dead in iraq, America's Army online protest/memorial

The project dead-in-iraq is an online memorial and protest taking place within the US Army recruiting game, "America's Army". I enter the game as "dead-in-iraq" in order to manually type the name, age, service branch, date of death of each service person who has died to date in Iraq using the game's text message. The work is essentially a fleeting, online memorial to those military personnel who have been killed in this ongoing conflict. My actions are also intended as a cautionary gesture.

• Category

  News & Politics

[Brian Schott]

Delappe: Why did you not respond to a soldier who posted earlier?

"TheLonelyMP (11 months ago)

If I die downrange please do not use my name to protest what I was trying to fight to protect. While I know you mean well, this is not the kind of support we need nor want. Those of us who die feel we do so in honor, so please let us keep that honor.You may feel we die in vain but we don't."

[Joseph DeLappe]

We as a nation have been insulated, protected and coddled as to the true cost of the war in Iraq. The AA game is part of a larger context that one could refer to as the virtualization of warfare. This war was/is a mistake propagated by lies. The desire to feel that the war in Iraq is honorable is understandable yet fails to consider the facts of the situation. I see no honor in 80,000-1.2million dead Iraqis, do you?

[whatever890327897895]

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. John Stuart Mill

[Joseph DeLappe]

One could consider my actions in AA as being a virtual conscientious objector. Does this not add a bit of realism to the military simulation?

You are incorrect in your assumption that I would not fight. I would be the first to defend out country for the right reasons. In my actions I am fighting to remember those who have died and encourage others who might consider signing up to consider the very real possibility of dying in an unjust war as being something to think about very carefully.

[TTSCLANMEMBER]

im joining the marines in a year and im doing for my country just cause you think this war is unjust dosent mean you gotta preach to a bunch of kids in a game it means nothing to them dont use men and women who thought they died doing something good as a pawn in your little campaign thats just wrong

[xgunmetalx]

The above was originally removed for receiving too many negative votes. As you can see, there are many people among us who do-not care about the deaths of American soldiers. God have mercy on you, because good men will not.

[Javier Longobardo]

people like you scares me. I was thinking about giving you a Bible or something so that you learn the meaning of "christianity" and some other words. Or maybe you could change your mind if living in a Iraqi family for a couple of weeks. But you do not want to know. Did you know war is a horrible business? Ignorance is bless? Ignorance is letal too.

[nellapatella12]

Dear Joseph, I was just wondering wether you went through all the training involved in getting access to AA? I know you don't HAVE to in order to get online, but was wondering if you did, and what you thought about it?

[pepperrrr]

And you're skirting the issue. I never pretended to know what you think, as evidenced by the "IF" this what I think you're getting at, "THEN" you don't seem to understand this. My argument was never that they shouldn't have had sanctions put upon them, but merely that that was part of al Qaeda's reasoning, NOT the fact that we're Christians. If that were the case, there are plenty of other countries with thousands of Christians.

[xgunmetalx]

Now you pretend to know what I think.

By the way, countries don't have sanctions put upon them because they do good deeds. Do you know how advanced they are in Afghanistan?

Rewind a thousand years.

[pepperrrr]

If "they" is referring to al Qaeda, then you don't understand the use of religion as a tactic. Of course bin Laden would use Islam as an excuse so that people would die for him but they stated their reasons as the US sanctions on Iraq, military presence in Saudi Arabia, support for Israel, as well as their basic need for power. Barely any mention of Christianity. Not to mention Saddam killed plenty of Muslims. I never said we were the problem, but it's ridiculous to think we're infallible.

[xgunmetalx]

Hey mister Liberal idiot, why don't you LISTEN TO WHAT THEY SAY.

We are called INFIDELS because we're a Christian nation and we do-not follow Islam, that is why they want us dead. Economic reasons aside, the core group of extremists wants us dead because of what we believe in. THEN factor in the poor economic conditions, that helps them recruit and brainwash young men. If you truly feel we are the problem you ought to leave the country as you are a terrorist sympathizer.

[pepperrrr]

They want to destroy us because we're Christian? No. Maybe they want us dead because we've spent decades slaughtering their people, taking the spoils of their land, and getting in the way of their desire for military leadership and control. You seriously need to rethink what you find to be "historical fact." They couldn't care less that we're Christians. The US hardly holds the only Christians in the world.