Scholars have identified America's latest internet addiction — "war porn." That's what soldiers and academics call combat-footage videos of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan showing graphic violence and death. Such clips were once an underground phenomenon, but academics say the leaked photos from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison fueled public appetite. Now hundreds of thousands of Americans are turning to the web for the occasional war-porn fix. Is it wrong to watch these videos, or do they serve a purpose? (Watch an example of '"war porn")
We have a duty to watch these videos: Apparently, many people enjoy watching these images of carnage, "unfathomable humiliation, and abuse" as "pornography," says David Swanson at AlterNet. But those of us who don't — most of us, let's hope — should watch anyway, to understand "the true story of what this war is about and what all wars are about."
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