Cold Reality of War

I feel as if this war has not affected me directly, but I have seen it take its toll on others around me. My best friend’s family has been greatly affected. Her soon to be brother in-law has been shipped to Iraq two times before and is going back at the end of July this year. I’ve seen her sister when he was located in Iraq, and she was in a constant state of concern. The fact of never knowing what could happen to her fiancé left her very distraught. Their wedding is not planned until May of next year, so she is going to have to endure one more lapse of absence till their wedding day. I could not imagine how much stress and anxiety her sister is going to bear until he returns home once again. Moreover, my best friend’s brother has also been in the navy for a few years. Although he is not in the crossfire of the Iraq War, he is still serving his country and is far away from home. Leaving room for his family and friends to wonder and worry.  I noticed from a few of my friends that have come back from Iraq for a break or for good, seem to have changed. They have a different outlook towards the world and their personalities have changed dramatically. This could have resulted for many reasons. They were put into a real-life video game, where their lives are put on the line every day. Today, there are countless games that try to illustrate warfare. With each game that comes out, they become more intense and realistic, but yet I don’t think this allows one to grasp the real nature of war. In reality, these soldiers are thrown into a world that nothing could prepare them for. These soldiers witness death and destruction and when someone experiences such traumatic events, there is no doubt that there would be a lasting impression. Soldiers of any war have seen numerous things that most civilians have not and they are haunted by these experiences on daily basis. War has many lasting affects that linger long after the conflicts.

The media coverage of this war, I feel has been minimally or perhaps it hasn’t caught my attention often. As a country, I feel that we are out of the loop. We are in fact aware that we are in a war, but not necessary aware of what we’re fighting for.  The United States main purpose to engage in this war was to find weapons of mass destruction. We have yet to find these so called weapons of mass destruction and yet our troops are stuck living in a far away country risking their lives every day. This war has been heavily criticized since the beginning. Many argue that the U.S. rushed into this war and even after 5 years of ongoing battle we have yet to reach our objectives. This may because our objectives are unrealistic or based on false information. I support our troops to the fullest, and I praise them for efforts. I wish everything would come together peacefully, so we could have our soldiers sent home and the Iraqi people could begin to operate their society in a positive direction. But the harsh truth that I face is that optimism does not necessary go hand in hand with the cold reality of war. 

American's wars

Personally I have never been affected by the war in Iraq. I am not American so I have never deeply thought about the consequences it has. However, I want to say a thing about something about USA and the wars they have always fought.
First of all, besides the civil war, Americans have never felt the consequences of a war in their own country. They have always fought “they’re” wars in other countries territories. They have always been in a force position, showing their strength to the whole world. The first time American territory got attacked was 9/11/2001, and everybody saw what happened. That was the first time Americans felt fear, got scared. That is the most normal thing in the world (to get scared), but still, what happened is not comparable to what happened (and still happens) to people in Afghanistan and Iraq. Everybody in those countries, live in the fear that a bomb might drop in their house or a kamikaze might blow up the building they work in. Personally I do not remember those things happening (especially in Iraq) before the American Government decided fight the presumable terrorists in Iraq’s territory. As I recall, the motive for the attack was that Iraq was in posses of technologies that could produce biological-mass destruction weapons and certainly, the target was USA. That fact was never proved! The scientists sent there to investigate never find anything close to a biological weapon. However, USA continued their mission of fighting terrorism in the world and attacked Iraq. I don’t want to go deep into the real reasons (I believe) that led to that war but, probably they felt that a second 9/11 might have happened so they decided to go and invade Iraq.
However, there is one thing that comes up to my mind when I think about USA and its wars, and the Iraq’s war enforces my idea: They always fight they’re wars away from home because that is more comfortable, because that’s what they are used to do! Yeah…right! Who wouldn’t want to do that if they had the chance to!

This War is no longer a war.

Iraq, as the United States has deemed it, is the model that they want the Middle East to follow once the Iraqi government establishes itself as an autonomous entity. The war was waged with a basis that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. A basis that was backed up with intelligence gathered by the different agencies and departments. As president, George W. Bush took the intelligence, consulted, and acted as he saw fit. The war was waged and has been declared over. What is left is the occupation of a Middle Eastern country. The view of a democratic state within the confines of such a religious and cultural haven has in fact enraged and infuriated the neighboring states (Iranian produced weapons etc.). The dissent comes from those who believe that Saddam Hussein was wrongly removed from power and that The United States is destroying their country. With that said, with the events of September 11, 2001 and the threat of a radical dictator having control of weapons of mass destruction, the intentions of the war were to preserve and protect the United States. Now, while people go quick to point the finger at all the deaths endured on both sides of the conflict, many disregard the abundance of terrorist activity in other countries and only focus on the negative aspects of this conflict that is publicized. There are US military personnel installations around the world, the Iraqi conflict is just one part of the war on terror. Islamic extremist regimes, for example, in the Philippines have long been monitored due to the contact with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. And people will say, "why haven't we captured Osama?" and the fact remains we will not capture Osama until the mentality of terrorism is eliminated from the world. The United States removed a leader who used biological weapons on his own people. "Iraqis don't want us there" many will also say, but my high school history teacher, a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, who is a military historian that was deployed in Iraq brought in and showed us the Iraqi ballots for elections, elections with more than one person on it, not just the Saddam-led Baath party, but parties that represented all walks of life within the Iraqi cultural community. Terrorism sees Iraq as a valuable possession as the US troops are still there, so that they can inflict more attacks on the US-backed government. Terrorism isn't just Al Qaeda, it isn't one certain goup of people, it is an idea that by placing terror in the enemies mind they will inevitably lead the enemy to destroy itself. Iraq is no longer the site of a war, it is an occupation that only history will be able to examine as the right or wrong choice for America.

The War They Don't Want Us To Know About

For years, the United States has been at war in Iraq. And yet, everyday Americans ask themselves: What has changed since Bush sent troops to Iraq? Sure, positive results have come from this war. Saddam is no longer in power and the Iraqi people have been liberated. Yet, do the positives of this war outweigh the negative effects? Surely, if all the details of the war were released, that answer from all Americans would be simply “No.” However, due to the fact that the United States government has done so much to cover up the truths of this war, the American people have no idea what is really happening over in the Middle East. The American people also have no knowledge of the effects of the war in Iraq on the American soldiers and the detrimental outcomes in their daily lives. The American government claims that the presence of American troops in Iraq is essential for the improvement of Iraq. Yet, the effects of the war on Americans troops is never talked about. The government hides horrifying information like this from the American public in hopes of keeping American support for the war. In reality, an extremely large amount of American troops suffer from PTSD after coming home from war. Studies have shown the PTSD is the cause to many abnormal activates. It is well know that many veterans become heavy drinkers and offer find themselves behind bars just months after returning home and yet the government does little to help these soldiers struggling with this disorder. In my eyes, the government is only looking out for themselves and they are doing little to help the people who deserve it most: the American soldiers. So in reality, teh government is hiding the internal war that soldiers must endure within themselves after returning home from war.

Person Views on the Iraqi War

Personal Views on the Iraqi War

When the war in Iraq first began I was a mix of emotions. I remember feeling like there had been a shift in the world. I think I was more attuned to what was going on than most because my brother’s best friend, Nick, was going to fight in Iraq. He had told us before the war started that if we went to Iraq his company was going. I had never been aware of our military fighting before so I tried to think of past wars, especially from WWII, because to most that was considered a “noble” war. I wanted to justify why we were going and understand why someone I cared for might die.
I thought and still think that taking Saddam Hussein out of power was a good thing. Maybe it wasn’t necessary for America’s immediate well being, but he was a sadistic violent man who tortured and killed his people and I don’t see much difference between him and Hitler. He didn’t gain as much power as Hitler, but what I do think would have had as much power as Mussolini. I think the true “Hitler” esque character in this war is the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad. But Mussolini was a great help to Hitler so maybe we hindered the “enemy” in a different way. Now I use the term “enemy” loosely because I am aware the “enemy” is terrorism, but terrorism has to be funded by someone.
As far as pulling out of Iraq I am torn. I would love to say, “Our troops should go home right now!” But I don’t think that would be responsible or realistic. I think that we should be making more of an effort to put Iraqi’s in power and training more Iraqi’s to defend themselves. I know that’s what we’re supposedly doing but I think that should be focused upon more.

Ignorance is Bliss

When the war in Iraq started, I cannot say I was shocked. After the September 11 attacks, it was plainly obvious that America was not going to take these attacks lightly. However, if you had asked me my opinions on the war 5 years ago I probably would have given you the same answer if you asked me today. I don't care much for the war in Iraq. I steer clear of it as much as possibly. I do not have any family members involved directly or indirectly in the war and none of my friends or their families are involved in the war. I suppose we are all mostly cut off from it. Most of the members of my family do not follow the war in anyway, shape or form. For my family, it is not that odd, but for me, it can be seen as almost idiotic for me to not be following the war. The reason I say that is because I am currently enrolled at Drexel in the Education program and I want to teach History. One would think that I would be eating all of this information about the war up, but sadly, I'm not. The War in Iraq does not interest me in the slightest from an educational or historic standpoint. With all of the media exposure the war gets, it almost feels like the war is being crammed down our throats. Reports come out everyday saying, "X Soldiers Die in Roadside Explosion" or something similar. My disregard for the war could be due to the fact that I do not know anybody who serves in the war but I doubt it. The war to me is not interesting. No real advances are made from day to day, week to week, or month to month. Yes, we caught Saddam, but not much has happened since then. Our efforts to set up a government are not working as well as we planned because most of the people who live in Iraq and the Middle East in general want nothing to do with us.

As the title of my post suggests, I am blissfully ignorant of the war. I avoid the war as much as possible for no real specific reason other than the fact that it does not have any impact on me nor does it interest me in the least. I highly doubt that when a new president is elected that the war will cease immediately. What we got ourselves into in Iraq is very similar to what happened in Vietnam. We are fighting a war we cannot win in multiple ways.

the impact of the war.

Like most of the other posts that I have read, I do not know have any family members or friends in the war. I don't even know of any of my friends being associated with someone in the war. I can honestly say that I don't really follow news about the war that closely. I know the big facts about it, and from what I do know I think it is just a waste of time, and the soldiers that are over there dying shouldn't even be there at all. Maybe it was okay for the US to be in Iraq in the beginning, but after five years it is getting to be kind of ridiculous. Bush should realize that he isn't really accomplishing anything by being over there still except for killing innocent US citizens. I should probably watch the news about it or read newspapers about the war just to educate myself more on it, but for now I really feel as if it is a waste.

Orders to Leave

I do not come straight from a military family, but my girlfriend does. Her father has been in the Air Force for twenty plus years now, and is currently in the reserves. I have been with her for over three years now, so I know all bout his military experience, and how much it affects their family. He is currently 54 years old, a father of two, and a grandfather of my two year old daughter Madison. Last August, he received orders stating that he would be deployed the day after Christmas. He could not discuss details abbout where he was going, just that it was a four month tour. My girlfriend and her family were completely distraught; how could a 54 year old man receive orders to go overseas. It was clear just from his expressions after that that he was not happy going over for a war theat he personally did not believe in. However, he knew his duties and was ready to accept the orders, his family was not. My girlfriend was very upset and was having trouble comprehending the idea of him leaving. Good news came in November when he found out that he would not be leaving due to a physical. A doctor determined that he needed to have hip replacement, and this is probably the only case in which you will find someone happy to have hip replacement. He had the surgery at Thanksgiving time, and when his group left to be sent overseas, he remained home. He never had to go, but can you believe they were going to send a 54 year old man over there. We are supposed to be decreasing troops, and instead they want to send grandfathers over there. Also, now that he is medically cleared again, he may receive orders to leave again. Ultimately it is not his decision to make.
From what I have seen in the news, I do not feel that this war is justified or necessary. I don't know if it is the information presented to me in the news, or my beliefs, but I jst feel that there is nothing we can do over there. I will always support the troops currently serving, but I will not support the government that put them there.
I will however be the first to admit, at the beginning of the war, I felt it was justified. I was like every other citizen in this country. We were brutally attacked in NYC, and we were led to believe from our government that Iraq had weapons capable of attacking us worse than 9/11. I felt that we succeeded in removing Saddam Hussein from power, but since then I have seen no progress. All of his followers still have their beliefs, and will always hate us, we just can't do anything about that. I believe that it is time to bring our troops home.

Friends Affected

Personally, no one from my immediate or extended family has been directly affected by the war. But to say we haven't been affected at all would be a lie. Any war, in any country, affects the citizens along with the economy. The fact that about 4000 soldiers and over a million Iraqis have died makes me sick to my stomach . Several of my friends from high school were in Iraq, a few are still there. One of friends after returning said, "It's a place you never want to go". One of my close friends recently dropped out of college and enlisted in the army. Since he's still in training, he hasn't seen first hand what it's like. It's scary to think about how at any given moment, anything could happen. Although I'm worried about something happening to him, I have a lot of respect him and his decision to join. He said school wasn't for him, and this way he could do something worthwhile and help our country. I never once thought about joining because I never felt any urgency to. I never felt like there was anything worth fighting for. Every time Bush speaks about the war there's a new excuse for why we're still there. We're losing our friends and family because all they are to Bush are pawns in this game. And though over half the country dislikes him, and even more disagree with the war, he is still commander in chief.

The Number Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Seven. The number might seem ordinary to most people, but at my high school, it bears great meaning and significance. Father Judge High School lost 27 graduates in the Vietnam War, more than any other private or parochial school in the country. It was something that was very sad for many in my school community, but it was also something that we were proud about. Years later, we still honor those 27 men with a memorial mass. We mediated on war, especially the war in Iraq, and listened to family members of the fallen 27. It was really moving to hear about how these adolescent men, with so much to offer to the world, were killed in their prime. One thing a father of one the deceased really angered me. He described how no one really honored or stood by the soldiers back when we were in the Vietnam War. He remembered that his son’s friends came home to be rejected and despised, and he was sad while his son laid his life down for his country, and thousands of others risked theirs, no one at home really appreciated it. He was glad that the school was honoring their memory that day.

It truly is amazing how things and people can change over time. Just over 35 years ago, people were against the war and the soldiers who fought in it. Once they returned home, soldiers were disrespected for their service. It’s a lot different, in my opinion, nowadays. Soldiers have the respect of many Americans, even if they feel that the war is wrong. Even after the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib was exposed, the support for the soldiers by the American people did not seem to waiver. I know that the 27, who lost their lives many years ago, would be glad to know that people care about the soldiers who are risking their lives for their country every day. Unfortunately, while Americans still sow their support, I feel that they aren’t receiving the correct information from the media, who seems to be biased to support political interests and financial gain rather than troops. If the American people continue to receive skewed and biased information, then who knows how much longer the troops will have the support of the American public.

Never Ending War

To me, we really are never going to get out of Iraq. There is no way we will end up leaving Iraq without making sure there is a perfect democracy, one that mimics the one we have here. But that will never happen. Honestly, even if we try to put someone we believe can lead Iraq in the right direction, in a place as violent as Iraq, there is no way corruption and civil war will not occur. Think of Vietnam, we left Vietnam after the war thinking it will be fine, and is it? Instead we look back at Vietnam as a loss because we were not successful implementing democracy there.

This may seem very farfetched to many people, but I believe that we made the biggest mistake bywas not going into Pakistan. First off, this war began with the search of Osama Bin Ladin, which basically seems like a lost goal as of right now. Bin Ladin would have never reached Iraq without being caught. Geographically, Iraq is extremely far away from Afghanistan. Pakistan on the other hand is Afghanistan's neighbor. Not only that, Pakistan is the most densely population area of muslims. Bin Ladin would have had so many supporters that he can easily still be staying there and living his life the way he wants too. The reasoning for not going to Pakistan is that they do not have weapons of mass destruction, but that is totally a lie. Pakistan definately has WMD mainly because it is trying to rival India. Pakistan will do anything India will, and vise-versa. It is known that India has WMD, and so Pakistan will do it. As of right now, both countries are still fighting a 50 year old war about northern India called Jumma and Kashmir. They are at a military standstill, but still they try to out do the other at the border. Our biggest mistake was not going to Pakistan.

I understand there was a belief, again a belief, that there were weapon in Iraq, but this war started by wanting to capture the ones in charge of 9/11. Rather it turned into wanting to taking down Sadam and now resturcturing a country that has 3 different sects. 1 of these, the largest, is the most dangerous, and also the one that are against Americans. The lesser 2 are for American support only because they are not strong enough to take down the strongest force. We are basically in a civil war that should be fought between people in that country, and not with American soldiers and lives at risk.

I have been against this war from the beginning. I only supported the attack on Afghanistan and the Taliban, but when the attention turned away from that, I realized that this was a lost cause. Right now, the country is torn apart because we want our soldiers back, but as of right now, pulling out will later result in the blaming of our country for something we started, and something we didn't finish. It may seem like a victory, but it will be remembered as Vietnam Part II.

How The War Affects Me

Although the war has been a major topic for quite some time, I have not followed it very closely particularly because I have no family or close friends presently involved in the war. Over spring break, however, my friends and I had a get together to catch up and I found out that my friend, Josh, will most likely be sent overseas sometime next October. I always knew there was a possibility of this happening since he voluntarily enlisted, but hearing him say that it will actually happen, and happen so soon, made it real. He will be the first person that I am close with to be deployed to Iraq and the possibilities of what could happen to him while he is there constantly run through my mind when I think about him- regardless of the fact that it is several months away. What concerns me most is how he will be when he returns from his deployment. A few weeks ago, my friend and I watched a special interview of soldiers who returned from overseas. They talked about their personal tramatic experiences and the horrific things they were exposed to day after day. None of them told a positive story from being over there, and many described scenes that they said will haunt them forever.

Knowing that my friend will soon be experiencing first hand the horrible things I have read and heard about on the news makes me worried and scared at times, but the fact that he is doing it makes me proud. I think his going to Iraq will encourage me to learn more about the situation rather that change the channel or skip over an article when I get to points about things I do not want to face or think about.

No effect.

Honestly the war has not directly affected me except for the longer lines in the airport, which to me don't even seem that bad (I just don't like taking my shoes off when walking through the metal detector). I knew a few distant people that went to Iraq, my best friends cousin, and a distant friend but that still never bothered me, it just didn't seem real because it is so far away.

I was recently in Cancun for winter break and my friends and I met a bunch of people from all over. Two of the guys we met, that were from the US, were soldiers in training and one of them had recently come back from Iraq. He told us stories of how a bomb blew up right next to him and he had some serious scars on his shoulder. His friend had a limp and walked with a cane because he hurt his ankle jumping out of a plane during practice. Both guys were only 23 years old. When I found this out, I was so surprised that they had recently come back from war, and they are so young with so much potential yet they risk their lives for other people.

The other two Canadian guys we met were also in the military and were going to be shipped off to Afghanistan a few weeks after they got back from Cancun. My friends and I still keep in touch with them on facebook, but I still don't think this war has really affected me that much. I must admit though I don't really keep up with the news so that could be a part of it.

Five More Years

The answer to why we are in Iraq seems to change from year to year. Originally, it was about (or at least superficially about) Iraq having WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. Colin Powell presented all his evidence to the United Nations. He had an array of findings from satellite photos of suspicious trucks to diagrams of possible nuclear warehouses. The UN did not back us, but we went with our instincts and feel at the time and went in. The public still being in a post-9/11 mindset, we were still very supportive of our government and the war on terrorism. In the five years since the war started, support has dwindled and it has become less of a war and more of an occupation. If we have learned anything from history it is that occupations are never welcome, and Iraq is no exception.
The image of us being in Iraq has changed drastically since we toppled Saddam. We are now seen as a crumbling empire trying to greedily grab glory and influence while we still can. It has crippled us even more, though, costing billions a year and weakening an economy bordering on recession. It was supposed to open up trade and freedom in the Middle East, but it has isolated us from the rest of the world. It was supposed to get us oil and more resources. We still have not seen any.
Iraq has become a Catch-22 for the United States. We can’t stay because our soldiers are dying, and we have no business being there in many people’s opinions. We can’t leave either, because we could be leaving them to chaos and a worse regime than the one we got rid of. It is a complex problem that is not going to be solved easily. There seems to be no compromise in the situation that could happen anytime soon. Something has to change, though.

An ignorant position?

Apart from being pulled aside in an airport and being asked my social security number because my name was on "The Terrorist List" I have in no way shape or form been affected by this war. Although I'm aware this is an ignorant statement and that of course through various repercussion of this war I have probably been affected in some minute way, I still pay little or no attention to this war on terror. To be perfectly honest I was surprised when I read that we have been in this fight for five years now. I remember watching the first couple of days unravel on the news but besides that the whole Iraq war has just been a blur of scandals, political debates and propaganda that I don't pay attention to.

Similar to many of the other posts I have no family in Iraq, I don't know anyone in Iraq and I don't know anyone who knows anyone in Iraq. Overall I'm pretty uneducated about this whole war. Do I feel like I am doing my country a disservice by being uninterested in a major world event? The answer is mixed, in some way I feel like even if I did get involved and did all my research what good would that do I'm still just a 19 year old kid with no real knowledge of this world. On the other hand I do feel like it is my duty to know what is happening in my country. So call me oblivious or call me naive but honestly this war is one of the least things on my mind.

A good question

Also like Andrew who posted below me. I had a great interest in joining a military academy. I had the application sent in as one of my first choice school, but due to medical reasons was not able to attend. I agree that the military brings one discipline and so many other skills that no other institution can offer. But I disagree that what the television represents with its commercial is all one big lie. In joining the military, one should know what they are getting involved in. Although the commercials, do not present the hardships of military. It does show that the military is not always what you hear and have seen about.

It does seem strange that in all these years we have been in Iraq, most Americans cannot answer the question: "why are we in Iraq" with confidence. The reason behind this can be seen because of different cause's. One being the media. As Gary had stated in his post. The perception of the war has been so convoluted because of how the media presents and the information they provide. Much of the public has lost interest or no longer have any reason to be interested in what is happening.

Looking at the actual question and why we may be in Iraq, from when we first began the war to what it has become to now. The media, my source of information has presented reasons from the discovery of weapons of mass destruction to building up a new government and stopping the dictatorship that had begun. We no longer know what the exact reason we are in Iraq anymore.

News to Me

When I was younger one of the things I always wanted to do was join the military. I loved the idea of discipline and a regimented schedule. I had thoughts on attending the US Naval Academy, but my parents weren't so kind to the idea. What I realized after my parents talked to me was that joining the military not only brings discipline and teaches new skills but it can also have the affect of disrupting a person mentally and physically. I see commercials on TV portraying the military to be a new world of exciting experiences. After reading this article and digging into what military men and women really have to go through, it feels like one big lie.
What I have been shown time and time again from people in the military and people who have fought in previous wars is that these people are fighting for a cause that is unknown to the soldiers and people alike. Standing up for American rights and the land of the free is no longer what our military is used for, but on the contrary, it is used for fighting battles that we Americans have no business fighting. The question "Why Are We in Iraq" is a very good question that the majority of people including myself don't know the answer to. This war is not only hurting the economy but the morale of people. Even though I don't know too much on the subject, I can come to the conclusion that this war is hurting America and its people more than helping.

The Difficulties in Gaining Perspective on the War in Iraq

It is tough for most to formulate an opinion on the war in Iraq simply because of the difficulty in deciphering the truth from the jumbled mess that American media sources portray. An easy way to differentiate objective news reporting from biased media sources is by watching international news channels. For instance, BBC News portrays the Iraq war in a completely different way; instead of focusing on casualty numbers, domestic political activism, and opinion (all of these elements allow bias into news reporting), BBC shows just the events in Iraq as they happened. This allows the viewer to formulate his or her own opinion on the progress (or lack thereof) of the war.

Another reason why knowledge on the subject is scarce among Americans is that the media does not cover the war extensively at all. Media sources realize that interest in the Iraqi War is at an all time low "As news coverage of the war has diminished, so too has public interest in news about Iraq." According to this article, the Pew Research Center conducted a study and found that the public has lost focus on the Iraq War due to disinterest and long term "fatigue".

Here is my take on this whole issue of media coverage and public interest in the war. The public lost interest in the war due to the seemingly repetitive reports from news sources about the "kill count" and unpopularity of the war. If more objective accounts on the progress of the campaign are aired, more individuals will follow the war. It irks me to find apathetic individuals who do not follow the news because of public opinion and incorrect information. Your views and positions should be based on facts, not opinion. Although I am not a fan or hater, we cannot pull the "blame Bush" card whenever a national issue arises.

The Impact of Oil and War

My family does not belong to any military functions nor has any of my parents since my grandfather in the world war two with the Indian army. Since that time my family has steered clear of war and the military. My parents have been very simple in their views of the Iraq war, and they believe that the war is a waste and drain of American resources and money. The most common theme in my household is that I will be paying the brunt of the war's huge cost. All of my friends are from non-military families and do not have anyone over seas. The impact that hits me the most from the war is the cost of oil. Like most American's the hit at the oil pump is much greater on our daily lives than the common mess of Iraq. Instead of paying twenty dollars ten years ago like my parents did I pay the hefty cost of sixty dollars for my gas and my old car that does not contain the mileage needed for expensive gas.
The Media has been in the mess of the Iraq war before the war began and my views are pretty much held by the Daily Show. "Mess O'Potamia" as said by Jon Stewart, I watch the show as it says daily no pun intended. I choose not to listen to Fox or MSN anymore as their views are pretty much towards the right and do not give any information that is real or trust worthy anymore. Information in today's world is hard to take. Most of the news I do listen to is the BBC as they generally are about the news and have no political connections to the U.S. and their information is very good. The Brits know their stuff I have to say as I have never heard of them being wrong.

The War

Personally, I remember where and what I was doing when I heard about the initial bombings that sparks the war.  I was sitting in my 8th grade math class and the teachers were instructed to turn in the news and allow us to watch.  We sat in silence and watched the devastation of the kamikazes.  Calls came in for individual students and a lot of girls cried.  I didn't really know what to think at first, not really being a violent person. I was pretty mad and upset, I wanted to suit up and arm myself in order to go take down the opposition but I knew I was too young.  My family wouldn't allow me to join the armed forces anyway.  I definitely changed my thinking of how safe everything was, but I also thought that it was taken out of control.

I still believe that the conflict remains due to the price of oil and if it was up to me, I would bomb the country off the face of the Earth and claim its remains to the U.S.  I have no pity for their soldiers, their people obviously have a problem with us for one reason or another, it has been drawn out.  Our army has the ability and technology to take out every last breathing being with so much as entering their radar.  Its ridiculous that we still lose soldiers, this conflict shouldn't have lasted more than a week. If we were going to invade, then we should have did it in full force, without any remorse and taken the country as an American territory over seas.  

The war is a waste of the U.S.'s money, it's a waste of tax money, it's ridiculous what it has done to the prices of gasoline, and frankly it's crazy that we still lose lives to their militias to this day.  If it was up to be there wouldn't have been an Iraq on any maps post 2002.

Accept Defeat or Stay the Course?

The first article I chose to analyze was written by Jeff Jacoby of The Boston Globe. This article was written in 2006 shortly after the assassination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He was believed to be a major terrorist leader. At the time, Americans were overjoyed by the event and felt that this was a sign of success of the war in Iraq. As a Middle Eastern journalist describes in the article, many positive signs are happening that are not being published by the media. Some of the positive signs that he has observed is the decrease in number of refugees, a decrease in the number of pilgrims to Shi'ite shrines, and the increase in small business activity such as agriculture.
A possible bias to this article that the information comes from a Middle Eastern journalist as opposed to an American. I feel that this article contains reliable information since it comes from a first hand source.
The second article was published in a 2006 edition of Time magazine. The article is titled “Would Defeat in Iraq be so bad?” This article explains that “staying the course” in Iraq or just exiting the war is both going to result in some sort of defeat and ultimately chaos. The author of the article, Leslie Gelb, relates the war in Iraq to Vietnam. In Vietnam, after a war that lasted a decade and had tens of thousands of deaths, our nation accepted defeat. Gelb even believes that when Americans do leave Iraq, consequences will be even worse than Vietnam. We should begin to accept defeat, but also try to minimize the possible consequences.
Leslie Gelb makes many good points are gives Americans are scenario of possible consequences of withdrawing troops and ending the war. We find that many Americans believe in ending the war. But this simply can not be done overnight. A process like this will take time in order to complete it orderly.
Personally, I agree more with Gelb’s article. I agree that we are not being faced with defeat, but should find ways to minimize consequences. If the troops are not withdrawn properly, are nation could be facing dreadful consequences.



http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/06/14/signs_of_success_in_iraq/

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1546366,00.html

Severely Contrasting Views

The first article I read was featured in the New York Times and was basically talking about how President Bush continues to dive deeper into the war in Iraq and refusing to end the war. Opponents and members of Congress say they will not let Bush ruin our country like this and continue in the fashion he is currently moving in. What resonated with me the most about this article and President Bush was the fact that no one of the soldiers is ever honored or talked about. Men and women are giving their lives to this war and our nation does not think of the soldiers when we talk about withdrawing. It is always about the safety of our country or the economy or the cost of the war that drives us to want to withdraw. On the Iraq Veterans Against War Website there was a post “commemorating” the horrific milestone of 4,000 deaths due to the war. Justin Cliborn mentions the importance of honoring those whose lives were cut short by this war, “To those who have served and to those who are proud to call their family members veterans, 4,000 will never be a sufficient barometer of what our nation has lost. Each notch on the casualty list represents a name, a family, and a life.” I was most taken aback by how different Cliborn and Bush view the war. To Bush, it is more or less a fight to show who is stronger in the end, but to Cliborn, it is strength in men and women who give their lives for their country.
I feel these articles contrast in the weight of the subject matter. The war on Iraq means two completely different things to both audiences. Crazily enough, President Bush is fighting a different war than those who are currently there. As Blake Miller says in Rolling Stone, “’I mean, how do you soak all that in when you're fuckin' twenty years old?’… ‘It's like they were asking us, “Are you willingly ready to just fuckin' die?” You know what? No, I don't feel like it. Not yet. I started thinking then, ‘Did I really fuckin' sign up for this?’”(5). No one is able to feel the real threat like those who are risking their lives for a country that isn’t even sure when the war will end. This thought makes me feel like once as a nation we can clearly define the real reason we are fighting in Iraq and what we are accomplishing then we can truly set timetables to leave.

http://www.ivaw.org/node/3043
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/washington/14prexy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all

The War Against Global Jihadism

I was reading an article that I thought you all may find interesting.

The link is to long to copy and paste into this blog, so I created a tinyurl link.

http://tinyurl.com/2nghhk

Impact of the War

The war in Iraq has not had much of an impact on myself and my family. I am not from a military family, and I do not have any friends or relatives who are serving or have served overseas. It should be mentioned that my family relatively recently immigrated to the United States so I don't even have parents or grandparents that served in Vietnam or WWII, as some people who already posted do. I am pretty much as distant from the war as is possible while living in America.

That being said, I do care about the war and I have been against it from the beginning. I do not usually watch the nightly news, so I get most of my news from websites online such as Reuters and MSN, since it is my home page. I also try to read newspapers like the Wall Street Journal for information that I might not get online. Of course, I watch television programs like the Daily Show and the Colbert Report like most people my age do, but I do not consider that I get my news from them. I think that one would be severely misinformed about the country and the world today if TV shows like those were their sole source of information. They are not real news programs; they are only meant for a laugh, and that is what I watch them for. I'm sure that most news programs and websites have a political bias, but I think that it is virtually unavoidable. It is extremely difficult to find true unbiased reporting, so I try to take everything that I read or hear with a grain of salt.

Question from a student and essay on film...

I received the following question from a student today via email:

Project one requires that we make "an original argument concerning the impact of art on war, or conversely war on art"

Are we only using official wars, or can I use the war on drugs, or the war on alcohol and prohibition in America?

It's a great question, and very much in the spirit of the course. So the answer is YES!

The challenge will be to do something original. Simply pointing out that a lot of music is influenced by the war on drugs won't cut it. The author will need to get into deeper connections...But it will be a great project if they can get inside the topic and ask "why" five or more times.

This week's New Yorker magazine reviews Stop-Loss. The review is a mini-analysis of film and Iraq and a great read. Find it here.

Most of the recent feature films about Iraq (“Rendition,” “Lions for Lambs,” “Redaction”) have not been very good, and the public has stayed away from them. But audiences ignored Paul Haggis’s sternly beautiful and moving “In the Valley of Elah,” too. Something more than the usual resistance to “tough” subjects may be hurting these movies. The Bush Administration told us that we were waging a war for our survival, but it also suggested that most of us needn’t make sacrifices or even learn much about the conflict. Then again, some people may be so angered by the war that they don’t want to be confronted by it as entertainment.