Blog 1

No member of my family is in any kind of military force, therefore, the Iraqi war has not effected my family as drastically as it has others. Many of my friends have brothers or sisters who are currently serving our country and are over seas. Thankfully, no harm has come to them. One of my good friends is in the Naval Academy and is currently over in Japan. He hopes to take his career further and help out with the Iraqi war. As a close friend of his, I am afraid of the various situations that might occur if he ever does get shipped over. It is hard to think about the "what ifs" of a family member or friend that one personally knows that is currently serving in Iraq or is close to it. It is hard to imagine all those family members that must have thoughts constantly running through their heads about a loved one over seas. It is harder to imagine losing a loved one who has served this country. Thankfully I do not have to deal with this hardship, and hope that this war will end soon, so those who are dealing with these hardships are relieved of their worries and stress.

I can't say I watch or read much about the Iraqi war these days. I remember when the war first started. The media coverage was constantly supplying the citizens of the U.S. information about what is occuring in Iraq, as well as showing the actual bombings and killings by soldiers and Iraqis. These days, I do not see much media coverage about the war or as far as I can see. Most of the time, when I do hear information about Iraq, is when a tragedy has occured. For instance, the media announced that 6 troops have died in Iraq several weeks ago. In addition, this past month was the 5 year anniversary of the war. The media had mass amounts of coverage about the war because of the 5 year anniversary. When tragedies and anniversaries do not occur, I personally do not hear too much about the war. In a way this can be a good thing. The media can be very biased towards the efforts of troops and the way the Iraqi war has occured. Much of what is exclaimed by the media is opinions and not actual facts of the war. I think that if the media was not biased and just presented the information about the war without their own opinions, much of what we hear wouldn't cause a stir up between politics and families with loved ones in the war.