Iraq War :: essays research papers

Friday-January 16, 2004- 400p.m I was watching Oprah and a particular story struck me. It was about these young brides in India who were being burned resilient by their husbands because they have become a burden. Before these women are married off, their husbands receive dowries from the brides family, when the family send packing no longer meet up with his demands-he sets his wife on fire, in hopes of her dying, and he will eventually marry another bride and obtain more dowry. These women are shun from society and are nothing but unimportant beings-they become silent voiceless shadows. This happens to thousands of women everyday. It is the power behind such stories that makes me ponder and become more aware about this world. Similarly the literature of Vietnam has been an eye destroyer and a gravedigger, opening up my eyes to what happened in Nam and exposing the bones left behind in the stories. It has given me another view of the Iraq War. Human nature can be hard to alter wh ether its a soldier from Vietnam or a soldier involved in Iraq they share a similar state of mind.      In The Things They Carried Tim O Brien describes the Night Life of the soldiers. In particular there is a story about the gradual mental break down of Rat Kiley. "He couldnt sleep during the hot day light hours he couldnt cope with the nights." (p.222) As time progressed the war was definitely getting to him "the days arent so bad, but at night the pictures get to be a bitch. I start seeing my own body. Chunks of myselfI can see the goddamn bugs chewing tunnels through meits too much. I cant keep seeing myself dead."(p.223) In the end the only way for Kiley to escape was to shoot himself in the leg and get picked up by the choppers. The effect of war is no different on the mentality of a soldier serving in Iraq. The war slowly consumes the mind, body, and most deadly the soul. Once it starts to eat away it leaves a permanent scar.   &nb sp  When the war starts to eat away the soul, many times soldiers resort to committing suicide. According to a New York Times article published on January 15, 2004 --U.S. Soldiers felo-de-se Rate Is Up in Iraq. "U.S. soldiers in Iraq are killing themselves at a high rate despite the work of special teams sent to befriend troops deal with combat stress, the Pentagons top doctor said Wednesday.