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"You must like to bomb people..." A teacher's take on the effects of the war - as seen on TV. |
 There is a website through MSN News that is being used as a bulletin board for letters to the troops and between people around the world who just need to talk about the war. This open forum is full of emails, long and short, from people of all ages and nationalities expressing their opinions about the current situation in Iraq. Most are condolences to or from family members of military personnel or warm-hearted wishes to the troops. There is also the occasional scolding email from someone who disagrees with the war. Amongst the letters, I found this one:Name: Sheldon Hometown: Seabird Island I'm 10 years old and I like to watch the war. You must like to bomb people. I would. After school I watch Countdown Iraq with my dad. Well I have to go now. Goodbye.
Oh, wait... we're fighting for our freedom. I forgot. Last I checked, democracy was not about to collapse because of Saddam. Thousands of our soldiers were not in the line of fire before all of this started. Oh, yeah... The World Trade Center attacks. If we were so sure Saddam was involved, why did we wait a year and a half to attack him?
As far as Sheldon knows, those are GI Joes, little men made of indestructible plastic and bits of fabric, driving their plastic Jeeps across some really rich kid's gigantic sandbox, firing their plastic guns at other toy soldiers, all of whom can be easily replaced by a trip to Toys-R-Us. They are the stars of a very dramatic movie, who, like the audience, gets to sit down to a family dinner when the two hours are over. Somewhere between the loss of real parenting and the self-esteem bloating, education-less American education system the focus on one's own importance has In the meantime, the children of the Iraqi families who are under attack in a city we could easily reduce to rubble are hiding or running, frightened of the destruction around them and angry about the pain and suffering being caused by the Americans and Saddam's forces. We a breeding another generation of Osama bin Ladens by our example of brutality and revenge. Most likely, we will win Gulf War II... a war titled as though it were a Rocky sequel. We have the manpower and the finances. I support the troops, among which number several personal friends, and I hope that their efforts prove positive results and that they all return to their homes and families safely. We may suffer high casualties, but I think we will win. But when the inevitable battle between Terrorists 2.0 and our own little Narcissuses goes down, I hope I'm not here to see it. The BLOG: Army Family Journal can be found by clicking here. Hope Villanueva is a Los Angeles thespian who is strongly in support of film that says something, as she is trying to make theatre that says something. You can learn about her own theatre company here. Got a problem? Email us at filmmonthly@hotmail.com |
Does this letter creep anybody else out? What sort of world are we living in where our country is in the middle of large scale battle against a poverty riddled country that lives under the boot of an oppressive regime and one of our children assumes that televised warfare is entertainment and destruction is enjoyable? My flea-sized inner optimist hopes that little Sheldon is the spawn of some gun-obsessed honkies in Po-Dunk, USA, population: 3. But the rest of me knows that the country is populated with Sheldons and Sheldonettes, waiting for the day they are old enough to go over and blow up some towel-heads of their own.
I'm not a student of history or a huge follower of politics, but from all I can see, this war is about Dubya getting in that wartime on the clock that Daddy got him out of all those years ago. And don't get me started on what I think of the President (I'm sure I've just earned myself a FBI file). But for my lack of information, I'm of the understanding that we have historically been scolded by other countries for being isolationists. Now that we've put our hands into the batter, we are being accused of being bullies. What do we have to gain? Is our need to take Saddam out of office by force really more important than repairing our crumbling education system or solving any of our numerous other problems at home? Shouldn't Sheldon be practicing his multiplication tables or writing a book report instead of watching soldiers swoop down on Baghdad? Or at the very least, should we not be teaching them a bit about humanity through the war, or maybe international relations?
gotten so great that the new generation doesn't recognize a human being unless they are looking in the mirror. And this is the future of America.