War

Last night I went to view the movie All Quiet on the Western Front for part of my history grade and I was surprised at how well it conveyed some of the images of World War I. I wouldn’t say this is the best movie for demonstrating war though which I believe is what they were going for. I think that series like Band of Brothers or movies like Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse now really demonstrate the hardship of war. Yet this movie got me thinking about what it is really like to fight in a war. This movie shows a clear enemy charging towards Paul (the main character) while he is firing within the fortifications of a trench. Is there a clear enemy charging at our soldiers in Iraq? Who exactly is the enemy in Iraq? I wonder what is more terrifying, having a clear enemy charging towards you giving you a clear target at who to shoot at or walking down the street of an Iraqi town and not knowing weather the civilian standing next to you is friend or an enemy. I guess this tactic is why we lost in Vietnam and we will lose in Iraq. Guerilla warfare is far superior to fighting against another known army in uniform. I wonder when we will finally admit to our defeat in Iraq though, how many more lives and how many more billions of dollars do we have to spend before we can admit that they are victorious.