War is a Force that Gives us Meaning

[Chris Hedges' book of the same name HERE.]

I have no insight whatsoever into the extraordinary courage of war correspondents. For the last few months I've been watching Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, Andrew Simmons, James Bays, and Sue Torton (w/ cameraperson Justine Okins) follow rebels across Libya, often reporting in the middle of heated battles.

Here's Zeina Khodr, who somehow found this position from which one could actually snipe at an astonishing number of Gaddafi loyalists (and get sniped at in return), but using it for the purposes of journalism. I think I've seen her being shot at slightly more than even the other three. Her reports went all the way from Misrata to Tripoli, sometimes from the back of a Mad Max style reconfigured pickup truck, sometimes having to drop due to incoming artillery.

Here's Simmons, first in the line of a sniper's fire and then exploring the regime's dark bunkers, at a time when they have no idea if loyalists are hiding out there.

The world is a better place for these journalists, but I don't understand it one bit. I love philosophy, but can't imagine continuing to do it if the price was having so many people shoot guns at me.