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| The Gross Reality Of Our Enemy | ||||||
| For my final column of the semester I was throwing around several ideas of doing something special but in light of recent events I believe I would be doing an injustice to not discuss it. �The events I am referring to are, of course, the humiliations of Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison by certain United States soldiers, and the release last Tuesday of a video depicting the beheading of an American civilian contractor. �I have seen the entire video of the decapitation, and I have seen pictures of prisoners getting sodomized and raped by members of the military, but through this all, my views have been strengthened: invading Iraq was not a mistake. | ||||||
| The events that took place at Abu Ghraib were by all means sick and disgusting and the culprits need to be dealt with accordingly, and the government is doing just that. �While I do believe that those events were dastardly, I believe the beheading of Nick Berg, an American civilian, by terrorists, was worse. �How, you may ask, can one sick event be worse than another? �How can a rape be somehow less significant than a beheading? �The answer is resoundingly simple: one person got to walk away with his life, while the other paid the ultimate price by losing his. | ||||||
| Please do not misinterpret my words here: I think the humiliations and rape that went on in Abu Ghraib should carry a harsh and extreme punishment, there is no arguing that. �Neither victims deserved what happened, but I must admit that I reserve slightly more anger over what was done to Nick Berg than what happened to the prisoners. �You see, Berg was killed for one reason and one reason alone: he was an American, just like you and me. �He did not kill any insurgents, he did not humiliate any prisoners, and he had not done anything wrong; he simply went over there to help rebuild Iraq's infrastructure. �To his terrorists, however, he had done something wrong: he had the misfortune of being born in America. | ||||||
| It takes a special breed of monster to be able to actually bring a blade to someone's neck, saw through flesh and bone, and cut a head off, dangling it in front of the camera. �It takes a person who grossly disregards the importance of the sanctity of human life. �The video also serves as a reminder that this is exactly why we are fighting the "War On Terror". �This is why we must continue to fight it. �People who are as brutal and vicious as the ones shown in this video need to be stopped, for the sake of humanity. | ||||||
| The video begins with Nick Berg saying who he is, where he is from, and the names of his family members; it ends with him dead. �The callousness that the five masked men exude, standing there reading a list of demands and rhetoric and toting automatic rifles, is enough to boil one's blood. �After the middle man is finished reading his list, he pulls out a large blade from beneath his jacket, pushes Berg to the floor where he is held at gunpoint, and thrusts the blade into Berg's neck. �Berg screams, but those screams are cut short by the sawing of flesh and bone. �Then the killer proudly holds Berg's head up, forever frozen in a look of terror, and the video ends. | ||||||
| This is why we are fighting this war. | ||||||
| Until next semester, I advise everyone to relish in these rapidly approaching tranquil times where your views will go unchallenged and unchecked, and fear the day that I will return to spark controversy upon the campus once more.� This concludes our broadcast day. | ||||||
| Copyright Gerry Wachovsky, 2004, and Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. | ||||||
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