It’s Called War Not “Happy Fun Times” For a Reason

The following video has been making its way around various blogs, and by now has gained a certain level of infamy. It depicts the killing of several Iraqi’s including two Reuters journalists who had been improperly identified as insurgents. I’m not going to debate whether or not this attack was justified, there’s plenty of analysis on that already. I’m just going to say that this is what happens when a nation goes to war. I will go out and say that this video far from paints a complete picture. Questions like why was the helicopter in the area and why they thought there might be insurgents around come to mind. It’s also worth pointing out that the pilot does confirm with command that he has permission to open fire.

Even under the best of intentions innocent people get killed, there’s really no way around it. This is why people should think long and hard when they quickly jump on the war bandwagon, because things like this are what’s going to happen. So the question becomes, do the ends justify the means?

 

-Phillip