Iraq
...’t even take his advisers opinions into consideration before acting out his decisions. First of all, we didn’t have nearly enough troops to fight the war on terrorism. General Anthony Zinni, the commander in chief of the United States Central Command from 1997 to 2000, thought that at least 350,000 troops should be sent to Iraq. He, along with many others, were extremely surprised when Bush only used 140,000 troops. That calculates to only 40% of what we needed, which is a very big miscalculation that can’t be overlooked when it causes hundreds of preventable deaths. Secondly, what little Iraqi support we initially had, we immediately lost. The citizens of Iraq felt invaded and misunderstood the behavior of United States troops. The Iraqi troops naturally retaliated by fighting back, since we were attacking their country. Iraqis didn’t want Americans in their land. In addition to not having Iraqi support, we don’t have any allies in this situation. Russia and Germany are only a couple of countries that disagree with our decisions. Also, one of our goals in Iraq was to build a democracy, and now that we are there, we don’t know how to provide their citizens with security or rebuild their economy. There is no authority, control, or security in Iraq. In The Road to Baghdad, by Howard A. Dewitt, he states, “The reasons that President George W. Bush selected for war are simple ones. If Saddam Hussein was replaced and democracy brought to Iraq, it would have lasting benefits for the Middle East,” (pg.113.) The third reason why we shouldn’t be in Iraq is because we don’t have the right motivations to be there. One alleged reason why we’re in Iraq is that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that he could use against America. However, we never had any actual, hardcore proof of weapons in Iraq. Even though it was likely Hussein had them, he is innocent until proven guilty. And even if there were weapons, they would be leftovers and nothing big and dangerous, according to General Zinni. Another “reason” why we invaded Iraq was to help the Iraqis realize the potential of their oil. It’s possible that we only wanted to help, but I believe we were also trying to help ourselves and ensure that the oil reached the rest of the world and eventually got to the United States. However, no matter how valuable oil gets, I don’t think it will ever be worth human blood. Also, now that we have been in Iraq for 19 months and thousands have been killed, many Iraqi citizens don’t care about protecting their country’s oil anymore; they just want the Americans to leave so the killing will stop. Lastly, many countries believe we are meddling with business that isn’t ours. For all these reasons, I believe that we don’t have the correct motivations to be invading Iraq. We should have solid reasons, such as specific terrorist attacks on our country and our people. The fourth and final reason why we shouldn’t be in Iraq is because the war is draining money and important resources as if it was water down the drain. So far, at least $200 billion has been spent on the war. The amount increases by hundreds every couple of seconds. It has been calculated that instead of spending all that money on guns and tanks, we could have supplied 7,250,000 people with scholarships to a four year college, with an additional one every ten seconds. Or, we could have fully funded anti hunger efforts for six years. We also could have spent that money on 14 years of helpful AIDS/HIV programs. But instead, we have used $200 billion to meddle and kill innocent people. The war on terrorism is also taking toll on the land and homes in Iraq. Sacred churches and shrines are currently filled with American troops with machine guns. Cemeteries are battle fields. American troops show absolutely no respect towards the Iraqis and their homeland. Some people continue to believe that we have made the right choice by invading Iraq. I agree that a few good things have come from the fight on terrorism. For example, several hospitals have been opened and are administering care to those in need. Saddam Hussein has been overthrown, which has helped the Iraqi people live a better and more independent life. Hussein and other dictators in Iraq were responsible for thousands of deaths, so I do consider it a good thing that we intervened, but all the deaths we have caused are still not justified. We have also met with unpredicted resistance from the Iraqi citizens, which proves we are not viewed as “helpful”. Some Iraqis don’t even want our troops there, so it would be best to bring them back home, where they belong and where we all want them. Perhaps the thing that makes me most angry about the war on terrorism is the fact that Bush doesn’t seem to r...