A Balanced View

Henry Rollins is many things: rock singer, spoken word artist, writer, actor, host of "The Henry Rollins Show" on IFC. He's known for his cutting wit and brutal honesty. If you're not familiar with his work, I encourage you to seek it out at http://21361.com/.

Rollins has a blog of his own called "Dispatches". While checking it out recently, I came across a post titled "Letters From A Soldier". This is a series of messages from an American GI currently serving in Iraq. In the letters, the soldier (name withheld for obvious reasons) provides a no-punches-pulled look into his daily world. I'll say in advance that there is some profanity and some very graphic description used in the post, so sensitive parties, use your best judgment.

Rollins himself is an outspoken liberal and a vocal critic of the war. At the same time, he has, via the USO, made several visits to Iraq and Afghanistan to entertain the troops there. So I would say that no one could accuse the man of working a partisan agenda. He's just trying to get the word out.

You know I hate being preached at and I try to avoid preaching as much as possible. As far as the war goes, I respect both sides, for and against, and believe that they both have many valid points. I do have a problem, though, with the mainstream American media which covers the war. If anyone seems to be working an agenda, it's them. They're either blatant, dyed-in-the-wool conservatives (Fox News, for example) or shameless, hardcore liberals (GQ Magazine, for example). Objective reporting seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur. Since most of the information we get seems to be filtered, I've often wondered what vital data is being screened out.

That's why I've included a link to "Letters From a Soldier" below. It's a balanced view of the hottest issue of our time, straight from one who's living it. Whether you're a hawk or a dove, I think you'll agree that this is news that deserves a wide audience.

http://21361.com/site_2004/dispatchs_archive/LettersFromASoldier.html