Concerning the Pain of Others

By Susan Sontag.

How do we apprehend the pain of others, the very ones whom we are fighting a war against. Susan Sontag argues in her precise, concise book that we apprehend all such photographs through its political context. The political context, however, does not explain the fact that wars are often fought for the same reasons, over generations and generations.

We can stop these wars through the construction of a politic that does not lead to war. Acts of terrorism must be accounted for and pushed back as to prevent it from becoming a vehicle of politics.