Crawford Reading

I truly enjoyed Crawford’s reading on the Iraq war. It is difficult to portray the war in its true light due to many of the censoring laws on the media. During the Vietnam War the media was able to present the public with firsthand accounts about the war. This was a time when the government did not censor the media as it does today. Therefore, the soldiers today are the only ones that can provide truthful accounts on the war.

I believe that Crawford’s reading was very important for our generation to read. The Iraq War is focused on our generation’s men and women. Many people do not realize the severe impact it is having these soldiers. The consistent question of why we are in Iraq is not being answered either. Even Crawford who was stationed in Iraq for multiple months did not know the reason for this war. Once this war is over, it should be interesting to see the effects it has on the government, history, and our generation.

After reading Herr’s reading on the Vietnam War and after reading Crawford’s I personally saw many similarities between the two, which is alarming and thought provoking. Both wars seemed to be unorganized and questionable. Soldiers from both wars have to endure horrid conditions such as minimal amounts of foods, inadequate military equipment and lifelong psychological effects. It is sad to think that all of the time and effort that this country has put into the Iraq War will be put to waste and the public will forever view this war as a the shadowing war of Vietnam.