Final Portfolio

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Will there ever be an ending?

After finishing The Forever War by Dexter Filkins I was left with the question in terms of current situations what forever means. Dexter spends ruffly 7 years traveling around Iraq and interviewing as many people as he could. Some of his time was spent before September 11th and the majority was spent there after September 11th. But even before the US invaded Iraq there was a war still going on between the different cultures and their customs as well as invading countries. The land has seen many violent years that it may never be able to recover from due to the fact that there seems to be always a new situation that they feel warrant war. What Filkins warns Americans through this book is the fact that not all of the native people in Iraq are intending harm for Americans. Although he does not come out and say it directly he lets the reader discover on their own that in this situation like in most any war there are completely innocent civilians that are used and murdered. He does point out that our soldiers are in fact soliders train to kill and to use they are protecting our country but to these innocent civilians they may stand as a threat. One of the main facts that opened my eyes to the Iraq war was the fact that in any problem there are always multiple viewpoints and what we as Americans see protection from terrorist others may see the potential for death, murder, destruction, disrespect and above all a threat to their home and culture. There is nothing more frightening that the thought of losing everything you have spent your entire life working for and living through. The Forever War uncovers the truth about Iraq in a way that just tells the facts and allows the reader to discover the truth for themselves.

Serving in Florida by Barbara Ehrenreich

While reading this section Serving in Florida out of Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich I found that a lot of the the stories she had to tell of her experiences working as a waitress was very similar to my experiences. When she talks about how on a slow day even if there seems like there is nothing to do you better make it seem like your working and not just standing there. Many times working for The Greenery in Rockport, MA I was constantly talked to about looking busy by others who worked with me. Telling me in warning that if the manager or owner saw you just standing there they would give you another task that was crazy or not part of the job description like dusting the light fixtures. Also the managers and owners don't really care what the waitstaff thinks would make the restaurant better all they care about is if you do exactly what they tell you. Also one of the biggest rules was the employees does not get any discounts on food and they are only able to have drinks from the soda fountain. But the ringer to that was how town employees such as police and ambulance EMTS get a 15% discount. Really shows how much they are about their own employees. One of the biggest parts of the job in any restaurant or catering company is the gossip. Gossip fly's around the work place faster than anything else. Over all working for a restaurant was one of the worst work experiences i have ever had.

The Danger

While reading The Forever War it can easily be seen that Dexter Filkins faced many moments wondering if he was going to survive and spent days in such danger that many American civilians will never find themselves in. In the world we live in today the media plays one of the biggest roles in reporting the news to the citizens of the country. Unfortunately this media is often changed or distorted to either make others look better or to put fear into peoples lives. What Filkins is doing with the Forever War is showing a side of Iraq that many have not seen and many thought never existed. When people think of Iraq they this of September 11th and the brainwashed people of alkida and a land that is a much dead as the people who live there. What Filkins bring to light is the fact that these Iraqis are people too who want the same things in live that most Americans dream of. A place to call home, a job they can support their family with, and the enjoyment of life without destruction. Through Dexter's reporting the reader is able to see the truths of Iraq and to also see the danger journalist have to put themselves in every day in order to report the truth. While traveling around Iraq he found himself in many tight situations where he could have died if not for many friends who helped protect him from insurgents who thought he worked for the CIA and had a hand in destroying Iraq. As the book goes on the stories continue to get worse and worse but Dexter is able to write in a straight forward way without any bias to the story. Letting the reader judge his experiences souly based on facts.

Portfolio

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Above is the link to my mid semester portfolio with my first two assignments and blogs.

Two Sides to Every Story

As to any story there are always two sides and most of the time when thought about many people dont realize the importance in understanding both stories. In Chapter 11 Pearland in The Forever War the author spends some time with the American soldiers in their attack on Falluja traveling through the city street by street trying to take the city by force. One of the most important issues that he brings up in this chapter is that although these american soldiers are fighting for our country its important to remember that they are also trained killers who dont ask many questions and obey every command that is given to them. Reading these stories about men who have families and lives they are waiting to get back to, look death in the face more times than one can count. In a war there are two sides like any story and one hundred percent of the time the side you are on views the opponents as evil and crazy people who deserve to die. In this war with Iraq and Afghanistan not only do most Americans feel that the Iraqis should die but that the whole country is defective and should be taken out. What Americans don't realizes is that these people feel the same way about us because we are going into their country killing their families. This is not a a reason as to why they are anywhere justified in attacking American Soldiers but its also not a reason as to why we are attacking them. When examining a war on certain levels the meaning and reasons can be lost when brought down to the very level where action is taken. these men are given a command and they execute that command to the best of their ability no matter what. Like in many instances in life there are always two sides to every story.

The Forever War and the Real People of Iraq and Afghanistan

After reading further into The Forever War I have come to learn more about the lives of these people and my view on their culture has changed. Although most live by the rules of the Koran it seems that some just abide by the laws so they are not singled out and punished. The punishments are extreme and for very miner offenses like steeling the punishment is the amputation of a hand where in the United States the accused would maybe get community service or something more depending on the charges and crime. Also they truly believe in the saying "an eye for and eye" this is shown in a man charged with the murder of another man. The family of the murdered man has the right to kill the accused murderer with no judge or jury.

The author of the book was in fact in New York on September 11th and goes into some detail of his day but describes it in short words his experience then returned to his research in the middle east. At first I wanted more from his day but after thinking about it the reason why I believe he did not got deeper into that day was because they people he was interviewing and following around had nothing to do with that terrorist attack. The people who live and persevere through all of the fighting and murder, the people who still remember the days where their country was prosperous and free had nothing to do with the attack on american and the people who did are not supported by everyone. By taking the focus off September 11 and putting the main focus on the people not the terrorist the author shows that there is a difference between the terrorist and the natives and people need to see the difference and not just look at these people with blind hate.

The Forever War By Dexter Filkins

After some research on the three books given to us to chose for our class book club I settled on The Forever War by Dexter Filkins. The reason why I chose this book is because although it is the longest of three choices it is the most relevant to the United States today. Recently the United States as a country recognized the 10th Anniversary of September 11th; a wound in American history that will never completely heal. That day for many Americans will go down in their lives as a day they will never forget and for some Americans it is a day they would rather chose to forget. The author Dexter Filkins goes into Iraq and Afghanistan to bring the truth out by spending time with soldier, natives, and Taliban. After finishing the first chapter I was horrified to learn the customs of the people there who hold control over the culture. They ban everything from music to alcohol and handing out server punishment to anyone breaking their laws. The majority of the children are forced to take care of themselves or their families because their parents have died in battles or as casualties from Tribe Lords fighting for possession

of land. Some even forced to fight for different alliance groups so they can support their families leaving them forever scared and changed never really knowing or understanding the meaning of a childhood.

I look foreword to reading further into this book and discovering the truth of what it is like surviving in the war as well as the families and people living in Afghanistan today who play no hand in terrorism but are forced into war with guns at their backs.

Final Decision on Profile Assignment

After the in class discussion and group work I have decided to write my Profile Paper on Karen who spent 15 years as a flight attendant and was working on the day of September 11 2001. The reason why I chose Karen is because I feel that there is a very interesting story behind her Day of September 11, 2001 taken from the view of a veteran flight attendant. After some thought I have come up with several possible interview questions that I can ask Karen when I interview her.

1)What has your career as a flight attendant been like?

2)As a flight attendant what are your personal feelings pertaining to September 11th.

3)What made you become a flight attendant?

4)Did September 11th change your feelings for being a flight attendant?

5)Do you ever think of returning to flying?

Ideas for Feature Stories

After brainstorming on who I would like to interview for the profile project I came up with three interesting people who may have a story to tell.

1) Karen - Her previous job experience was 15 years working as a flight attendant. She was working on the day of September 11.

2) John - He is currently in the Army and just got back from Afghanistan 6 months ago. Throughout his deployment he started dating his current girlfriend who he now lives with.

3) Stephanie - In high school she sustained a compound fracture to her right arm during cheer leading practice that lead to a year of painful sergeries and skin graphs to not only heal the break but also the infection resulting from the injury putting her plans of college on hold.