BlueAngel

I Want to Believe in This War

I would love to believe in this war. I love American whole-
heartedly. I would love nothing more than to see Osama bin
Laden and his followers dead - not as martyrs, but with
shame. I would love to see the Taliban fall to a
government which will bring peace and prosperity to
Afghanistan. I would love to see an end to terrorism and
hate.

However, as much as I would love to say that I am 100% sure
that my government is doing the right thing, I can't
because I'm not. On one hand, I see that we are doing what
we pretty much have to do. What happened to our country on
September 11 cannot be ignored. Attacks on Al Qaeda and
the Taliban are necessary. On the other hand, I hear news
every few days of a bomb that's gone astray and has killed
innocent Afghan citizens. I understand that there will be
mistakes in where bombs land, but I can't help but wonder
how much of an impact those mistakes are going to have in
the long run.

In the beginning, the United States was pledged to careful
resolve. Appropriate action for the appropriate stimulus.
Are we bordering on stepping over the line between
appropriate and overly aggressive?

The reason we were attacked in the first place is because
we are hated. Many people do not like our influence in the
Middle East, and probably with reason. We helped to drive
many Palestinians out of their homes when the state of
Isreal was established in 1948. Our sanctions on Iraq are
killing people every day. Do you think Saddam Hussein is
suffering any? Of course not. He's getting money from the
oil they are smuggling out of the country to trade. But
there are many poor Iraqi civilians who are starving.
Result: Anti-American groups like Al Qaeda.

Right now, we have the support of many governments. But
how long can we keep that support if we continue to make
life harder for Middle Eastern civilians- especially
Muslims? By hurting the innocents, we are only feeding the
fire of hate towards us.

I don't pretend to be an expert on international
relations. I don't know exactly what every circumstance
is. I don't know what we should do to solve this problem
or even if we can. But I do know that I want this campaign
to be successful. I want Americans to feel safe again. I
want people in the Mid East who've probably never felt safe
in their lives to feel safe. Most of all, I just want
America to do the right thing to show the world that we are
a great country.