• How does this poem combine the images of war with the ideas of birth and death?

The poem specifically talks about the death of an Iraqi solider.  The images of a burnt, dead body leave nothing to the imagination and give a sense of despair and for lack of a better term, death to the reader.  At the same time though, it is hard to imagine that life could be present as well.  In every death, there is a rebirth.  This is especially true when some form of religion is added into the equation.  The words wife, baby, and sperm all add to the same ideal that even though one life is ending, another is just about to start.

• Why does the author focus on the idea of sperm banks and procreation in the portrayal of the atrocities of war?

With war, there is always death.  The soldiers fighting in this war obviously had to of known that there would be the risk of death in the service.  As a precaution or maybe just to give their wives peace of mind, the went to a sperm bank and preserved the possibility for future offspring.  I think the author wanted to somehow make war seem like a ridiculous act that men would actually freeze their sperm to make sure they would be able to live on even if they did die.  It is almost like war couldn't kill them completely.

• Why is it important that the Iraqui soldier is talking to a poet rather than just a journalist?

A journalist would tell the facts or maybe exaggerate them for a more interesting story but the poet would show the many layers to the story.  There would be feeling, emotion, ideas, thoughts, and many other aspects that a journalist would not be able to portray especially through a straight article report.  It also is a matter of what side the journalist was on and if the article would turn out being biased or not.