Iraq: The Movie

This is an interesting LA Times article (provided by Billmon). It seems our troops in Iraq are of the video generation and rather fancy themselves cinematographers.

Troops often carry personal cameras and video equipment in battle. On
occasion, official military camera crews, known as "Combat Camera" units, follow
the troops on raids and patrol. Although the military uses that footage for
training and public affairs, it also finds its way to personal computers and
commercial websites.

The result: an abundance of photographs and video footage depicting
mutilation, death and destruction that soldiers collect and trade like baseball
cards.

"I have a lot of pictures of dead Iraqis - everybody does," said Spc. Jack
Benson, 22, also stationed near Baqubah. He has collected five videos by other
soldiers and is working on his own.

Ummm...Okaaay.

30-year-old Sgt. Benjamin Bronkema from Lafayette, Ind., said he was
surprised no one had tried to sell the movies yet.

"If I had a copy of it, and MTV called, I'd sell it," he said. The videos
are no different than what's on screen at the cinema, showing glorified
violence, he added.

"It's no more graphic than 'Saving Private Ryan,' " he said. "To us, it's
no different than watching a movie."

Really, no different from a movie. I guess you had to be there.

Read the whole article. It's provides some fascinating insight.