Iraq War :: essays research papers

Fri twenty-four hour period-January 16, 2004- 400p.m I was watching Oprah and a finicky story struck me. It was most these young brides in India who were being burnt alive by their husbands because they have become a burden. Before these women ar married off, their husbands receive dowries from the brides family, when the family can no longer meet up with his demands-he sets his wife on fire, in hopes of her dying, and he will eventually embrace another bride and obtain more dowry. These women are shun from society and are nothing but worthless beings-they become silent voiceless shadows. This happens to thousands of women everyday. It is the provide behind such stories that makes me ponder and become more aware about this world. Similarly the literature of Vietnam has been an eye opener and a gravedigger, opening up my eyes to what happened in Nam and exposing the bones left behind in the stories. It has granted me another view of the Iraq War. Human nature can be stiff to alter whether its a soldier from Vietnam or a soldier knotted 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 psychogenic break down of Rat kylie. "He couldnt sleep during the hot day light hours he couldnt cope with the nights." (p.222) As time progressed the war was in spades liquidateting 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 poisonous the soul. Once it starts to feast away it leaves a p ermanent scar.      When the war starts to eat away the soul, many times soldiers resort to committing suicide. According to a juvenile York Times article published on January 15, 2004 --U.S. Soldiers Suicide Rate Is Up in Iraq. "U.S. soldiers in Iraq are killing themselves at a uplifted rate despite the work of special teams sent to help troop deal with combat stress, the Pentagons top doctor said Wednesday.