Analysis Of Joker One By Donovan Campbell

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The novel Joker One, written by Donovan Campbell is a recount of the war in Iraq, from an inside perspective. Every day, Campbell was faced with life or death situations, which hopefully left both his Marines, as well as the innocent civilians of Iraq alive and well. Because he was in such a high position, many times Campbell would have to make quick decisions based on what he felt was most humane. Unfortunately, Campbell is just a young man, and sometimes it becomes difficult to really decide what is just. Ultimately, in the time of battle, there are many situations when there is no right answer. In the instances of battle, one’s mind might become cloudy and fogged, witnessing his friends and fellow men fighting to their best ability. Thus…show more content…
In Joker One, the Marines received a report from specific intelligence linking a specific house, to insurgents, thus the all males inside the house were to be detained by the marines and brought to a common company collection area. There a small guard detachment would watcher over them while the rest of the platoons moved on to continue the search for potential insurgents. Because of a source telling the military that everyone in those houses could be insurgents, definitely does not mean that they are. Many times the information relayed to the military is either outdated or incorrect. The people inside the home very well could be just innocent people, living their day to day lives. Intruding in on people’s lives is so irresponsible, unfair, and does not comply with humane conduct while fighting battle. The prisoners’ wives most definitely thought they were going to be tortured or ever worse killed, which is just not fair. Walzer critiques the idea of the naked soldier by explaining that once the opposition is dressed for battle, why is it only then that they are now dangerous? In the sense of Walzer then, the Marines would not have been acting unjust, and that all the insurgents should be killed. However, in reality, it is most probably that the men were not all insurgents and the Marines entrapping them and unfortunately killing some of them in the car accident that soon followed the capture, was in fact a real war

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