I guess you’ll see here what you don’t see in the newspapers or on the MSM. If Americans had to look at pictures such as these everyday, maybe the war would be over by now.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Images of medics treating horrific injuries in Iraq and the anguished faces of wounded U.S. soldiers are juxtaposed in a new exhibit with pictures of youthful veterans back home dealing with life as amputees.

“The Sacrifice,” by award-winning war photographer James Nachtwey, shows U.S. soldiers in Iraq receiving frantic medical treatment in a helicopter and medics working to repair the carnage of war at a field hospital.

That chaos is shown beside more tranquil views, such as a returned serviceman with a prosthetic leg holding his surfboard after riding a curl and a one-legged young man chatting with his fiancée during a break from his rehabilitation regimen.

“This is one of the costs of this war. The money is the easy part. This, the injuries and the people that are lost, is the real cost,” Nachtwey said while hanging the exhibit, which opens on Friday at 401 Projects.

“It’s important for the people of our country to understand the nature of the sacrifice being made.

“These are mainly young people, mainly in their 20s, athletic, active people who have sustained a great loss and want to move on with their lives.”

Since the Iraq war began with the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, there have been 3,125 U.S. personnel killed and 23,417 wounded, Pentagon data show. As the four-year mark approaches, U.S. public opinion has turned broadly against the war.

Read more at Reuters