More Civilian Afghan Corpses courtesy Uncle Sam

Today's NY Times reports that a U.S. Army convoy killed five Afghan civilians and seriously wounded up to 18--meaning more causalties could follow--when military personnel opened fire on a passanger bus that, according to the military, approached a checkpoint "at a high rate of speed." This is the latest incident where U.S. military has fired upon and killed civilians. The typical American response consists of cliches: "it's a tragic loss of life"--as though anyone needed that insight--and excuses: young soldiers have to make split-second decisions when facing approaching vehicles at checkpoints. But as one Afghan from the bus asked, "If they're concerned, why not shoot out the tires?" and thus force the bus to stop. According to the Times, over thirty people have been killed and eighty wounded by U.S military, and not a single one of these individuals posed a threat. "It seems they are opening fire on civilians intentionally," says one Afghan. Of course, most Americans couldn't care less about these civilian deaths. Since the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, as sports programming reminds us, it's all for the better that these people died. Life isn't perfect (especially if you're getting killed). And as we've learned from the Iraq, as soon as someone dies, American or not, then it isn't happening anymore, so everything is getting better. Since these five people have already died, they aren't dying right now, which means conditions are improving.

Ogre-oid: (video) U.S. Army Slaughtering Civilians (and Reporters) in Iraq

Not for the weak stomached.

Ted Rall on the Hurt Locker

[...] The trouble with "The Hurt Locker" is that it, like too many other American war films, whitewashes history.
In this film neither the EOD unit at the center of the film or soldiers belonging to other units ever make a mistake that kills or seriously injures an Iraqi civilian. You keep waiting for it to happen, and you'd almost be OK with that one stray shot. Like the camera that put the audience behind the killer's mask in "Halloween," Bigelow has created a claustrophobic, soldier's-eye view ominous with paranoia, all too justifiable. It's hot and dusty. Everyone's dog-tired. You can almost taste the stress. Her camera jumps from one potential threat to another: is that garbage on the side of the road just litter? Why is that guy on the roof of the building across the street staring so intently?  more

Hopefully Dave, who is much more the film buff than I and who has strong opinions about this movie and the Oscar's in general, will expand upon this in the comments.