War of Choice?

Today in class we discussed the current situations in Iraq and Afghanistan and how they came to be. Were we forced to go to war, or did we choose to go to war?

In regards to Iraq, I believe we choose to go to war. Our justifications were that Sadddam needed to be taken out of power and they had weapons of mass destruction. Saddam had been a terrible dictator for decades. He was well know for his ruthlessness and killing thousands of his own citizens. In 1991, he even invaded Kuwait, and we stopped him. But we didn't take him out of power then. Why now? Personally I believe George Bush chose to invade Iraq because of personal interests. People have speculated that he had a grudge against Saddam for an assassination attempt on his father. Weapons of mass destruction was a total disaster. Plain and simple, there are none.

The conflict in Afghanistan was also a war of choice. I am anti-war, and I believe although we were attacked, we should not strike back. Ghandi once said that "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind." This mentality of striking back whenever we are struck is going to destroy the world. We cannot keep fighting everyone and trying to be the world police. Instead of invading Iraq, I believe we should have made drastic changes on how we live here in America. Tightening our security all around would help keep terrorists out of our country, preventing them from another attack.

But since we have invaded both Irag and Afghanistan, we now must deal with the consequences. The facts are:

As of today, there are 3837 American deaths in Iraq. (1) In 2006, the war has wiped out about 655,000 Iraqis or more than 500 people a day since the U.S.-led invasion. (2) It is estimated that the war has cost Americans 462 billion dollars. (3) Iraq has become a haven for terrorists and Al-queda has strenghtened not weakened. (4) Not to mention that this war has destablized the middle east, and people hate America more than ever.

These consequences are inevitable. If we enter a war without thinking through everything, many negative things arise. Most of the things on the list are not irreverisble, and if they are, it could be very difficult to change them back. The lives lost can never be replaced. The global American image could take time to increase. Rebuilding a government from scratch is also not so easy. If we never went to war, everything would be easier. There are so many consequences for a war, that why would we ever choose to go to war?

Sources:

1. Iraq Coalition Casuality Count, October 24 2007

2. CNN.com, October 11 2006

3. NationalPriorities.com

4. Washington Post, September 24 2006

Bong Hits 4 Jesus

Today in class we discussed a controversial sign Joseph Frederick, a high school senior made and displayed while attending a school function. It read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." Clearly this poster would raise issues at a school field trip, but the question is what if any punishment should be issued. When this incident happened in 2002, he received 10 days suspension for promoting drug-use on school grounds. Now even though I am a student, I am siding with the principal. If I was running a school and a student pulled out that sign, I would be outraged. Of course I would have ordered him to put it away.

The main reason I have no sympathy for Frederick is because of the stupidity of the situation. He was going to the Olympic Torch Parade. This is an international tradition that America is honored to have. An idiotic prank like that reflects badly on America's youth. I also think his motives for making the banner are childish. He wanted to get on TV. He wanted to upset the principal because of a previous conflict. Bringing a poster like that would obviously get media attention. If I knew him, I would be embarrassed for him and his actions. If he was protesting something, I might take sides with him. But there was no legitimate reason why he displayed that poster other than selfishness. I don't mean to demean civil rights, but I think he turned a prank into a waste of time for the supreme court and everyone who put energy into the issue.

Source:http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/25/free.speech/index.html

World Ratios

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:

There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
87 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth
and all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 ( yes, only 1 ) would have a collage education
1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent. The following is also something to ponder . . .

~If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation . . . you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

~If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death . . .you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

~If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep . . . you are richer than 75 % of this world.

~If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace. . . you are among the top 8 % of the world's wealthy.

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While all these statistics are shocking, the one I find the most shocking would be the last one. Spare change is relatively little money. How many times has anyone at New Trier seen a quarter on the ground and walked past it? I know I have many times. But we all see those commercials to feed children for pennies a day. Helping other people is something most of us could do a little more of because we are so blessed. My freshman year history teacher told us we had won the 'birth lottery.' I think when people my age leave college and realize how hard life is, they will appreciate the way of life our parents established for us.

Another statistic I appreciate is the fact that only one person has a college education. Now that junior year is in full swing, people are concerned more about college. Next year I know it will be even more intense with applications, recommendations, interviews, college visits and such. Since we go to New Trier and live in the United States, it is expected that we go to college. It is so much apart of our culture that thinking only 1% of the world attends college is astonishing to me.