Tragedy in Iraq

This is a photo of a young Iraqi girl taken during a night raid in the War on Terror. The girl had been in a car with her parents when they failed to stop at a military checkpoint. Soldiers on duty fired warning shots and then opened fire on the vehicle when it it continued toward the checkpoint at high speed. Both of the girl's parents were killed. This is one of the many tragedies that come from Iraq almost daily. Over the course of almost twnety years, Iraq has been bombed, raided, burned, and searched too many times to count. American troops have had an unmistakable presence there since the Gulf War of the early 1990's and have participated in two wars. During that time hundreds of thousands of casualties have occured. Today, vast portions of Iraq have no electricity or indoor ploumbing, since bombs and raids have destroyed the city. This young girl is only one of the many children orphaned by the war. Entire families are left homeless. Schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods have been destroyed. The future for this little girl is grim, as it is for all of Iraq. Sadly, scenes like this have been a part of several conflicts that U.S. soldiers have taken part in. Civilian casualties have occured not only in the Middle East but also in Korea, Vietnam, and the Phillipines. This can have an extremely detrimental effect on a developing nation, since trauma early in life can dramatically change a person. This little girl will grow up facing the pain she experienced upon the loss of her parents, pain that will likely taint her image of the west and the world in general.

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