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re: A little info
MilSpec — (archived)

There must be a lot of .50 cal and similar ordnance flying around in Iraq,
perhaps the steel version is from one of those new big-bore sniper rifles being used by both sides over there (the insurgents have captured some of ours). I always assumed these weapons used the standard round fired by heavy machine guns, but that may not be the case.

But I don't think the purpose of the photo was to discuss ballistics, it was to point out that many innocent civilians are being caught in the crossfire. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, that tends to happen a lot in in wars.

Publishing this photo could be considered as an attempt to criticize our participation in Iraq, and could therefore be considered propaganda by the press against the war. On the other hand, deliberately witholding publication of the photo could just as easily be interpreted as propaganda for our involvement there. One calls attention to the evils of war, the other tries to draw away our attention from it by sweeping the unpleasantness under the rug.

A lot of this mind manipulation happens unconsciously, at other times it is cynically deliberate. But I don't see any sinister purposes in this case. My guess is this picture is exactly what it appears to be, a reporter got a chance to get an interesting picture of a relatively unusual incident published. An Army Times photographer might prefer to publish a shot of GIs distributing candy to kids. I'm sure anti-war people spend a lot of time scrutinizing those trying to show they are faked.

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