Oops.

Thanks to the recent controversy of WikiLeaks, I made the mistake of watching some gun camera footage from an Apache helicopter in Iraq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0

My stomach is still a little upset, but of course the sight of killing people is not something my body can agree with.  I must remark on the rather cavalier attitude of the machine gun operator.  Yeah, they spotted some suspicious behavior from one of the individuals.  I guess that's sufficient reason to destroy everything in sight.  You might as well just fucking carpet bomb the city, right?

I suppose it's a good thing that the armed forces has crafted remorseless killing machines.  If I were in support of this war in the first place, I might even say that I appreciate their desire to strike first.  I wouldn't want the soldiers who protect me from terrorists to be depressed and traumatized by the job they have to do; that would just hamper their effectiveness.  But really, I have still not heard a reasonable explanation as to why there is an armed presence in another country.  I don't think such an explanation exists for me and many other people.  The obvious choice is abstaining from brutally killing one another.

I don't really understand the military, but I guess I'm lucky to live in the country with the biggest stick.  Maybe that's why every other country in the world hates America.  Does the general populous feel entitled to be born into this country?  Is that really praise-worthy?  I don't like to associate myself with America and I haven't for a while. But at some point, I notice the pronouns "us" and "we" slipping in.  It seems quite silly to associate yourself with an entire nation if it's going to be so divided anyway.  I'm just sad to see such a price being paid for no apparent reason.  We don't have to be over there killing people.  We don't have to be constantly fending for our lives on a daily basis.

Hey, that's my air you're breathing.  Time to die.