Title: End the Iraqi war
Specific Purpose: to persuade my audience that the war in Iraq is unnecessary
Introduction
3,996, that is how many American soldiers have died since march 2003. 514 billion, that is how much the country has spent on this war, which translates to $121,000 per person in the US.
The "war on terrorism" has unacceptable costs for the United States both emotionally and financially. In Iraq the United States faces the ugly prospect that its military adventure is deteriorating into a major failure. Right now I am going to explain to you the importance in ending this war.
Body
I. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the world seemed united in condemning as an assault on civilization. (Hertzberg)
A. With frustrating haste, the United States squandered world support by going to war against Iraq on March 20, 2003
1. Within days, American forces occupied that country, neutralizing all formal opposition.
B. Unfortunately, defeating the Iraqi army was only the beginning of the American role in Iraq, and for its continuation, the United States has proven wholly unprepared
1. Entering Iraq with unreasonable expectations that we would be welcomed as liberators, America brought a force that, for all its hardware, was less than one-third the number of military and police that Saddam Hussein had used to control his country.
2. Virtually no planning had been done about dealing with post-war Iraq
3. And critically, the United States had almost no interpreters among its invading troops. (Fallows)
C. Even the military strategy was flawed
1. The Pentagon ordered the Iraq army disbanded, without consulting its own officers in Iraq. This crated a huge block of unemployed, disaffected Iraqis.
2. followe...
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... this a contest between an increasingly isolated government and any voice that tries to stand against it.(Remnick)
Conclusion
In conclusion, the war on terror in Iraq is doomed to failure. Success could be had only by annihilating Iraq, the nation we are supposedly trying to save. Further, on the home front, the war is continually damaging our basic institutions. This cannot and should not go on.
Works Cited
Cockburn, Alexander. “The Truth About the War.” The Nation. 281:10 (Dec. 12, 2005).
Enders, David. “Iraqis Demand a U.S. Withdrawal.” The Nation. 281:18-21 (Oct. 3, 2005).
Fallows, James. “Success Without Victory.” Atlantic Monthly. 295; 80-92 (Jan/Feb. 2005).
Remnick, David. “Comment: Nattering Nabobs.” The New Yorker 81:33-34 (July 10/17, 2006).
Hertzberg, Hendrik. “Comment: Lost Love.” The New Yorker. 82:29-30 (Sept. 11, 2006).
September 11, 2001 marked a tragic day in the history of the United States; a terrorist attack had left the country shaken. It did not take long to determine those who were behind the attack and a call for retribution swept through the nation. Citizens in a wave of patriotism signed up for military service and the United States found resounding international support for their efforts in the war on terror. Little opposition was raised at the removal of the Taliban regime and there was much support for bringing Osama Bin Laden and the leaders of al-Qaeda to justice. Approval abroad diminished approximately a year and a half later when Afghanistan became a stepping stone to the administration’s larger ambition, the invasion of Iraq. The administration would invent several stories and in some cases remain silent of the truth where would prove positive for the Iraqi invasion. It seems they were willing to say anything to promote the largely unpopular and unnecessary war they were resolved on engaging in.
No matter how well intentioned the invasion of Iraq may have been, it was an act of violence and deception that has left many American men dead for no clear reason.
Denise Grady’s (2006) article sound a strong wake up call for the American government and for the American public to re-evaluate their guiding principles towards war in Iraq and the continued presence of the American soldiers in the Iraqi soil. Grady delineated the enormous damages the war had costs in not only monetary terms but also the future of thousands of promising young and talented men and women sent in the Iraq War; that had no clear benefits to them or the American people.
Host: On September the 11th 2001, the notorious terror organisation known as Al-Qaeda struck at the very heart of the United States. The death count was approximately 3,000; a nation was left in panic. To this day, counterterrorism experts and historians alike regard the event surrounding 9/11 as a turning point in US foreign relations. Outraged and fearful of radical terrorism from the middle-east, President Bush declared that in 2001 that it was a matter of freedoms; that “our very freedom has come under attack”. In his eyes, America was simply targeted because of its democratic and western values (CNN News, 2001). In the 14 years following this pivotal declaration, an aggressive, pre-emptive approach to terrorism replaced the traditional
The attacks that occurred on 9/11 took place on September 11th, 2001. In this devastating event, four different attacks had taken place. Each of the attacks were carried out by terrorists. The group responsible for the attack was Al-Qaeda, a militant Islamist organization that is known to be global in present day. The group itself has a network consisting of a Sunni Muslim movement that aims to make global Jihad happen. Furthermore, a stateless, multinational army that is ready to move at any given time. This terrorist group focuses on attacking non-Sunni Muslims, those who are not Muslim, and individuals who the group deems to be kafir. Ever since the late 1980s, Al-Qaeda has been wreaking havoc all around the world. The leader of the group once being Osama bin Laden. Three planes were bound for New York City while another plane headed towards Washington, D.C. which was supposed to take out the U.S. Capitol. Two of the airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center. One plane hitting the North Tower and the other hitting the South Tower. The third plane had crashed into the Pentagon taking out the western side of the building. The last and final plane was focused solely on taking out the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. but failed due to passengers of the plane coming hijacking it from the hijackers. The passengers attempted to take out the hijackers but sadly failed, crashing it into a field in Pennsylvania. Throughout the content of this paper, we will be focusing on the role of media when it comes to 9/11; more specifically: how the media's coverage of 9/11 manipulated our feelings towards 9/11, how it affected Islamophobia in America, and the lasting effects of 9/11.
September 11, 2001 was one of the most devastating and horrific events in the United States history. Americans feeling of a secure nation had been broken. Over 3,000 people and more than 400 police officers and firefighters were killed during the attacks on The World Trade Center and the Pentagon; in New York City and Washington, D.C. Today the term terrorism is known as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives (Birzer, Roberson). This term was clearly not defined for the United States for we had partial knowledge and experience with terrorist attacks; until the day September 11, 2001. At that time, President George W. Bush, stated over a televised address from the Oval Office, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” President Bush stood by this statement for the United States was about to retaliate and change the face of the criminal justice system for terrorism.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the United States came together with a staunch promise to “never forget” that day’s atrocities. Congressmen from opposing parties reached across the aisle and stood arm in arm at the Capitol to show their commitment to this pledge. But,when another terrorist attack had stunned New York City a century earlier, this promise did not exist. In 1920, a bombing on Wall Street rattled the city’s financial core and earned the title as the city’s worst terrorist attack until 2001. The assault came merely two years after the US debuted as a global superpower with World War 1’s end. Despite the attack on this newfound American identity, the bombing never found closure for proving for the first time that the US was not invincible.
Historical Significance: The September 11th, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, orchestrated by Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, were the events that launched the U.S. War on Terrorism. Al-Qaeda’s attack on the United States was carried out by members of radicalized Islamic groups, whose objective was to spread jihad against the secular influence of the West. This tragic event provided the historical b...
Response to terrorism. FreeRepublic, LLC, 10 Febuary 2001. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/537799/posts.
Michael Walzer is an esteemed retired professor from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Walzer has written many books, essays, and articles. His essay, Excusing Terror, is one that best relates to the current events happening around the world. In this essay, Walzer talks about different reasons that people would want to resort to terrorism. In this essay I will argue Walzers view on Terrorism is correct in that terrorism is wrong because it is akin to murder, it is random in who it targets, and no one has immunity. I will also offer an objection to Walzer’s theory and explain why it is not a valid one.
had to rethink their plan for counter insurgency due to many mistakes being made regarding the military’s tactics for fighting insurgents and the way America trained the Iraqi security forces. Military officials began to look back at America’s past wars like Vietnam and El Salvador to see how unconventional wars were won. Americans were able to see many “comparisons with the long, soul-destroying counterinsurgency in Vietnam.” In an unconventional war the enemy is more likely to have success because he has the home field advantage, knows the landscape, environment and local people much better than the foreign force. During Vietnam the U.S. had a high number of casualties reaching almost 60,000 as the U.S. was fighting an unconventional enemy, the Vietcong. As casualties increased the U.S. began to train and advise the South Vietnamese in order to defeat the
It is estimated that there were more than 13 million combatant fatalities.
of those under U.S. control. Under this promise on November 24. 2003 the president signed an authorization bill to set aside 401.3 billion dollars for the Department of Defense. This p...
The war left marks on the Korean peninsula and the world around it. Even though the Korean War was fairly short, no one knows the exact numbers of deaths. According to the history channel website, “nearly 5 million people died and almost 40,000 Americans died in action along with more than 100,000 wounded.” (Korean War, p.1) Every war is going to have its cost. The total approximation fot the United States involvement in Korea was about 67 billion (Calore, p.2).
The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition. The US wanted to destroy Saddam Hussein’s regime and bring democracy. To addition to that, US and its allies believed that Iraq had secret stocks of chemical and nuclear weapons, hence Iraq was a threat to the world (Axford 2010). In March 2003, US air bombed Baghdad and Saddam escaped Iraq. The invasion disarmed the government of Saddam Hussein. President Bush in March 2003 gave a premature speech, that tyrant of Iraq has fallen and US has freed its people. President Bush flew into Iraq to show the world that the war is over, even though nothing was accomplished (Kirk et al. 2014). Iraq was facing 13 years of scantions, therefore regime diverted its resources to flexible networks of patronage that kept it in power (Dodge 2007, 88). Iraq faced widespread of lawlessness and after the violent regime changed US could not control the situation. Iraqi civilians were looting, attacking ministries building and this resulted into a series of event (Kirk et al. 2014) . From a military perspective the regime was taken down, but they made no commitment to rebuild or secure the country.