This week, President Obama announced the end of military action in Iraq. Your assignment this week is to watch the President's speech, and answer the question: Did we end the War in Iraq too soon, or too late, or should we have never gone there?
Please be thoughtful and respectful in your responses.
250+ Words. Due Tuesday @ 7am.
Posts
Alex Jagla Period 3
ReplyDeleteMission Accomplished! I think it’s about time we ended the war in Iraq. I don’t think we should have gone into Iraq in the first place. They never had WMDs and didn’t even pose a threat to us. The Bush administration just used scare tactics and the politics of fear to convince us and congress to go to war. It’s not right to scare someone into doing something, in fact it sounds kind of like extortion. They said Iraq had biological and chemical weapons and that they were close to obtaining nuclear weapons. We shocked and awed and then the only evil thing we found was an old dirty dictator hiding in hole. Then we blew some more stuff up and then even more stuff and before you know it both sides are blowing each other up for a very good and very productive seven years that we will never have back. We’ve spent about $745 billion dollars on the Iraq war alone. Instead of spending that money on a war we could have spent it on schools, health care, and renewable energy. It seems like the only people who benefited from the war were energy companies, like Exxon and Halliburton, and weapon’s manufacturers, like Lockheed Martin.
I don’t believe we ever should have gone there in the first place. They never really posed as a threat to our country and we don’t have any evidence that they actually have weapons of mass destruction. We have wasted billions of dollars that could have been spent restoring the economy by providing money for health care, and helping to create new jobs and help reboot the economy. Thousands of soldiers have died who had no reason to be there in the first place. We found a few things out about the terrorists and who some leaders are but at what expense...billions of dollars?? We also have weakened our relations with other nations because of the war, many countries lost that feeling of invincibility they think of when they think of America… cause we can’t even defeat a third world country. I also think that now that we are leaving them, there will be an eruption of terrorist acts throughout the country, because we are no longer there protecting the people. I also believe that we have done well in Iraq though; terrorist acts are at an all time low since we’ve entered. People have more of a sense of security then they previously did now with their new government and with their new security protecting the people. We took out many of the terrorist leaders and Al-kaida and other terrorist groups are not as much of a threat as it was before because of our presence there.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that the war in Iraq is a hard topic to speak about. There are so many opinions on it whether we should have gone in or not. As President Obama said in his speach, even though we have different views, we all are united for our military support. I feel that we had to do something after we were attacked, but not to have a war that is over seven years old. I believe that George W. Bush made up the fact that there were WMDs just to get us to support his desicion of entering into a war, but I do also believe we had to do something about the threats. It's a complicated topic, but the war should not have lasted this long, especially when we're not getting anything done. The only thing that is happening in our nation due to this war is the fact that our economy is down, there are fewer jobs, and the middle class working harder and more hours to survive. We spent over a trillion of dollars on this war where we could have spent it in our country to solve some of the problems we have now. Like President Obama also said in his speach, when we go to war, there will be problems created, but when we are done, the ashes of the war will develop new beginnings. I believe this very much because of course our nation will have issues going on when a war is happening, but when all is done, we all have to gain confidence and committment to bring everything back the way it should be. To start this change, though, is ending the war. I'm glad that we are training Iraq's military/security forces so we can slowly get our troops out and knowing that they will be ready for any attacks. I do believe, however, that we have to get out gradually because if we just leave all at once, I feel Iraq will be still be weak in the sense that they are still relying on us, so when they are attacked, they won't be ready. We need to get out soon though so the war can finally end.
ReplyDeleteI think the war in Iraq ended too late. I believe we did have a reason to be there in 2003, but now we should just move on. Like Obama said in his speech, “its time to turn the page.” In 2003, Bush believed there were weapons of mass destruction and there was a need to capture their dictator, Saddam Hussein. Now, that Hussein is dead, found no weapons and somewhat established a democracy in Iraq, there is no point for American Troops to be there. Often times the world expects the United States to be police officers of the world, and even though it may seem like a noble thing to do—we sacrifice so much money. We expensed billions of dollars in this war, and I think that is a billion too many. This war should have ended long ago. There are a lot of problems at home that need to be taken care of, such as the economy and lack of employment. These problems should be focused on more, than the ones in Iraq. We helped the people of Iraq stand on two feet, now its time they walked on their own. I don’t think its necessary to train the Iraqi Police. I think this because, last time we trained a foreign group, they turned into the Taliban. If anything, most work should be done in Afghanistan. Too much focus has been on Iraq, when really Afghanistan is the home of the Taliban...the ones who destroyed America on September 11th. We did good work in Iraq, but it is time to do the same in at home--in America.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we should have gone to war with Iraq when we did. I think we should have tried to solve the problem in a better way than going to war right away. Although, we did need to take action because we were attacked and we couldn’t just allow that to happen. But I do think that we ended our war in Iraq with very good intentions and I am glad that we were able to help them in order for the Iraqis to have future success as country. But I think that we did not need to stay there as long as we did. The Iraqi people are capable of doing things on their own. We could have started them with a solid foundation so they could build upon it. We did not need to do everything for them. I am very thankful for all of the service men who went overseas to fight for us. I also think that it is a good thing that we are focusing our attention onto Afghanistan because that is where it needs to be now to insure our country’s safety. It is about time that we focus our attention on our own country. We spent an unimaginable amount of money on the war when it really could have benefited our own country in our economic hardships. All in all I'm glad that our country can help others but it is time we focus on our own needs for the time being.
ReplyDeleteI think the war in Iraq ended late. I think in 2003, yes we had a reason to be there, but now we are fighting for nothing, no reason at all. Obama wants us to move forward. This war has been to long by knowing that houndreds of thounsands died, and thousands wounded. i believe we did go to war for a reason, we were getting attached and we had to take charge, we couldnt just stand around and do nothing, we needed to give support. Weve payed huge prices for the future of Iraq, and our men and women made huge sacrafices. We had a belief with Iraqie people. Since we met responsibilities, this war should end after helping. Ending this war earlier could have helped our financial issues right now with our recession. Now we are able to apply resouces, now if something else happens ever again like September 11th, we will know what to do and we will fight, and tackle the challenges. The most important task is to help our economy, get peoples jobs back, and help kids go to school, and get us out of this recession that the war put us in, even though it will be difficult but ending the war can help this. some people might have different views on this idea, but im glad that we are ending the war so we can focus more on our country and how to help what is about to get as bad as a depression.
ReplyDeleteIn 2003, we had a right to question Iraq we did not however have a right to start a war. They never posed an actual threat to our country and we still do not even have any evidence that they actually have weapons of mass destruction. We have wasted trillions of dollars that could have been spent in much better ways that instead have now put us even more in debt. Although we had a right to go there in the first place we didn’t really have a need to stay there any longer than a year or two. Although in the end now we are able to call them our allies, when we started our invasion, we were enemies. We lost many soldiers to the war and even more valuable money. As President Obama said, we must now turn the page and continue on with our lives. George W. Bush had a right to send us into the country under the thoughts that there were weapons of mass destruction however once we didn’t find those weapons of mass destruction, we should have left immediately. In continuing to fight the Iraqi people we not only lost respect from the Iraqi people we also lost the respect and lives of the American people. President Obama did the right thing by stopping the war however George W. Bush should have done this years ago. Although many may argue that we shouldn’t have gone there in the first place, what’s done is done and the fact is that after we entered there was no quickly ending it in a week, we needed to wait at least a year however 7 years is too much.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should have never gone to Iraq. This whole war was a giant misunderstanding of where a threat was coming from, in which we reacted too quickly and too hastily to, getting us stuck in this 10 year war in the first place. We couldn't pull out sooner then we did because when we found out that the threats we believed to be in Iraq were non-existant, we had already stepped in, already fired shots, and already caused a war. You can't just tap out on a 'my bad'; you have to follow through, get at least something done. And with the whole world watching, it was all the more reason we were forced to continue fighting this pseudowar. I do feel as thought it is a little late to be recalling soldiers, since we have shaken so many houses, sacrificed a few soldiers (compared to other wars, mind you), a LOT of time, and A LOT of money, all for a war that we never should have started. Remember though, saying such things is easy now that we look back, but back in 2001, everyone in the US was freaking out about the planes and the terrorists.... what fueled us, all of us, to cannon-ball inside of Iraq was the sudden, disturbing fear that such an attack implemented on us. Fear of instability, anarchy, chaos and violence threw many Americans off, including President Bush, and was what propelled us into this war 10 years ago. We should have never entered, but it was inevitable, what with all the panic the first outside attack at the US had on it's people. All we can do now is make sure we don't get shaken up as easily next time (God forbid) something as awful happens again. Then we can avoid repeating the past.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I feel that war is never a way of solving anything. So I’ve always felt that we never should have gone in the first place, but there’s obviously no changing that now. I feel that we are getting out of the war in perfect time. I wish we could have gotten out earlier and quicker, but if we didn’t get what we set out to accomplish done, no matter how long it took, all the sacrifices would have been for nothing. So I think leaving earlier on unfinished business would have been pointless. Obama mentioned in his speech that there will still be extremists who attack Iraqi civilians. Some people might believe that we should stay there longer and make sure that doesn’t happen, but I think that no matter where you go in the world, there will always be people stirring up trouble: it’s a fact of life. So I think staying longer would serve no purpose. I think it’s a brilliant idea to send in diplomats and other people to help Iraqis build up there government after we’ve basically ripped them to shreds. I also think it’s very noble of the United States troops to train Afghani soldiers to fight against the Taliban. Therefore, I mostly agree with everything that Obama stands by. The only problem I have with Obama and his speech was when he said that “we must use all elements of our power” and he listed “our economic strength” as part of our power. To me, that must be some sort of joke. Our economy is in the toilet currently and I feel like pretending that our economy is one of our strong suits right now is like believing it the tooth fairy: it sounds great and everything, but it’s no where near the truth. He did, however, address our economy later in the speech and how we must fight like the soldiers did, so he didn’t completely ignore our economic struggles. I just feel that listing it as part of our power isn’t exactly right. Basically, I feel we’re leaving the war in perfect time, even though I feel we shouldn’t have gone in the first place. The end.
ReplyDeleteI can easily see both arguments for why we went into war and why we shouldn’t have. The Iraqi people were in dire need of a governmental intervention, but on the other hand there’s plenty of people who believe we didn’t need to get this involved. I believe that it isn’t really worth debating if we should have went into war or not, because well, we did go to war and there’s no taking that back. So rather, the questions now are what is going to happen after pulling our combat troops out of Iraq and should we have removed them since we’ve gotten ourselves in so deep already.
ReplyDeleteWith the removal of troops from Iraq, it is my understanding that there still is some American military left behind to train Iraqi troops in what is an attempt to educate them and keep more government and social anarchy to break loose. With the combat troops leaving, I think educating the Iraqi army is an excellent idea, especially since it isn’t realistic to think that American troops would just stay in Iraq for ever more to defend them. The steps we have taken toward completely leaving Iraq are big steps that needed to be taken and I believe they could have been done a lot sooner, but later is better than never. The next steps are to make sure the Iraqi army (and people, for that matter) are well educated and trained so as to ensure their safety and wellbeing and to make sure the American troops will not have need to intervene in such a big way again.
I believe it is hard to pass judgment against ex-president Bush over his decision to invade the country of Iraq. If I was given the same intelligence, however false, I would have made the same decision. However, the were no Weapons of Mass Destruction. After a few months this truth became clear, and this is the point at which I began disagreeing with the Bush administrations handling of the Iraq War. Instead of acknowledging that they were wrong, the Bush administration changed face and made the war about liberating the people of Iraq from tyranny. After we had liberated the people from tyranny, the Bush adm. changed face again and made the war about spreading democracy. This made be a harsh statement, but it seemed liked the Bush adm. was trying to draw out the war. My views are that because of the largely unpopular war, the Bush Adm. needed to seem infallible and if they were ever proven wrong, it would ruin George Bush's entire legacy as a president. Unfortunately for him, the information did come out and ex-President Bush's legacy is a stake.
ReplyDeleteI never believed we should have entered the war in the Middle East. Rarely is violence the answer to anything, and in this instance it most definitely was not. The Bush administration lied to the American public about weapons of mass destruction and sent our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, into a violence ridden area with no concern for their safety. I firmly believe Bush used the issues in the Middle East to further his family’s agenda involving the oil trade. They would have no money if it weren’t for oil so he went in to protect his assets. American citizens died for his greed; this is not something we can take back. I have written to many soldiers in war zones, and none of them want to be there, they do it because they love their country. It is unreasonable and cruel to manipulate that loyalty and force these people to sacrifice their lives for something that is obviously not a threat to us.
ReplyDeleteIt is truly unfortunate that the United States got involved in the Middle East’s problems. We should have learned that our “help” would only create more hate, something we proved in another war not too long ago.
After the attacks on the World Trade Centers as well as the Pentagon, the United States of America had every right and reason to enter Iraq in search of the terrorists responsible for so many American deaths. The United States, however, did not have the right to invade Iraq and essentially overthrow their government in hopes of creating a democracy. Although I believe that democracy is the best form of government, The United States had no right to tell Iraq that democracy is the only way in which to successfully govern its people. Due to their ridiculously stubborn streak, however, The United States forced democracy upon the Iraqi people. Although I don’t agree with their actions, the results speak for themselves in that now Iraq is ready to take the defense of their country from both terrorists and other Middle Eastern countries. Therefore, despite the reasons, right or wrong, of The United States occupying Iraq, it is the perfect time for America to take its leave and turn defense over to the Iraqi military. It has long been known that the Al-Qaida terrorist group has been moving into Afghanistan and so it seems only fit that the “War on Terror” move along with it. As President Obama said in his speech, it is time to turn the page and move on to new and more pressing issues. By turning Iraq’s defense over to the Iraqi’s and moving to protect Afghanistan, The United States will continue to fight terrorism and make the world safer. So now, at the end of the conflict in Iraq, the United States looks to Nixon’s example of Vietnamization in order to slowly and safely leave Iraq in the hands of a sturdy Iraqi government and military.
ReplyDeleteAfter the terrorists attacked the world trade centers and the pentagon, I believe there was no choice but to act out in war. America had every right to go into Iraq and bring down the terrorist groups who planned out this attack. But however we did not have the right to invade Iraq and overthrow there government and try to push them into democracy. Also the after math of this war, we’ve spent about $745 billion dollars on the Iraq war alone. Instead of spending that money on a war we could have spent it on schools, health care, and renewable energy. Right now is the right time to leave Iraq because the terrorist group al-Qaida as been known to move to Afghanistan, and As President Obama said in his speech, it is time to turn the page and move on to new and more pressing issues. By turning Iraq’s defense over to the Iraqi’s and moving to protect Afghanistan. President Obama did the right thing by ending the war, but bush should’ve stopped it years ago, I am glad that we are stopping this war, the more important task is to put kids into school, give people jobs, and get us out of this recession, and being out of this war will help that.
ReplyDeleteI think that ending the war in Iraq was long overdue. Our original purpose for sending American troops had lost meaning. In 2003, we had appropriate reasoning for entering the war, in that it was merely a factor of self-defense. However, as the years progressed, these conflicts and original intentions reached a solution and were resolved, yet Americans still fought in combat on Iraqi soil. I cannot think of further reasoning for soldiers to remain at war other than to prove a point to their opponents. But what point was there to prove?
ReplyDeleteEach and every week the soldiers remained in combat, more and more civilians lost their lives. These lives were those of men, both young and old, whose family was in heartbreak and pure devastation after getting the call that was most dreaded. Over the last few years, the war slowly began to lose purpose, for it seemed to me that it was only creating further conflict. Men continued to be sent on the home front to fight, and young soldiers continued to come in for training. There wasn’t any sign that the government was gradually removing the forces or making peace. For the time the United States was at war in Iraq, I think the majority of the seven years spent there led to achieving great accomplishments. And although there are still Americans in Iraq, they are serving a beneficial purpose, for they are educating the Iraqis and training them to become successful and efficient leaders. Overall, our purpose there now, is to help them form a stable government. We are also working with them so they can become independent as a nation and gain the stability and support of their own people. Holding an election and allotting specific officials to both represent and run their country is only one step toward officially putting a successful end to this war.
I honestly think that we never should have gone to war with iraq. Bush originally stated that he declared war on Iraq because he believed that weapons of mass destruction were there. We still to this day have not found any nuclear weapons. We have many soldiers that have lost their lives in Iraq looking for weapons and fighting for our country! But those lives could have been saved if we had never gone to war with them in the first place. And even after the war was announced, the war finally being ended now is way overdue. We should not have involved ourselves in a conflict like this. Like Obama says in his speech, we should have let the Iraqis fix their government rather than forcing our government upon them and controlling their country for the last 10 years. Obama also states that open-ended war is not beneficial to any country. That is exactly what we did in Iraq. By finally ending this war in Iraq we are moving one step forward to fixing relations that have been ruined since september 11th. Especially since we honestly had no reason to be invading Iraq. I personally think that war should never be the answer to solving things, in some cases it is unavoidable, but in this case it was definitely avoidable. Bush’s decision to go to war was one I do not agree with, but I do commend him on the fact that he stuck with his decision. If this war had been avoided I would like to think that we could have found another way to resolve conflict with Iraq, but I guess we will never know.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we should have ever gone into war with Iraq in the first place. I don't think war is ever a solution that we should automatically consider. We obviously can't change that decision we made in 2003 now though. Even though we did end up going to war, I think it has lasted much longer than it needed to and that we are leaving too late. The damage to our country and theirs has already been done. We can't get back all of the lives that were lost. Sure, they died heroes, but they could have been heroes that are still with us today. Not only have we lost thousands of lives, we have also wasted millions of dollars in this war. The amount of money we have spent on this war is ridiculous. It could have gone towards our country and the people that are suffering here. We're not perfect and we can't just go around blowing our money on other countries' needs before our own. I don't agree with the majority of the decisions the Bush Administration made, but the Iraq War has to be one of the worst, if not the worst decision they made during Bush's term in office. Not only were they volunteering our citizens to risk their lives when it was unneccessary, they lied on numerous occasions about their intentions and a lot of the details involving our country at that time. I have very little respect for the Bush Administration because of the Iraq War. I'm just glad that we are getting out of it before we lose any more of our citizens.
ReplyDeletePersonally I am ecstatic about the fighting in Iraq finally being over. I never like to say that i disagree with the decisions that the President makes, often because I feel that if it wasn't in the country's best interest then it would not be happening. Concerning the war in Iraq, I definitely do not like the war in Iraq, but i feel that it must be important. Considering the war was called "Operation Iraqi Freedom", I think that we succeeded. By capturing and killing Saddam Hussein, we opened new opportunities for government in Iraq. WIth the threat of the Taliban against the United States, I strongly support the U.S. military in the Middle East trying to defeat the Taliban and other terrorist extremist groups. I think that it is great that we are pulling out combat troops and focusing our efforts on training the Iraqi military to do for themselves what we have been doing for close to 10 years now. With Iraq having the ability to protect themselves, they will be able to grow as a democratic nation, and we can focus on protecting our country and making sure that we are safe and successful in our endeavors. While the war in Iraq was a terrible thing, i believe that many positives rose from the war. I think we all owe a great deal of respect to our American troops as well as their families. As a military kid myself, I know how difficult it can be to have family members fighting in a war. I am extremely happy that that will not be a worry anymore. God Bless America! :)
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ReplyDeleteI think that we shouldn't of gone to war with Iraq, I think that yeah we did question the Iraqis, but at the same time we never had in evidence of them having weapons of mass destruction. America has wasted trillions of dollars on war only based on pure speculation. America has also risked and sacrificed the lives of the men and women of America on the Iraq war. In the end we did help Iraq and have tried to build a democracy on Iraqi soil, but at the same time was that the main goal of going their, The way Obama puts it as though we have made a partener and I feel like he might use that country to help us in the war in Afghanistan, like we helped them so they owe us kind of situations. But at the same time I feel like we intervene to much on Iraqi land, i feel like we forced them to be Democratic. At the same time yeah its good to help the Iraqi people and make them independent and free but at the same time at what cost and how many lives we sacrificed over it. I felt that maybe we should invest more money and time on the Afghanistan war since they are a big threat to America, I feel that we wasted so much on the Iraq war and that we should have put more in the Afghanistan war because that does oppose a big threat to Americans. even though we did accomplish some good i feel that we shouldn't of gone in the first place
ReplyDeleteIt is always a good thing when military troops are removed from a violent situation. The “war” going on in Iraq was completely irrational, and was not a necessary act- but the United States and our giant ego always has to go and intervene with other countries situations. Yes there was panic, and action should have been taken after the September eleventh incident, but the wrong actions taken place, and considerations were not thought through. The troops should not have been in Iraq in the first place, the suspicion already was that the terrorists were al Qaeda members located in Afghanistan. However we (as in Bush, and other politicians) decided that it was a good moment to take advantage of the situation in seek action in all places that we feel a little bit of the United States would be productive. . . We ended up sending thousands of men into a war that they didn’t even know what they were fighting for. There were so many misconceptions with the occurrences in Iraq that many people started to question in within a year of the campaign. And yet after almost ten years, we still had troupes risking their lives just to maintain the United States Jack Ass title. Nethertheless, we still entered Iraq, and because of all the action and influence that we put into that country, it seems almost as betrayal to leave the civilians unprotected now. I feel that troupes still need to be stationed in Iraq, to help preserve their peace (because just exiting all of the military action in the area now will result in complete anarchy and chaos in that part of the middle east). The Iraqi people had already felt betrayed by America when we helped protect them in Desert Storm, just to exit on them- I’m curious to see how our “help” ends out in the long run.
ReplyDeleteObama has made a life changing decision for everyone by having our troops removed from Iraq. I support his decision 100%. His decision was influences by the troops, United States citizens, and himself. I don’t think we ended the war too soon at all, if anything I think we may have ended it a bit late. But in this case, it doesn’t matter when or how were ending it, it’s the fact that its ending and it doesn’t haven’t to be a constant worry for those families who have loved ones fighting it the war. I do think it was not the best decision to take our troops to Iraq but at that time I feel like there was no other choice than to take that action. I know a lot of people weren’t happy with the decision of going to Iraq to fight, and there are still people who refuse to support the decision so I feel with taking the troops out of Iraq will solve a lot of issues that are going on today financially and mentally with the Americans. I think Obama is an amazing president and it takes a lot of confidence in someone to take on the role he plays and try and make everyone happy. This decision will do that trick for sure and hopefully will bring more peace through our country and our world.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I feel as though we should not have gone into the war in the first place. We could have used all the money that was wasted on other things such as health care or jobs or trying to jump start our economy. Although everybody has different views on the Iraq war, President Obama is right when he says that everybody is united when it comes down to military support. It’s true that even though the people that don’t support the war, support the soldiers fighting in the war. How can this be if don’t want the war. I feel that in the beginning of this whole deal, we rushed into war way too fast. All those threats that we thought were coming from them weren’t actually true. We got stuck in this war for much longer than we needed to be in it. When the president says that the troops are finally pulling out, in reality there are probably still thousands of troops still stationed there. Our panic in the beginning is what brought us there in the fist place. All of those lives we lost will never be back; all that money that was wasted is gone forever. To be honest, I feel like as a country we didn’t really gain anything at all from this war. I can only think of losses. I’m just glad we’re finally making the right decision to pull out.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a very good thing that Obama is ending the combat mission in Iraq. Like he said in his speech this was one of his promises while he was running for office, so it is nice to see he is going through with what he promised in the first place. It is also nice, because like a lot of the above people have said, war, in my opinion, never solves anything, it alwas seems to cause more problems. I think it is nice to hear that Obama wants to start focusing on the well being of our country, and he wants to "rebuild our nation here at home". Although I am glad to hear that the Iraqie governement is starting to feel stable again and the fact that in the future "Iraq will have a strong partner in the United States". I believe that this war had gone on too long already, and should have ended a long time ago, or not even started in the first place. But since that is in the past and can not be changed, I am glad to see that it is not advancing any further. I believe it is time to foucus on our needs, for example our economy, instead of other countries problems. Once again I am happy this mission combat is over, and i hope it will never have to resume.
ReplyDeleteI believe the war in Iraq was necessary but was ended later than it could have been. Once we succeeded in our mission against the Taliban and other terrorist forces against America, we should have left the fighting up to the Iraqi people themselves instead of fighting the war for them. President Obama stated that we have been training the Iraqi forces to fight for themselves since last summer which means that, for the past year, the defense of the Iraqi people has been better. Well I believe we should have started their training a few years ago so the United States could work with Iraq in the war instead of fighting ourselves until it calmed down and then letting Iraq deal with it alone. In my mind it would’ve been smarter to wean them into the fighting instead of just kind of leaving them alone because I fear we may eventually be sucked back into the war because our “partner” is in trouble again. But overall I believe the war was absolutely necessary. If this war was never fought, the United States would have witnessed countless more terrorist attacks other than those on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. In Iraq, we have completed the mission to end terrorism upon the United States. Now that we have accomplished this, as Obama said, we can focus on the offense in Afghanistan. Instead of fighting two separate wars we can focus all of our power on one and hopefully end the fight quickly and smoothly. However, I do believe that the war in Afghanistan could be over sooner if we ended the fighting in Iraq sooner which would leave Americans to focus on issues at home like our failing economy and immense unemployment.
ReplyDeleteI think that we ended the war with Iraq too late, but I am definitely glad that this chapter in American history has ended. I also don’t think that there was enough justification to go to war in the first place. Sure there was a suspicion of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction, but none of that was ever found. We had a motive to go, but I don’t think that there are enough reasons to back up why we stayed for as long as we did. We could have left as soon as we discovered that the weapons did not exist, and that they didn’t pose a real threat to the country. There was no need to spend all of that time and money in that dead end. There were also so many more lives lost than there ever needed to be. All of those billions wasted in the war could have gone towards fixing the problems that we have at home. While it is good that we helped Iraq, I think that there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed. The United States is always expected to intervene, but it is often criticized for helping. We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. I think that this time we could have ended the war over there earlier and started putting a dent into fixing our own problems. I am glad that Obama agrees with this and wants to move forward and start a new, better chapter for America.
ReplyDeleteI think that the war in Iraq should have ended a while ago. The war shouldn’t have continued this long anyway. In the beginning of the war it was ok to be there but troops should have been pulled out a year or two after entering Iraq. Ten years of combat is way too long. I don’t think that the army should be there teaching people in Iraq. They should be leaving now. The people of Iraq should already know how to run its own government and not have to be taught. I think that The Iraqi people are perfectly capable of being on there own and not needing the aid of the US. A lot of soldiers that have gone over to Iraq died for nothing. There was no reason for the war so there were a lot of wasted lives. There was also way to much time and money invested in this war. Billions of dollars wasted on this war when that money could have gone elsewhere like the falling economy.
ReplyDeleteAlthough many argue that the war in Iraq should’ve never happened, I strongly believe that it was our duty as Americans to step in and protect our country. I do think that it is now safe to send home our troops in Iraq, but our intentions of going there were very purposeful and at that time war was essential. Looking back to when we first went to war, Americans were in fear due to terrorist attacks and the belief that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This fear gave us more than enough reason to send soldiers to Iraq because if there did happen to be weapons of mass destruction, it would’ve been crucial that we found them before our country was in danger. Now that we have been there for seven and a half years, I think majority would agree that it is time for us to leave. I think the troops in Iraq are doing the best they can to rebuild Iraq and make it a safer environment and now more protected then ever. I strongly believe that it is our responsibility as Americans to step in when we are needed to form a stronger government in other countries and to spread democracy throughout. I agree with Obama keeping some troops in Iraq to build up their military incase of any attacks, which in his speech he says extremists will continue to invade. I think it is necessary to have connections with the Iraqi government which we will now have and have ties to a country so close to our enemy. I think it’s very important that we do still fight in Afghanistan and defeat Al-Qaida for the safety of our country. Over-all this war did benefit when it comes to forming a stronger government in Iraq and gets us one step closer to fighting off Al-Quida.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Iraqi war is an extremely controversial issue that is going to have debate about whether we ended the war too early or too late, regardless of Obama's actions and speech. Although I believe that war is a tragedy in itself and is a burden upon any country, I feel that if we did not act in 2003, America, along with Iraq, would have been in an even worse state. If we did not send troops to monitor action in Iraq, we would have been sending a message to Iraq and the world that we would tolerate such acts, which we know America doesn't stand for. In this sense, it was completely necessary. Even though I feel that the world presses too much pressure to be the country to help everyone, it just shows our strength as a nation: a strength that was desperately needed in Iraq. All of this aside, I do wish that the war could've ended sooner. I think we spent a little too much time in Iraq after we had sufficiently monitored it and got it back on its feet. Because of the excess time, we unfortunately lost billions dollars and and many heroes.
ReplyDeleteWe came out of Iraq way too late. Actually, we never should have gone and invaded the country in the first place. Yes, we were fighting terrorism because they were threatening us and hurting people, but we should not have declared war on the country. We should have been more discreet about it and maybe sent the FBI in or something. Too many people died for what we accomplished. There are still a lot of terrorists out there. I do not think that we were effective enough to justify our occupation of Iraq. Regardless of that, we spent a lot of money on that war. We should have been using that money to stimulate our economy or paying off our debt to other countries. I believe that part of the reason our economy is so bad now is because we spent so much money on the war when we actually were in a recession. Now were in another depression. The only difference is that people did not put all of their money in one investment in the stock market. Although we did have noble intentions, so I think that in the least we should have pulled out of there once it was clear a few years ago that our economy was unstable. Also, that part of the world has been in constant war since the beginning of civilization. It was foolish of us to think that we could invade there and suddenly we could stop all the violence. As long as there are conflicts with beliefs over there, there is going to be violence. We can’t stop it. So, we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq at all.
ReplyDeleteI believe that George bush and his administration deffinatly had a legitimate reason to invade iraq, expessaly after the tragic events that happend on our soil in New York City. After those events if they even had a hint that iraq could have weapons of mass destruction or to even be plotting other terrorist attacks against us, that would be reasonable enough evidence to go in and do a invasion of their county. Just for the safety and well-being of our county its necessary. If they did happen to have weapons of mass destruction like our goverment suspected there could have been another tragic event in a major city that would effect all of the people around it, with that being said im glad they took the chance and searched around for the weapons. Always better safe then sorry. I do feel like they got away from their major goal in the first place and stayed longer then necessary. They could have been pulled out alot sooner then 7 years but better late then never.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think that the United States should have never gone to war with Iraq. The United States had no business being there in the first place. I don’t believe it is practical to go to war with another country. Their were a lot more that could have been done with the resources that were being used in Iraq. The United States does not have an endless supply of men and women that can fight for the liberty of our nation. If the United States had never entered Iraq so many men and women would have been saved; less lives would have been lost. Even though I think that United States shouldn’t have gone to war with Iraq, I am very happy that President Obama has ended all military action in Iraq. I’m happy that men and women in the US armed forces will be coming home safely. Since the United States entered Iraq, which caused major conflict, I’m glad to know that the United States is not leaving Iraq any worse then it already was. The United States has actually made Iraq a better place and gave the nation so stability. I’m glad some good was done even though the United States shouldn’t have been there. The United States always wants to be the hero and always needs to fix every problem in the world. I think that the United States needs to focus on helping its self rather then everybody else. If we don’t help our selves first then we can’t help fix other nations problems. The United States should have never enters Iraq. It was a waste of time, money, resources, and too many American lives were lost.
ReplyDeleteI feel that, at the time with the evidence given we had, we had good reason to go to war. We have all heard of the old saying "rather be safe than sorry" and this works in the case of the Iraq war. IF the claims of WMD were true and America ignored them this could have turned out much worse. Now in hindsight it wasn't a legitimate excuse because these ended up being false statements. But was the war ended too late? I believe that when a war isn't heard about as much and when something big has to happen in order for a war to make it on the news it is getting a little late to be at war. I believe that a majority of the people in America could say that they forgot about the war a little because of other things going on such as, more recently, the oil spill. When we found out that there were no WMD and we got rid of Hussein we should have left because there was no longer a world threat which is why we were there in the first place. It's nice and all that we want to help them get their country on track but when the economy went down the drain we should have gotten out of Iraq and put full attention on getting the economy back on track.
ReplyDeleteI myself do not think that the decision made by the united states to enter war with iraq was the best way to solve the issue. I also believe that war, in general, should not be the method to solve conflicts between countries. In my opinion this war has been a waste; A waste of time, money, economy, and most of all lives. and for what outcomes? I believe that as result of the war, the benefits were not worth the costs. George Bush decided to go to war with in fear of terrorist attacks and expansion. The initial justification for the war was to search for weapons of mass destruction in iraq and disarm iraq. However, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found throughout the war. I think that the war should have ended a lot sooner. Obamas decision to withdraw the troops from Iraq and end combat operations was for the most part a good one. However, I think that taking out U.S involvement as a whole would not do good for Iraq as well as the US nation. It also does not appear to be a clear victory and with this I mean that the objectives were not all essentially completed. then again, no one can really say how long it would have taken or if it were even possible to complete those objectives. The mess that the united states is still out there whether they involved or not. In the end, the united states should not have entered the war in the first place.
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ReplyDeleteI think that America is leaving the war in Iraq at the right time. Initially, we were fighting in a war that seemed pointless to many Americans, but I think today Americans have a better understanding of what we were fighting for and what we have accomplished. I think a large part of this is due to the withdrawal of troops, while leaving support systems in place. When you hear we are fighting a "war on terror" we think it’s impossible. Terrorists will always exist in some form, so why fight a source of evil that will never go away? But when we hear "operation Iraqi freedom" the war takes on an entirely different meaning. This is a war we should fight, freedom is something that Americans have, value, and want to share with the world. This resolve that we have come to illustrates just this; we are not fighting against Iraq, but rather alongside them. Obama's decision to transition from combat to protection was a timely one, as supporters of the war grew weary both here and there. If this support had been entirely lost, the war in Iraq would have been viewed as a loss no matter what the outcome. However, it is important to help stabilize Iraq so that American’s see that the Iraq war did have a purpose and that the soldiers that did give their lives and their time fought for a worthy cause. I also think that staying true to the word ally, when referring to Iraq, is an important task the United States will face in the coming years.
ReplyDeleteI have always disagreed with the war in Iraq. I think that we should have never gone there in the first place. The Bush Administration never proved or showed any possible evidence, that there were reasons for us to go into Iraq & stop some unknown “weapons of mass destruction”. Our soldiers risked their lives for the sake of nothing. And instead they spent billions of dollars, which could have been beneficial to the citizens of America through some other resources. Billions of dollars spent/wasted & thousands of soldiers deceased, is the result of the “war” in Iraq. But I do understand and acknowledge that we helped & set straight a more disciplined army to Afghan. And I also agree with helping other nations, but in a manner that is beneficial and will not affect anyone involved in the process. Now, the war in Afghanistan is another problem. There is a cause for fighting over there. Terrorists do pose a grave threat & we must defend our nation. I honor the sacrifices that the soldiers of America and the courage their families portray. And to that I give President Obama a “standing ovation”, for his decision to bring back all our troops. All the families of these soldiers should be glad that they are coming back home & we should all be honored for their services that make and allow America to be a free country. But I think that there should be war only if our nation is at sake and if the people are at harm’s will.
ReplyDeleteJENNIFER GONZALEZ -3hr.
I believe that we never shouold have gone to Iraq in the first place. The fact that we were in there in the first place was for oil,whether our government admitted to it or not. As well the reason we were there was because they apparently had weapons of mass destruction and even when we didn't find any we still pursued the war in Iraq. They never even really posed a threat to us in the first place, so it was pointless to even be there. Overall it was a bad decision to start this costly war.
ReplyDeleteIm glad that we are leaving the war in Iraq. We were fighting a war for no reason. If it wasn't clear that they had WMD why would we go there in the first place. This was a war on terror but terrorism will always be present. It is pointless in my opinion to try and end terrorism when it will never leave. It cost billions and billions of dollars which could have benefited other things that right now with America's bad economy could have desperatly used it. I think the reward we got from fighting this war is nowhere near as great of the loses we had to make.
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