NEWS: The Unseen War Seen

POLITICS: The Unseen War Seen

Yesterday, Salon published "Iraq: The Unseen War," a photo gallery featuring extremely graphic images of the human toll taken by the war in Iraq. As Salon states: "The following photo gallery contains graphic and shocking images of death and devastation in Iraq." The photos are accompanied by an essay explaining why Salon chose to publish such provocative, seldom-seen images.

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

[Edited on Aug 25, 2005 by GramNegative]

Yeah, I'd say a cluster bomb in your back yard is a pretty big fuckin' spoiler.

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Damn. I always wondered what a suicide bomber's body would look like afterwards, or what was left of it...

I don't really know how to react to the release of these photos. On one hand, it is great that the truth is being seen, and on the other, I wonder, "why so late?" This is the equivalent to CNNi's "investigative report" (if you want to call it that) titled Dead Wrong, which airred last weekend. This is only new to you, if you lived under a rock or spend all day watching the 700 Club. So many documentaries have shown the evils of war.... I don't know, this is too late in my opinion.

Robert Greenwald
2003 -- Uncovered: The War on Iraq
2004 (extended ver.)

Nonny de la Pena
2004 -- Unconstitutional

Errol Morris
2003-- The Fog of War

*I shed a tear in this movie..shhhhh don't tell anyone.

Plus the lies and contradiction of Rummie and Condie on Meet the Press

I FUCKIN' HATE WAR AND POLITICS



[Edited on Aug 25, 2005 3:27AM]

[Edited on Aug 25, 2005 by gambitnuitamment]

War may be terrible, but at least we have photographers, writers and publishers to make a profit from it!

I really can't respond to this without breaking the FAQ.

Whoa. Hold the phone. People DIE in WAR?

Why was I not told this before?

You've been reading the wrong blogs, stock.

you should read stocks argument in the fox canada thread, very interesting...

Wow. Seriously. What the fuck?

I'm well used to stockula's "interesting" arguments

War supporters don't see the actions of their government as acts of terror. photographs like these show otherwise.

You're implicitly on our side whether you like it or not., Don't think you're somehow safe or exempt. You're not.

[Edited on Aug 25, 2005 by stockula]

just because the actions you support might make me an increased target for terrorists, doesn't mean i'm on your side.

Unlike you or people who think like you, I don't think it's a good idea to fight fire with fire,(I would suggest using water) And i certainly don't think it's a good idea fight a candle with napalm

they don't use napalm, they use a napalm-like substance

And making omelets is an ongoing process of eggs being broken.

Crack all the eggs you need. After all, the chickens just shit those things out.

I agree, what the fuckin` fuck?! I guess I'm being a litte emotional here but I hope ashegrey's comments about these photographs were not serious. Maybe he forgot to put one of these at the end ======> " " . Umm, but other than that I think I'm insanely pissed off. Maybe I shouldn't be pissed, I dunno. Its late, maybe my mind is playing tricks on me and I read this wrong.

I don't really understand why everyone is so pissed.
It seems like just a very snarky way of saying that the images (and stories) of war are gratuitous and shouldn't be published.

Personally I think we need to see more of it, not less. People should see their tax dollars and election choices at work.

under mars

from the front page:

"I can not emphasize enough that this site contains graphic and disturbing images of war and what it does to people. Some of the photos are beautiful and some expose the true horror of what we humans do at times. Please do not enter if you are not comfortable seeing such images. The pictures are not sorted or censored and many may be quite upsetting, as is war. "

"What is this site?
This site contains an archive of photos taken by soldiers and military contractors serving in active duty. This site aims only to visually document their experiences and is not a political site. The name "Under Mars" is an homage both to Mars, the Greek God of War, and to the otherworldly nature of the experience."

Interesting thread. My questions are these;

Did people not expect to see these horrible images and did they not know that war is made up of such things?

What would be accomplished by showing them at a stage where the war has been waged and we have already bugun the process of handing Iraq back to the Iraqi people?

Is it any more horrible that these pictures contain american boys in stead of the countless horrible scenes that went unrecorded in this country for decades before we arrived?

I'm way too close to the subject to tell you the answers Im just curious what people think.

Getting a "true" picture of any situation is clearly important. But what I really worry about is way two side of an issue get different news. Al Jazira's output, I imagine, is completely different to all the US TV news stations. They could fill any amount of time they wanted with perfectly true stories and imagines of dreadful suffering.

So I'd like CNN to spend a 30 min slot each day summing up what "the other side" is showing. And Al Jazira can spend 30 mins a day talking about how some drug has been shown to increase the chance of heart attacks.

I'm not sure photographers who risk their lives (many dying) to report whats going on there to the public deserve such flippant accusations.

then again, what do i know.