Update: I first posted this photo in January of 2008. Today I found the context, including this comment by the photographer:
Context: Major Mark Bieger found this little girl after the car bomb that attacked our guys while kids were crowding around. The soldiers here have been angry and sad for two days. They are angry because the terrorists could just as easily have waited a block or two and attacked the patrol away from the kids. Instead, the suicide bomber drove his car and hit the Stryker when about twenty children were jumping up and down and waving at the soldiers. Major Bieger, I had seen him help rescue some of our guys a week earlier during another big attack, took some of our soldiers and rushed this little girl to our hospital. He wanted her to have American surgeons and not to go to the Iraqi hospital. She didn’t make it. I snapped this picture when Major Bieger ran to take her away. He kept stopping to talk with her and hug her.Photo credit: Michael Yon.
Addendum: There is a poll* at the top of the right sidebar in which you can express an opinion as to whether Major Bieger should or should not be described as a victim of war (see comment thread).
*On the question "Is Major Bieger a "victim" of the war?" the final tally showed 75 votes "yes," 24 votes "no," and two "other." I suspect the differences between the yes and no votes are as much a matter of semantics as of sentiment.
hi! I´m argentinian, so I don´t speak inglish very good, anda I don´t undestand everything. But, I like very much this blog, and his imagenes.
ReplyDeletecongratuleysons!
É triste ver como a guerra é um erro claro e como os homens cometem esse grave erro por anos e anos. Hoje todos voltam seus olhos ao novo presidente americano, Obama, com uma esperança imensa de que ele irá salvar o mundo.Mas a salvação depende de cada um de como tratamos as pessoas com preconceito ou não se a ganância é maior que a solidariedade.Os seres humanos ainda não perceberam que a salvação do mundo0 depende de cada um e não de outros! Comece a mudança por você!
ReplyDeleteI don't think Major Bieger would appreciate being called a victim of war. He's a volunteer.
ReplyDeleteKevin, Oliver North's impression re the photo at Military.com (http://www.military.com/Opinions/0,,FreedomAlliance_050505,00.html) was that Major Bieger was probably weeping when the photo was taken. I agree, and I consider him (and our other troops) to be as much a victim of war as are the civilian bystanders.
ReplyDeleteKevin, maybe I'm projecting my own feelings rather than being objective. I've posted a poll to see what others think.
ReplyDeleteThe major is NOT a victim of war, because the military is his chosen career.
ReplyDeleteWar is a forseeable occupational requirement for a soldier, and throughout history soldiers have gone to war in conflicts where their personal beliefs and opinions are irrelevant.
Had Major Bieger been an unwilling conscript, or a pressed man, then he might be considered a victim.
I voted "NO" by the way.
Whether or not we consider the major to be a volunteer, however, in no way lessens the reality that he may be harmed, temporarily or permanently by the war.
soubriquet, how do you reconcile your statements that he "may be harmed" and that he's "not a victim?" I consider a victim to be someone who is harmed. Perhaps there are other connotations.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely believe that any soldier serving can be called a victim of war.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it matters that these soldiers have chosen to serve. Surviving a suicide bombing makes him a victim just as it does the civilians. Its not his fault he was attacked, he's just trying to do his duty.
** http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?dict=CALD&key=88208 ** someone or something which has been hurt, damaged or killed or has suffered, either because of the actions of someone or something else, or because of illness or chance
If I choose to be a boxer, and get a bloody nose when I step into the ring, am I a victim?
ReplyDeleteI think the critical point is, did the individual have the choice of whether to be part of the conflict. The child in the major's arms, clearly did not.
The major, on the other hand went to a recruiting office and said "I want to be a soldier".
To volunteer as a soldier is to accept the possibility of injury and death as a direct result of that career choice.
Adolf Hitler was clearly harmed, at the end of the war that he started. By your own standard, would you call him a victim too?
@Soubriquet - Absolutely.
ReplyDeleteThe boxer is also a victim of violence. Choosing or not choosing the risk doesn't change that status (in my vocabulary).
How about Adolf then?
ReplyDeleteor Saddam?
Or the bombers.
If we take the definition that a person who is hurt is a victim, then we render the word 'victim' meaningless, granting the victimiser the same status.
The only way I see the major as a victim, is in that he has believed in his government, and been sent to fight a war which is doing the opposite of what its proponents claimed. It is a war that makes us all less safe, and creates enemies out of people who previously had no reason to hate us.
I feel very strongly that the first gulf-war gave reason enough to destroy Saddam, to depose him and give his counrty a chance at democracy. The west, however, stood back and let him vent his anger on his own internal dissidents, and strengthen his autocracy.
Why did western forces stop?
Then came 9/11.
Which has not been shown to be linked to Saddam.
So lets invade and depose Saddam?
Weapons of Mass Destruction? Well, we know of quite a few states who have those, and let's face it, we've got plenty ourselves. Whereas we don't seem to have found any in Iraq so far.
Top level military advisors here in Britain, I know for sure from personal connection, told our government that we should not invade unless there was a clear plan, and resources in place for rapid reconstruction, and return to Iraqi governance.
Despite that, our politicians went along with George Bush, invaded, and all this time later, the infrastructure remains broken, countless non-belligerent civilians, true victims, are homeless, financially ruined, maimed, or dead.
And so many more have reason, just reason, to hate us, and want to rain the same terror on us as we have rained upon them.
If we are all victims, then the status of being a victim is meaningless.
That was a tough call, because I understand both sides here. But after reading multiple definitions of the word victim, I think this would qualify. I voted 'yes'.
ReplyDeleteNext question-- could someone seriously affected to the point of anguish or despondency by viewing this image also be a victim of the war?
Even when war is necessary, it is a failure of diplomacy, and everyone involved suffers.
ReplyDeleteAll citizens of the United States are victims of this war. Many of us have lost loved ones there. It has strained our budget and our credibility as a nation. It has divided us.
Further, this war, in particular, has made us victims because many of us were powerless to stop it when we had no doubt it was unnecessary. We knew we were being lied to by the Bush administration and were made to feel unpatriotic when we spoke out.
We are also victims in that we were led away from the natural response of 9-11 to avenge those who died by finishing off al qaeda and the taliban in Afganistan.
This major was likely in the military before 9-11, and most likely has not wanted to be there in recent years, even if we assume he initially supported the idea. He is there out of some sense of obligation, perhaps because he realizes we've made such a mess and fear what we will leave behind. Maybe, he doesn't want to be there, but fears what his refusal would do to his family, or even his personal sense of duty and honor.
I think you'd need to ask him.
ReplyDeleteHe is a soldier, war is his purpose. He is NOT a victim of war. But he will be a victim of the government system if he should need medical care of any kind. Just ask a vetern.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a victim,then,there is also someone or something guilty..someone or something who has been hurt, damaged or nearly killed or has suffered, either because of the actions of someone or something else, or because of illness,religion, or chance...We are all guilty,so we are all victims..of our own doing.
ReplyDelete"The boxer is also a victim of violence. Choosing or not choosing the risk doesn't change that status (in my vocabulary)."
ReplyDeleteI think you're ignoring the subtlety of real language. Sure, the guy may technically fit one dictionary definition of "victim". But you have to consider the connotation, and the blending that occurs when a word has multiple definitions. "Victim" can also mean "a person who is deceived or cheated" (dictionary.com) I think that's the obvious line of thought that is inferred, if not intended, when we call soldiers victims. And as volunteers, the vast majority of folks in the American armed forces would object to that characterization.