Professor Peedston
12-05-2004, 09:14 PM
I'm sure you've all heard by now about Nick Berg, the American civilian who was kidnapped and beheaded by suspected al-Qaeda members in Iraq. If not:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3708047.stm
I guess it has a slight personal connection for me, since this guy was from the town where I was born, and he briefly attended the same university as me, although not at the same time.
At any rate, it's one of the most gruesome and terrible things to come out of there yet, and I feel incredibly bad for his family, who had to find out that there was a video of their son's brutal murder from a reporter who came to their house, and now they have to see it on every news channel and in every newspaper. I've even seen pictures published of his family weeping in their front yard after being told about it (have journalists no shame?).
I also think it puts the Iraqi prisoner abuse into some perspective. I'm not saying it's ok, but I think most people would rather be tortured and still live than be murdered...
Either way, I wish people (westerners and middle-easterners alike) would realize that the "eye-for-an-eye" thing has got to stop. It sounds so cliche, but violence really isn't the answer. It's not ok to torture Iraqi prisoners because you think they might have raped Jessica Lynch, and it's not ok to murder an American civilian because some Iraqi prisoners were tortured.
*sigh* The world is such a sad place.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3708047.stm
I guess it has a slight personal connection for me, since this guy was from the town where I was born, and he briefly attended the same university as me, although not at the same time.
At any rate, it's one of the most gruesome and terrible things to come out of there yet, and I feel incredibly bad for his family, who had to find out that there was a video of their son's brutal murder from a reporter who came to their house, and now they have to see it on every news channel and in every newspaper. I've even seen pictures published of his family weeping in their front yard after being told about it (have journalists no shame?).
I also think it puts the Iraqi prisoner abuse into some perspective. I'm not saying it's ok, but I think most people would rather be tortured and still live than be murdered...
Either way, I wish people (westerners and middle-easterners alike) would realize that the "eye-for-an-eye" thing has got to stop. It sounds so cliche, but violence really isn't the answer. It's not ok to torture Iraqi prisoners because you think they might have raped Jessica Lynch, and it's not ok to murder an American civilian because some Iraqi prisoners were tortured.
*sigh* The world is such a sad place.