Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT: beheading video...should one watch?

Hey folks,

I was listening to some talk radio last night and they were talking about how Americans have a "responsibility" to view the footage of American civilians being beheaded by terrorists. Fine, I thought, I'll check it out. Now I'm REALLY wishing I hadn't. I'm never all that grossed out by Hollywood violence, but seeing this was different. I'll respectfully spare you the details, suffice to say I was physically ill, and all day today I can't seem to get the images and the sounds (which were the worst part IMO) out of my head.

On the other hand, having actually seen the footage has made me reevaluate some of my opinions. I consider myself a moderate Democrat, who has been unpersuaded thus far by Bush's strategy for fighting terrorism. After seeing the video, though, I at least realize now that there is absolutely NO reasoning with terrorists. No amount of diplomacy or concessions will ever deter them. I think now that terrorists simply have to be hunted down one by one and eliminated. Liberals who think terrorism would disappear if we were just more diplomatic in our approach to the Middle East I think are rather naive.

I still don't think Bush is the answer. There needs to be a combination of diplomacy backed by a strong, aggressive military. Going into Iraq without more international support was stupid. Trying to defend the invasion of Iraq on the basis of faulty intelligence instead of gross violations of human rights was stupid (no matter what he says now, before the war, Bush talked about WMD's and terrorist connections, NOT the cruelty of Saddam Hussein, which would've been a lot more persuasive to the international community. I watch Powell's U.N. presentation before the war. It sure didn't convince me of anything). Giving all these rebuilding contracts to American companies rather than Iraqi companies was stupid. Flip-flopping on the 9/11 Commission was stupid. Not sending in an even stronger force to protect the civilians was stupid.

Still, one thing I had to accept after seeing the video of the beheading is that we do have to have resolve, which Bush does have (I just don't think he has the intelligence and sense to know what to do what that resolve).

Anyway, what do you all think? Do we owe it to ourselves to view one of these beheading videos? If you have viewed one, what were your impressions? Were you as traumatized as I was? If so, how long did it take you to get over it? Has it changed or colored your opinions of terrorism and what we're purportedly doing to stop it?

Just curious,
-JT

Saw it, and it disturbed me tremendously. It hasn't changed my views on the war in Iraq though.

My advice is DON'T watch any of the videos.

i am embarassed to say that i have watched several of them. i have no explanation as to why.. maybe a morbid curiosity? i dont know.. but, i dont agree with the radio people.. we have no "responsibility" to watch them. it is not our duty as americans, to view a crime committed by people that have no regard what so ever to the american way of life. in fact, they are highly motivated by their extreme disgust of our way of life.

i think watching the videos comes down to the individual. can you handle it? do you think you need to see it? the first one i saw made me ill, and stayed with me for days, maybe weeks. now, they effect me no more than watching the news. its sad, and i feel bad for these people and their families, but it no longer disturbs me like the first one did. i cant explain why.. maybe i have become numb or immune to it? or maybe i just dont care anymore?? i dont know, but i take no pride in feeling that way.. thats just the way it is.....

i will say this though.. after the first one, i did feel a lot less pity for those people.. here's why.. unless you are in the military, and are forced to be there, then GET THE F*CK OUT!!!!!!! there is no job or relief effort worth putting yourself in the position to have that happen to you.. i know it might be a mean way to look at it, but as far as i am concerned, when those people stayed in that country, they made their beds and they got to lie in them. that dont mean what happened to them was right, but i sure now my fat-a$$ would have been on the first flight home.

i dont know if i answered your questions, or caused new ones.. i was kinda typing as i was thinkin.. so be it!

bigjohn

Hey Big J,

That's interesting what you said, and no, I don't think it's necessarily cold of you to say that those American civilians shouldn't be there in the first place. After seeing the video, I can safely say that I'm never gonna step within 5000 miles of the Middle East. Screw that! They don't know want us there? Fine!

After being so sickened by seeing the first video, what made you watch another one? Was it really just morbid curiosity (and that's okay if it was--face it, humans are curious about death), or was it something more you think?

I agree, we have no "duty" or "responsibility" or whatever to watch that stuff. And it's wrong to pressure people to watch it. Although if people are arguing that terrorists can be reasoned and negotiated with, viewing one of these videos may change their mind. It sure changed mine!

-JT

In reply to:

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Was it really just morbid curiosity

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i think so..

i was talking about it with a friend of mine, and he said he had went and looked at all of them. he made me laugh when he said, "i kinda got bored with it.. if you've seen one, you have seen them all"... it was more of a scared laugh, cause i was thinking to myself, 'who would have ever thought we would get so used to watching people get their heads chopped off?' i became alarmed with how easy we were talking about it, like we were discussing what we ate for dinner last night. there seemed to be no heightened level of alarm, like what you would expect with that sort of subject matter.

trust me, i get no pleasure when watching the videos.. i think what bothers me more is the fact that i dont think i feel enought remorse. at least not anymore......

bigjohn

without getting into the politics of it, I saw one before and was pretty disturbed by it. It wasn't an Iraq one but a chechan/russian one. The sound was unimaginable. It was only about a minute long but I spent the first 30 second wondering if it was real since I had never seen anything like that. I skipped everyone since.

I think viewing violence of any kind and becomeing numb to it is a big problem in the U.S. and everywhere. If people become numb to violence it is easier for them to justify violence. Look at our kids today. I would say that children who watch and become numb to violence is one of the reasons violent crime rates among children and teens has been on the increase. They no longer see violence for what it truly is . Just my opinion.
OK, maybe this should move to the politics thread.

I was just thinking that this sounds like it could be the start of another politics thread. We'll need a whole politics forum by the time this election rolls around.

even though it is wrong,after seing the videos,i developed a hatred for middle eastern people,such as going into a gas station/store with a serious attitude just trying to push buttons just to almost have a reason for violence,like i said it is wrong on my part and that attitude thankfully only lasted a couple of days,im ashamed that i was like that,but im being honest,im not really like that but the videos really pissed me off

forgot to menton,Legairre,who has posted a couple of times, came over for a demo of the m80s and vp150 he was totally impressed,he will be posting his thoughts this weekend...ron