Our topic to discuss this week has to be about the war on terror. I myself am not very well versed on the topic so I decided to do a little bit of research in order to form a more valid opinion on the subject.
I understand that it began with the nine eleven attacks. I understand that America wanted revenge. I understand that the United States wants to always have the upper hand and be respected. I understand that in order to maintain our dominance, retaliation was required or else we would have been viewed as cowards. I understand that President George W. Bush needed to make an executive decision. What I do not understand, however, is why the decision had to be war.
If the Bush administration decided to search and search for weapons of mass destruction, what made them think war was the only option? President Obama now states that we are simply at war with the al-Qaeda forced in Afghanistan. However, it is impossible to be at war with only a minute group, and also very unidentifiable enemy, in the middle of a large, under developed country. Thousands of people die everyday from the American troops stay in the Middle East. Yes, there may have been deaths before from terrorists, but even then, the numbers were lower. Civilian deaths are what make up the large count of people lost in battles. I find it ironic that the United States government decided to go to war to create peace: not only this war but throughout history, as well.
People may say that I am uninformed about the war or that I am ignorant; I would have to agree with those people. I do not desire to watch the news every night like my dad does. Sometimes I will sit with him and watch it just to be nice. However, I do not particularly enjoy watching fellow Americans being blown to pieces. I think war is an outdated form of resolution between parties and as one of the dominant countries of the world, we should be an example for those less fortunate and stand against this institution. War was useful back in the older days when the English language, and other languages for that matter, was less widely used and it was more difficult for members of different nations to communicate their plans. I believe that by participating in war, we are simply acting as Neanderthals.
How else may we deal with terrorism? There are ways. In this situation, I believe the Bush administration did what they believed was necessary because there had never been a civilian attack on American soil. People were scared for their lives and when people get scared their immediate instinct is to strike back. Even though it was a major set back to have been attacked in New York City, the Unites States government should not have been so rash in making the decision to put even more peoples’ lives in danger by going to war with al-Qaeda.
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I completely agree with Madelyn’s argument. I think that the Bush administration did have an impulsive reaction, as most humans would, to take revenge after the terrorist attacks. They also thought they needed to keep America dominant and everything. I do agree with Madelyn’s thought that war didn’t have to be the option they chose. It is impossible to be at war with a small group of unidentifiable people in a huge region of land. This goes back to my theory that the decision to go to war there was not very thoroughly thought out and there was not enough research or studying of the behaviors of the different groups in the Middle East. It is ironic that the U.S. has gone to war to create peace. I would even go as far as saying that we are fighting terrorism with terrorism. War is a very outdated form of resolution between two parties and I’m glad that I read Madelyn’s blog entry because I never would have thought of that on my own. It is a very good point. Not choosing war would have set an excellent example for the rest of the world and it would have been quite unexpected because of how the U.S. has previously handled hostile situations. I think this is why Americans are not open to the other options though. Everyone is so used to the U.S. being dominate by steamrolling or intimidating other countries that are hostile towards us. It is engrained into the American way of life.
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