What are we to do?!

On the Boston Herald.com website, I found an interesting article relating to the Iraq war and what people would think we should do with our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The article describes an Afghanistan war veteran that is going to Washington to advocate the Iraq war with his group Vets of Freedom. The Vets of Freedom group has invited any recent veteran to join in next’s week’s rally. Applequist (one Afghanistan war veteran) states that he thinks “we’re doing a really good job over there” and that “We need to be there. We don’t need to have our troops cut back.” On the opposing side, the Iraq Veterans Against the War will also be in attendance. This group would like the United States to withdraw from Iraq immediately. The demonstration is this Tuesday, April 6, many people will be there, trying to advocate their beliefs on the war, hopefully affecting Congress’s decisions.   In the New York Times, there is an article that expresses that the army is worried by the rising stress of soldiers returning to Iraq. If we continue to keep such high levels of our troops in Iraq, there is the increased chance that many soldiers may have to return to the front over and over again. This leads to the health and mental issues of our soldiers.   “Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health”.    The facts are that “Roughly 17,000 U.S. troops serve in Afghanistan, and 158,000 or so are in Iraq. The United States has spent about $660 billion fighting in the two countries over the past five years, the Congressional Research Service estimates, although other estimates of the wars’ costs run to four times that amount.” In both articles, it is clear that there are many aspects to this war. We are trying to establish a positive and productive society.  In the Boston Herald article, Applequist states that has seen  “a lot of good things happen…We helped their first election happen, We supplied troops, helped kids, painted schools”. Our troops endure many things, good and bad, but must we sacrifice our soldier’s health and mentality to the extreme?     Sources:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/politics/general/view.bgarticleid=1085225&srvc=rss

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/washington/06military.html_r=1&ref=worldspecial&oref=slogin