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So... I'm sitting here with the video of Nick Berg on my Desktop... afraid to watch it. Why do I want to watch it? Easy answer is that I'm curious. There's definitely a part of me that wants to see the video b/c I've simply never seen anything like it before. But it's horrible, right? It's someone being brutally executed simply because of their background. And even if you don't think about the reasons... even if Nick was a cold-blooded murderer himself, I think the questions would still be the same. Why the hell do I want to see something like this? Because it's taboo? That's kind of a crappy reason.

The only "good" reason I can think of is that it's real. This is life. But do I really need to SEE it to understand it? And, if I do watch it, will I get physically sick? Or will I become emotionally (can't think of a better word) sick? Or will I like it? All of these things scare me. So is it possible to watch something like this and come away with nothing more than a clear, cold, logical understanding of what happened. Is it possible to view something like this as simply information to be processed? That's what I would want, but I don't know if it's possible...

And, on a slightly related note... I almost wanted to say that I feel less bad about the treatment of the Iraqi prisoners. Luckily, I immediately came to my senses and realized how completely wrong it is to think that way. What we allowed to happen is still wrong, even in the light of this execution. Lowering ourselves to their level just helps the circle of violence continue. And now I no longer know what I'm talking about. June 30th can't come soon enough. Get the hell out of Iraq.