Having just read the headline, “British soldier, shot dead in Afghanistan!” made me think a little bit.
Image courtesy of World at War Blogspot
First of all it makes me sad that people are being killed for the sake of war and the second thought it provokes is in regards to why the papers report this in this way?
By reporting it in this way it seems designed to spark enrage at the ‘opposing’ countries. It does not and should not matter whether this soldier is British, Australian, an Israeli or from Afghanistan, the point of the matter is, a person has been shot. It is no more important that he is British! Using headlines like this weights the article with an intention, an intention to harbor hatred or disgust for ‘the enemy’. It seems to belittle all other deaths of non-british soldiers! The same occurs in other countries’ headlines, they report how many soldiers of their nation have been killed. Why do we create this separation and detach the human element from these crimes of murder. Whatever nationality the person, they were still killed and it appears that government and media are trying to stir hatred in those countries in order to create support for these wars. Well here’s the news for you, your real enemy is the person sending these soldiers to war. It is time to realize this propaganda and to start seeing that innocent lives are being lost merely to appease governments insatiable greed for money, resources and world domination, all under the guise of ‘democracy’.
The next time you read about a soldier from your country being killed in a foreign country, think about all those other people being killed, ask yourself why and also spare a thought for the terrible state ones head must be in in order to kill someone. Why do our governments create this situation? Why do they treat human beings as fodder? And why belittle someone’s death in order to build ‘patriotism’ and support for a war that is always unnecessary?
What emotions are stirred inside you by this type of headline – are you supportive of wars, is there truly a need for war and what is your opinion of the true reasons countries are engaged in war?