Seeing Eye to Eye

This American soldier photographed in the home of an Iraqi family looks like a cyborg - depersonalized with amour, helmet, and sunglasses. The armor is indispensable but the sunglasses, inside? The effect is apparently intentional, since Americans in Iraq favor the mirrored type of sunglasses that mask their eyes with metallic shields. Although depersonalization is intimidating and potentially useful. it also increases the separation between Americans and Iraqis. If we want to be viewed as liberators and partners instead of occupiers and exploiters, let them see it in our eyes.