Instant Messages from Behind the Lines
by Jennifer.
No one ever suspects that what happens to someone they know could possibly happen to them. That’s just the way we coax ourselves. “Never going to happen to me.”, we say. A good friend dies by the hands of a stranger she never met without an electronic wall veiling his true identity. Stalked and beaten to death by a complete stranger. That would never happen to me. I was wiser than to give my information over a medium that promised no security to where the information was trickling into.
I started getting involved in the world wide web at age 14, and with practice came perfection. My parent’s era was that of the television, but, I live in the era of the internet. We have forgotten about books, CDs and floppy disks, forgotten proper English grammar, and how to start a conversation without using “a/s/l?”. We are the generation of instant gratification, from microwave T.V. dinners to finding a soul mate to spend the rest of your life with; all done with a push of a button.
Boredom strikes the minds of those that lack imagination, and in this era, those without access to a computer. Interaction has become simplified to sitting before a computer and typing, no need for long-distance communications by phone to rack a tremendous bill, no faxes or, god forbid, Letters by conventional methods like the postal service!
While chatting with a random person on AIM, I found what Friedman meant by “The World is Flat”. I thought nothing of the man I was chatting with, never asked his age, or location, and he didn’t ask for my information. We talked for a month and we became comfortable talking, until the day I finally inquired what he did for work.
The conversation fell into an awkwardly long pause, and the words “I am an insurgent in Iraq, but my profession is being a pharmacist.” It’s a small world after all! I am a soldier in training with the ROTC program in college at the moment the man said these words.
My jaw plummeted and I realized what I had just done. I suddenly knew what the families that had relations in the North and South during the American Civil War must have felt. I was taken aback, but just as fast as he entered his last entry, he logged off. I messaged a soldier I know personally, and asked if I should expect the CIA to come to my door soon. My friend chuckled and reassured me that it wasn’t likely. I typed in, “What is the danger of befriending the enemy?”.
His response was delayed, “Finding out the truth” was what appeared in the screen.
I kept in touch with the man to this day, and we have mailed packages back and forth. Last time I spoke to him, he mailed in to my home in the Caribbean a package of authentic Iraqi sweets. This has been the most bizarre experience I have had over the internet, as an American citizen, a soldier, and a human. Even with the war on Terrorism, let us not forget that the enemy are humans, too. As the President said, “We will never forget”.
About the author: Jennifer submitted this article anonymously.
Popularity: 3% [?]
May 24th, 2007 at 12:58 am
Dear Jennifer,
I, a 6-foot-4 Adonis, with Olympic Gold in three sports, and several Ph.D.s., am a little busy right now curing cancer, but perhaps at a later date we can meet and compare stories about all these lying, exaggerating creeps.
May 31st, 2007 at 11:47 am
As the mother-in-law of a soldier at this very minute preparing for deployment to Iraq. I for one wish to have no contact with anyone who even suggests that they are involved in the Iraqi forces in anyway. I do not trust the current Iraqi government. Do I have empathy for the poor souls who truly do want a new governtment and a new future…yes. However, I think the entire Iraqi police force and current Iraqi leadership is simply untrustworthy. Just one American woman’s opinion. Good Luck….I hope you are not being decieved!
June 1st, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Moondanzer,
Thanks for your feedback
Sometimes I’m quite amazed that a lot of people don’t realize that we are in a state of war. Most likely with the people are just “numbed” to hearing same news every day : “X number of soilders killed in Iraq today”….
Frankly the issue of the war politics is quite complicated and I can see the both side’s point. Although I don’t have any related family or friends in Iraq now I do wish the best to the your son-in-law and the fellow troops.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I disagree. I cannot stand people who do not know how to form a sentence while using the computer. These are the same kind of people who will open any attachment and install any program as long as it has a cover story. People who use the computer really need to smarten up. They are hurting us all.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:09 am
First thing first. Do you honestly believe that if you actually met an Iraqi insurgent on the internet, he, knowing nothing about you, would volunteer such important information so easily? You didn’t ask him where he lived, or what political beliefs he held, or anything that should have naturally led into that answer. you asked a question which he could just as easily honestly answer as pharmacist. Instead he just comes right out with a claim that he is an Iraqi insurgent, which even if he doesn’t believe means terrorist, he must realize that American forces WOULD consider that to mean terrorist. (P.S. Moondanzer you imply that he is a legitimate member of some form of the Iraqi armed forces, but that is not his claim, and we aren’t at war with Iraq anymore, at least not the official government, we are at war with terror) I suspect Jennifer, that you are falling prey to either some sick scheme or a practical joke. Secondly it is your duty as a member of the armed forces and an American to report everything you know about this ‘terrorist’, since that is what he is claiming to be. More specifically he’s an armed combatant, part of a group (Iraqi insurgents) who regularly kill not only your comrades deployed to Iraq, but innocent civilians. It’s no wonder terrorist attacks are still a problem in Iraq since members of our own armed forces sit back and try to be friends. This is not the civil war and he is not your family, this is reporting a murderer, who you don’t really even know, or at least a conspiritor in murder, to the authorities. No he’s not inherintly evil, in fact he may act rather nice, but this does not preclude the fact that he and the rest of the insurgents need to be stopped and punished for their crimes.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
War is a form of politics. Politics is about how people agree or disagree. To have meaningful solutions to political issues you have to have dialog. Dialog takes building mutual connections, even if it is a cup of coffee or a bag of suites.
I am glad you see the fact that although you may be in conflict the people on the other side are always human too. This is a lesson many people don’t get, or only get after fighting the war for a while.
Don’t be put off by the blow hards who have replied. They are polarized and inflexible in their views. Flexibility in view and outlook is a key to adapting to the challenges and issues faced in both war or politics. Understanding the people on the other side is critical to finding solutions.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
The message in this posting is simplicity, yet profoundly elegant. Thank you for sharing.
“Boredom strikes the minds of those that lack imagination.” So true, and alas, so endemic in this juvenile, fractured society, and is evident wherever one finds a TV set.
“What is the danger of befriending the enemy?”
“Finding out the truth.”
If you want to fight a real war, fight the war to regain control of your own mind — turn off the television and throw it away. It is a weapon of mass distraction.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Just gonna throw this one out there:
Seriously. Everyone’s human. Believe it or not, there’s no such thing as outright evil. It’s just a perception. Deal.
I think it’s an awesome story.