For several days I have been seeing mentions in the news of a recently released video from the US military in Iraq. The video is taken from a US helicopter, and shows the crew shooting civilians, including a Reuters cameraman and two children. When I read various mentions of the video, it sounded like the soldiers were deliberately shooting civilians for amusement. However today I took a few minutes to search out the video and watch it; it was certainly an education for me.
The video showed a very sad view of the war, in fact of all wars. It reminded me of the key event that started the story of "Born on the Fourth of July", a movie of a true story from Vietnam. The young men in the helicopter were not going for amusement, but they were young men, and therefore inexperienced, they were tense and on edge from having spent months in combat, and therefore danger. They were living in a situation where it was not easy to distinguish peaceful civilians from those who would do them or their countrymen harm. In a nutshell, they were frightened young people in an unfamiliar situation with powerful weapons.
I feel so sorry for those who were killed and for their loved ones who were left behind. It is such a waste of life! Those living in Iraq already have so many difficulties to cope with as a result of the current war, and to have 14 peaceful people needlessly shot from a helicopter must add a great deal of heartbreak. Such events are also likely to increase hostility against the occupying forces, and to result in more attacks on the troops there.
However, I also felt very sad for the men in the helicopter. They had convinced themselves that the people on the ground were armed and hostile, and they took action that they thought was justified at the moment, but they must have realized aftewards that they had killed civilians. Those men will have to live with that, and are not likely to be able to ever forget it. I can imagine the pain that reviewing that scene from the helicopter would cause even years later.
Another side to the story is the culture that those soldiers were brought up in. This is a culture that thrives on video games which look very much like the actual video footage taken from the helicopter. It is also a culture which is insensitive to other cultures. I realize that it is hard to make a cultural connection with men on the ground from a helicopter in a war zone, but if these men were more culturally aware, they may have examined the men on the ground more carefully before opening fire. The insensitivity is to a great degree not the fault of the men involved, but it is something that we as human beings can take steps to overcome.
Reaching out to others who are different from you in some way is a great exercise in broadening your life experience. We need to take the time to deliberately make connections with others who are not already part of our day to day associations. The things we can learn will be with us and enrich our lives; they will help to shape our responses when we have to decide how to treat a new situation. We may not be in the position to have to decide whether to shoot a group of people, but we will have to decide to accept or to reject people in some future situation.
They say "You are what you eat." Others, in referring to the mind say "You are what you read." I would suggest that in matters of the heart, "You are increased by whom you have loved."
If you wish to view the video you can see it here, but please be aware that it is graphic, and real.
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