carefully what videos they upload to the web. Sites such as YouTube and Ogrish have hundreds or thousands of clips from soldiers, some set to rock music."
I just surfed on over to Ogrish.com and found this headline and linked video:
Army of Ansar Alsunnah Attacks an Iraqi National Guard Recruitment Center
Friday, July 28 2006
The Army of Ansar Alsunnah, an Iraqi Insurgency group, released a 19 minute video showing a raid on an Iraqi National Guard Recruitment center. The video shows the group capturing members of the Iraqi center and then executing them on the streets. The video then ends with the militants entering the building and destroying the recruiment center with explosives.
Wow.
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
Yeah, this one: http://militaryvideos.net/videos.php?videonum=7
Now, I'm not the most pro-militart guy on the planet, and I opposed the war in Iraq (for any number of reasons), but I don't think your reasons are really the most well thought out, nor would I consider most soldiers to be murderers.
On the first: yeah, this suprises you? The military is mostly young men, and this is the kind of shit they pull on a regular basis. I'm not sure it would even be a misdemeanor, if it was in public and seen from a plane. If anything, the couple was commiting the offence of having sex in public.
On the second: War is about killing people, and often you do not let the enemy have the oppurtunity to hide or shoot back. What, you wanted them to get down on the ground and have a duel with those people? Talk to my grandpa about the time B-29s burned down his city, he understands that it was part of a war, and he doesn't think Americans were 'evil' for doing it. Not to say that the experience was a good thing, by any means.
As for the crew treating it as a joke, it's the normal dehumanization of the enemy that happens. Soldiers will get humor out of their situation whenever possible, and not treat it as a grave, somber duty. In that sense, films like Full Metal Jacket or Apocalypse Now were more accurate than the ultra-serious films like Black Hawk Down. It's probobly a coping mechanism, I don't think you could do a job like that if you really felt the weight of every death you cause seriously.
"I don't think most people would have an issue with Israel striking Hezbollah rocket launchers/ammunition. What I (and others too I assume), have a problem with is the hundreds of innocent Lebanese civilians that have been killed in Israeli "precision" airstrikes. I also have a problem with Israel destroying infrastructure, preventing civilians from leaving the area."
Well, then you DO have a problem with Israel striking Hezbollah positions. Groups like this use civilian areas, deliberately to increase body counts/discourage retaliation/hide. Civilian casualties result.
Precision airstrikes aren't. It doesn't matter if the 2000lb bomb hits the target-if you are close and innocent, you are screwed.
Infrastructure is hit to prevent your targets from moving and their resupply. It also screws civilians.
In short, it sucks to be a civilian in a war.
Lebanon, by not preventing the attacks of part of its government, essentially declared war on Israel. Not that they were technically at peace anyway.... The goal of war is to win. And nasty things happen. Best not start one if you aren't willing to suffer the results.