For the past eight years of my life, the saying "If you're not willing to stand behind our troops, then feel free to stand in front of them," has been plastered on billboards, bumper stickers, and flyers to persuade anti-war activists in our nation to support the ongoing Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While this slogan has persuaded tons of Americans to stand behind the troops and support the war, unfortunately, they are not actually the ones who are TRULY standing behind our soldiers. Yes, they can provide monetary donations through fundraisers, write letters to troops, and do all of the other cookie cutter ideas that we have be doing for the past eight years, but who is actually burdened with the emotional support that these troops seek? The military families and communities are the ones who, even if they are against the war, HAVE to stand behind our troops. While the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan allow for military communities to prosper economically, there are so many more negative effects that ultimately make these wars detrimental to military families and communities.
Imagine being forced to meet your father when you are five years old, because he has been overseas your entire life. Imagine being a parent and not being able to see your child grow up. Imagine the constant fear you would feel at every single knock on your door because you are afraid that it is someone coming to tell you that your husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or sister has been killed in combat. Imagine having your significant other come back from war with post traumatic stress disorder, which ultimately changes their mind and makes them abusive to you and others, such as your children. Imagine reading in the paper almost everyday and see that a soldier has gone crazy and killed their wife or someone else. While you may only have to imagine these brutal images, for military families and communities, this is their everyday life.
Is it really fair for these innocent families and communities to face such turmoil when there are ways to prevent these wars? I think not. Why should they be the ones to suffer the consequences? I understand that there are certain reason to go to war, but if those reasons (or nuclear weapons) do not exists anymore, then why are we still overseas and bringing so much pain upon these families and communities? I know that money is a huge deal in our country and with the current economic unstableness in our nation, it is even more important now, but is it worth the cost of destroying a person? Is it worth the cost to destroy a family? I do not know about you, but I strongly believe that the money is NOT worth the destruction.
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I agree too. The money is not worth it to destroy families over for a pointless war. And I can not imagine the pain a family goes through knowing that their love one may leave and never come back, alive or in the right state of mind. I just hate how some presidents do not think much of an individual soldier when sending them off to war, all the president is thinking about is doing what is best for the country. This is understanding, but why do it over a war that is so pointless in many ways than one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your arguments in this post completely. Soldiers are away from their families for long periods of time, and when they do come home they are sometimes mentally unstable. You pointed out in your last paragraph that the current economic situation is not good. I think that you could also tie into your argument, on this topic, that the money being spent on this "pointless war" is part of what is affecting our economy. This in turn affects not only the families of soldiers, but all American families and their way of life.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the money is not worth the destruction. Possibly talk a little about how the soldiers are affected, and how that influences their "new" relationship with their families. Definitely look up statistics about how much money is being spent on what, and then compare that to how many lives were lost and how long the war went on. The Vietnam War lasted from 1945-1975 http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index.html and we lost 58,000 lives and had 350,000 casualties. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm
ReplyDeleteWe are inventing all sorts of new technologies (look at superweapns' blog), but they have not helped us end the war any faster. Don't forget to add in counterarguments about how the money is worth it, so you do not appear biased. Overall, very well written and I agree that money is not worth it to destroy a family over a pointless war.
To Tarheel5: The economic issue is definitely an issue that I plan to touch a lot about within my blog, especially with the current economic situation that our country is experiencing.
ReplyDeleteTo Seven: Thank you for analyzing the potential for me to be bias, due to my lack on information about how the money spent on the war could potentially be a good thing.