Alexandria Simpson

JRN270 Blog Post

05/05/2010

My post will be over the video that wiki-leaks posted. The video depicted a helicopter full of American soldiers that shot and killed people on the ground in Iraq. The footage is very graphic and shows an intense setting. The problem with the video is that it’s one-sided. It puts American soldiers in a bad light. The video doesn’t discuss or show the entire story and makes it almost impossible to make an educated judgment.

                The most important stakeholder that this video affects is the American troops. I think the soldiers are the most affected because they are the ones who are trying to do their job. War is tragic and there are many things that come with war that are sickening and saddening, but I feel that we can’t judge how our soldiers react when put in life threatening situations. The soldiers are going to have to defend themselves or give us the other side of the story in order for us to be fully informed on the situation.

                The most important value for me in this case is that we don’t make a decision on what is right or wrong before we have all the information. It’s easy for us to judge something while we sit at home safely. We aren’t out there risking our lives. The soldiers have to make decisions about situations that we have not ever been in, and a part of me has to trust them and their decisions because they are protecting me. We need all the facts we can’t just focus on one side of the story.  

                I would resolve this ethical issue by either explain the other side of the story or not posting it at all. I think that if you are going to release something so shocking that you should be able to report the actual events. Video doesn’t always show everything. The video just shows the climax of the story, it doesn’t show why the soldiers were in the helicopter scanning the area, or why they decided to shoot their guns. I think details should have been given with the video.