Welcome...and initial guidelines...

This blog will be used in the spring of 2008 by 80+ students at Drexel University to investigate the effects of Iraq on culture and the reverse. Our goal will be to better understand why the US is in Iraq, and to question whether literature can help us on this journey.

Weekly plans and other materials will always be posted in Vista, not this blog. So go to Bb Vista to get the discussion prompts and other instructions.

I intend this blog to manage our discussions and track our collective investigation.

You should have received an email from me inviting you to become a contributor to this blog. The email was sent Monday afternoon to your official Drexel email address.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Scenic and Deadly

The blog I read talked about how the worst things happen to beautiful places. The author, Jason Burke, spoke about his time spent in Halabja. He started the blog by explaining some history about Halabja and goes on to talk about the fighting that he watched and the deaths he witnessed. When reading this blog I felt even worse about the entire concept of war. This beautiful town, along with innocent peoples lives was ruined because of fighting. When I think about the war in Iraq, or any war, I always find myself concerned with the other things that are being affected. What if the war was being fought in America? So many things would be different and so many beautiful places would be destroyed. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to walk out of your house every day wondering if it will be your last. Even for a reporter such as Jason Burke, when he was talking about watching the fights and hearing the gunshots and explosions over the radio. No one will ever understand the real damage that is being done unless they are there first hand, which is why Jason Burke’s blog made me feel this way. To read something that he personally witnessed is a scary truth. It is not like what you see in the movies because it is really happening.

No comments: