From Left Field: Decisions Concerning War
June 29th 2011 09:50
There is no greater decision for a man or woman in a position of leadership to make than the decision to engage in or stand against war.
In a modern culture addicted to quick and concise decisions it’s become far too easy for many people in the conversation to take complex issues and bundle them into yes or no answers.
After a decade of wars involving ground troops in foreign lands the citizens of the United States of America have grown weary of the harsh news that always follows the pain of conflict.
News of lives lost, disappearance of the innocence that accompanied decades of what some would consider peace and a harsh realization of the dangers that exist for every nation around the globe.
With this pain and the realization of all the mistakes made leading up to the conflicts that have defined the foreign policy agenda of the United States of America has come a call for an immediate end to military involvement in the countries of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Countries that were ruled by the iron fist of oppressive regime’s responsible for atrocities many people living in democratic nations could never possibly fully comprehend.
With the removal of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban from power what is left in these nations is a void.
A void that is currently being filled with the blood, sweat and weaponry of military forces maintaining the peace between warring factions within these nations and the outside influence of fundamentalist terrorist groups, nations looking to spread their influence in the region and a global financial crisis causing revolutions and uprisings around the world.
While it has become clear that the leadership of the United States of America has every intention of spending the next decade pulling military forces out of the region we must also ask ourselves what the cost of this action will be for the long term prosperity of the United States of America and the rest of the world.
The Middle East is a region that is far too often simplified into categories of conversation about the threat of Iran and other rogue nations looking to cause disruption to American interests when the discussion should be about what could and will happen to the world if we continue repeating the mistakes that lead us to the place we are at now.
A place that has its roots firmly planted in the actions of supporting groups with money and weapons to take out rogue leadership and nations whose policy we do not agree with only to have these same men and women once considered revolutionaries become the most wanted terrorists in the world.
When it comes to analyzing the decisions of our democratically elected leaders in the arena of foreign policy our decisions to support or reject their actions should never be placed into a filter of political party, admiration, religion, rumor or innuendo.
What should play into our decision making process is our ability to be free thinkers willing to work through the entire issue as opposed to skimming the surface and dealing with the dangerous consequences waiting for us down the road.
In the case of Afghanistan and Iraq it was only a timeframe of a few decades before our support in the region to fight against the threat of Iran and the Soviet Union came back to haunt us.
Crucial decisions that will affect us in this lifetime and our children’s lifetime are being made by democratically elected officials and it is up to the people to ensure that these decisions are in the best interests of the nation.
While the logic of the President of the United States of America being the best person to understand the direction of the nation still works as it has for 235 years there is still something to be said about the direction of foreign policy when the people of the United States of America are willing to leave their places of comfort to say the things that need to be said.
In a time of economic turmoil it is more important now than ever that the people stand up for and against critical issues because it is the right thing to do and not because it is on a political spin doctor’s agenda to get their party member elected.
When we can begin to work together towards achieving simple goals instead of maneuvering around the double-speak, agendas and falsehoods we can begin moving forward as society instead of fooling ourselves into believing the system we are currently using is working.
In a modern culture addicted to quick and concise decisions it’s become far too easy for many people in the conversation to take complex issues and bundle them into yes or no answers.
After a decade of wars involving ground troops in foreign lands the citizens of the United States of America have grown weary of the harsh news that always follows the pain of conflict.
News of lives lost, disappearance of the innocence that accompanied decades of what some would consider peace and a harsh realization of the dangers that exist for every nation around the globe.
With this pain and the realization of all the mistakes made leading up to the conflicts that have defined the foreign policy agenda of the United States of America has come a call for an immediate end to military involvement in the countries of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Countries that were ruled by the iron fist of oppressive regime’s responsible for atrocities many people living in democratic nations could never possibly fully comprehend.
With the removal of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban from power what is left in these nations is a void.
A void that is currently being filled with the blood, sweat and weaponry of military forces maintaining the peace between warring factions within these nations and the outside influence of fundamentalist terrorist groups, nations looking to spread their influence in the region and a global financial crisis causing revolutions and uprisings around the world.
While it has become clear that the leadership of the United States of America has every intention of spending the next decade pulling military forces out of the region we must also ask ourselves what the cost of this action will be for the long term prosperity of the United States of America and the rest of the world.
The Middle East is a region that is far too often simplified into categories of conversation about the threat of Iran and other rogue nations looking to cause disruption to American interests when the discussion should be about what could and will happen to the world if we continue repeating the mistakes that lead us to the place we are at now.
A place that has its roots firmly planted in the actions of supporting groups with money and weapons to take out rogue leadership and nations whose policy we do not agree with only to have these same men and women once considered revolutionaries become the most wanted terrorists in the world.
When it comes to analyzing the decisions of our democratically elected leaders in the arena of foreign policy our decisions to support or reject their actions should never be placed into a filter of political party, admiration, religion, rumor or innuendo.
What should play into our decision making process is our ability to be free thinkers willing to work through the entire issue as opposed to skimming the surface and dealing with the dangerous consequences waiting for us down the road.
In the case of Afghanistan and Iraq it was only a timeframe of a few decades before our support in the region to fight against the threat of Iran and the Soviet Union came back to haunt us.
Crucial decisions that will affect us in this lifetime and our children’s lifetime are being made by democratically elected officials and it is up to the people to ensure that these decisions are in the best interests of the nation.
While the logic of the President of the United States of America being the best person to understand the direction of the nation still works as it has for 235 years there is still something to be said about the direction of foreign policy when the people of the United States of America are willing to leave their places of comfort to say the things that need to be said.
In a time of economic turmoil it is more important now than ever that the people stand up for and against critical issues because it is the right thing to do and not because it is on a political spin doctor’s agenda to get their party member elected.
When we can begin to work together towards achieving simple goals instead of maneuvering around the double-speak, agendas and falsehoods we can begin moving forward as society instead of fooling ourselves into believing the system we are currently using is working.
Nuclear Cloud
| 32 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
