While civil war rages on in Syria, a new type of warfare is being seen. In its May 27th issue, Time magazine calls it The Youtube War. Youtube has been a social media frenzy since it was first created, but now instead of seeing a baby dance or an up and coming singer perform, one witnesses atrocious war crimes. In one of these videos, Khalid al-Hamad, a rebel commander, can been seen biting the heart of a dead soldier. The video documentation of mutilation ranges from cutting off fingers to removing lungs, hearts and other organs from dead bodies. This calls into question, what will this mean for how crimes against humanity are tried once the war is over? Before watching the video, one is warned of the graphic nature of the video and asked to proceed. I realize that atrocities like these have been happening since the very beginning of time, but what does broadcasting them for the world to watch like the latest music video, mean for humanity? Time states, "To his enemies, the video will undoubtedly represent a challenge: Now that the taboo of cannibalism has been smashed, what can they do to top it? In Syria's spiraling madness, atrocity must be matched, and exceeded by abomination. And above all, it must be captured on video for the world to see." All I can say is, let's hope Gandhi is right.
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." - Mahatma Gandhi
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