To be honest, I was pretty naïve
about everything that was going on during the Iraq war. I always had a gut
feeling that it was an unjustified war, but I was kind of just following what
my family was talking about at the dinner table. “The Promise and the Threat”
was definitely an eye opener. I remember talking to my father, who’s really
wrapped up in politics and global issues, about the reason behind the Iraq War
and he said something along the lines of “Because war is profitable.” I nodded thinking
ok yea.. cuz of the oil? (This was years ago.)
“It is also about huge corporations that are going
to make billions off of reconstructing what was damaged during this war.”
The
reconstruction contracts were given to foreign companies, rather than the
experienced and passionate Iraqi engineers, and the thousands of Iraqi people
who had no jobs had to stand on the sidelines and watch their country be
rebuilt by foreign companies. Great. Reading about the chaotic living
conditions was really interesting as well. I had a vague idea about how they
were through shows like Generation Kill and such, but reading first hand
experiences about how it was just to drive around with such fear and alertness
was crazy.
“Shooting,
looting, tanks, rape, abductions, and assassinations aren’t considered chaos,
but it’s chaos in *my* world.”
These were great reads. Alright, well, time
for class. This is a good song to walk to.
We come from similar backgrounds being that I was also kind of naive to the war until lately even though my family has always followed close behind the happenings that went on. And in that regard I guess we're all that way to some extent. But you drive some good points in, and the title of the blog really spoke to me as well. Also, St. Vincent's pretty swell.
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