Prepare Yourselves
Tim Barrus, New York Times
Opinion:
Prepare to see very difficult images. The sound of packing bags that have been packed and unpacked by journalists many times. A river of blood is coming, and much of it is going to be the blood of girls and women. Who know what’s coming, too, what has been coming, much like the unpacking of a suitcase and throwing the clothes outside the window. The jump from 2021 to 1622 will rattle everyone. The American people need to brace themselves. The images will roll into your homes because the slaughter will be televised. There are just too many people – in the region – not just Afghanistan, who want to see Americans punished. Flood the world with images that are going to shape and shake. They want these stories in your face. They will allow journalists (who pay cash) into the remote areas so they can see dead females. Click. Choreographed. The enemy’s smugness has arrived. They know the journalists. Night after night, the images from Da Nang, the images of what we called Saigon. The images from Hue. Such images shape public policy. Men are more prone to commit suicide, the opposite, is true in Afghanistan, 80 percent of suicide attempts are by women. There is no way out to miss the hunt. I have been chased by American soldiers shooting guns at us in Portland. Know the feeling. Journalists know what they are doing. They are prepared. These will be the kind of images that will make some of the photographers jump into the rabbit hole, themselves. Even when you tell yourself you Have Seen It All Before. You have not.