Collateral Damage

No mater how noble the war is whether it is World War II fighting the Germans or fighting for oil, as some may think, in the Middle East, all wars will have collateral damage. The only difference is that today the media has easy access to the public through the Internet and can publish hundreds of gruesome pictures that are too gory for newspapers. That is why as American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan increases the public opinion about the war turns more negative. No one wants to see innocent civilians being killed, but the fact of the matter is that that is war. When the enemy is using the civilians as a cover and doesn't wear a clear uniform to identify themselves it is very hard to determine friend from foe. Does that mean that killing innocent civilians is okay, hell no. However, there needs to be some leniency for the troops overseas because of the haze of war. For example, when a road block is set up and a car does not stop after warning shots it seems clear that they are enemies right? Not always the case. Marine divisions have reportedly killed Innocent unarmed civilians as they tried to keep going through the road block not stopping at the warning shots. It is all about the haze of war. The civilians should have turned away after the warning shots and since they did not then the Marines had to stop the truck because it could easily be filled with explosives. These improvised explosions have increased dramatically over the years. I have found a website that shows the actual reported IED attacks and there have been an incredible amount of attacks that hit coalition troops daily. Living with IED's is a daily threat and is the number one killer of troops. That is why when American forces see a car that is coming towards a road block and doesn't stop they get a little nervous. They know friends that have died and have heard stories of cars driving within a few hundred feet of a convoy and detonating hundreds of pounds of explosives. The war is not black and white anymore. I believe that civilian deaths should be monitored and watched to make sure it doesn't get too high but eliminating all civilian casualties is impossible.