In last week’s article, a very surprising and irritating article caught my eye regarding the “War on Terrorism.” “America: Don’t Back Down to Terrorism” seemed as though it was written to fill a space in the paper, and that offends me, since the topic is quite a serious one.
The writer, undeniably passionate on her stance on the war, claimed the Iraq War was not a war fought for oil, yet one to honorably battle terrorism. In addition, the writer expressed her feelings against troop removal, as that would be detrimental to both the United States and Iraq, and also supported the longevity of the war because it is one that we “cannot just walk out of.” Would that me us a winner?
Arguably, no, it would not. However, while I agree with the denial of total troop removal (slower is better!), there are MANY things this writer, and America, are forgetting.
Bush stated this war was not only a war on terrorism, but originally, we went into Iraq to get Saddam out of the way and impose a democratic government. We did this believing the theory that “democratic nations rarely, if ever, engage in war with one another.” Well, Saddam is dead.
What now? Now, we’re fighting insurgents who we blindly believed would accept us with open arms – well guess what? They haven’t.
And this “War on Terrorism”? Since this war began nearly five years ago, there has been more reported violence, more reports of terrorist activities and attempts in Iraq and abroad (targeted mainly to destroy Western ideologies) and much more hostility and tension between, not only the U.S. and other countries, but amongst the citizens of this nation. More noteably, our newly polished Democratic controlled Congress we just voted into office to take over the scandal-diseased Republican Party (don’t be fooled, I’m a registered Republican).
So what am I trying to say? Americans are tired and that’s why we want out. They are tired of fighting a war with no set strategy, proper leadership or exit plan. They are tired of fighting a war against something they can’t even understand. And above all, they are tired of fighting a war that is exhausting our finances, our families and, most importantly, our morale.
How can one country try to fight against an ideology that is dispersed throughout the entire globe?! As long as there is one person with a radical idea, terrorism will thrive – we cannot patrol and wage war against everyone we deem fit. Most wars have an enemy that can be properly identified – this war is fought by civilian men, women and even children. It’s a guerrilla war fought by unexpected militants. Not exactly a great combination. I do not support terrorism. I watched the Twin Towers go down on 9/11.
I felt the pain of my friends and family as OUR FRIENDS never came home that day from the city. I see the rusted bicycles left behind by those who never made it back at the train station in Harrison, N.J. all the time. I’ve been through lock-downs, anthrax scares and I watched the World Trade Center burn in a pile of rubble for months after its demise. My small town overlooking the skyline of New York City is scarred because of the terrorists who tried to take our lives away; and so, it has thus scarred me. Do I still believe we should seek justice?
Absolutely. But not like this.
