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Home Small Wars Project Perspectives on Afganistan Midterm Assignment Student Recommendations - Position Essays

TASK II: Write and Post a POSITION ESSAY to the wiki. Due Thursday, December 15th. Write an essay that advances a well-supported position on the question below and post it on: Student Recommendations wiki **How should the United States proceed in Afghanistan? ** Lexie Morrison Buchholtz-Sidor Afghanistan Prospective, p. 7 12/15/11 Until it’s Safe  I think America should proceed in Afghanistan until Afghanistan has a strong, stable central government. We have been in Afghanistan since 2001 trying to take down Al Qaeda, a terrorist group. Ever since the troops arrived in Afghanistan in 2001 “87 percent [of Afghans] say the army [has helped] improve the security situation in [their] country” (Inderfurth, and Eliot Jr.). This war is a comparative justice; “the injustice suffered by one party must significantly outweigh that suffered by the other” (Criteria for a Just War). Afghans are suffering much more than Americans, who would prefer the war to end because it is too expensive or there are too many troops gone overseas. “More than half [of Afghans] say they fear for personal safety” even with the troops there (Inderfurth and Eliot Jr.). Protecting and potentially saving a human life is more important than saving a couple bucks. The war in Afghanistan is also a distinction war. The U.S. is aiming toward eliminating the enemy that is Al Qaeda. While thousands of civilians have died (both because of Al Qaeda attacks and US attacks) the US is trying to eliminate the possibility of civilian deaths by using newer, better weapons and technology, such as drones. If we stay for a few more years, Afghanistan could be completely safe from Al Qaeda and not have such a corrupt government.

Talat Masood is a famous Pakistani political commentator and retired Lt. General of the Pakistan Army (Morrison, Lexie). Masood said that he believes that “the most dangerous and counterproductive step would be for the United States Congress to drastically cut financing for Pakistan’s military… [while] such a punitive measure might satisfy American[s]… it would have several unhappy consequences” (New York Times). Right now America and Pakistan are not getting along too well, and Masood thinks that we need to get along before we can even think about withdrawing troops from the Middle East (Morrison, Lexie). I think he is right, with such corrupt governments in the Middle East you never know what could go wrong, and we should be prepared for anything.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">General John R. Allen serves for the US military. He believes that we should stay in Afghanistan until their government is not so corrupt. He said “we will support the Afghan government as it strengthens governance and rule of law” (B., Bobby). Allen believes that we should stay in Afghanistan until their government is sufficiently ready to be left on its own without help from other countries. He wants to leave when “the Afghanistan police and armed forces can enforce laws, and will not be taken over by the Taliban or any other rebel group” (B., Bobby). I completely agree with General John R. Allen, in the fact that we can leave once the Afghanistan government can take care of their own people.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Lara Olsen works for a non-government organization assisting Afghanistan. Going back to the fact that we need to stay in Afghanistan to protect the people there because it is more important than saving money, Laura Olsen wants to help the people of Afghanistan on a humanitarian level. She does not support war, but if the US leaves then non-government organizations wont be able to enter Afghanistan anymore, which means that they can’t help the people there (D., Corbin). “She focuses her research on conflict management and peace building” (D., Corbin). In one of her research papers she wrote that “a fifth of children die before they reach the age of five” (Olsen, Lara).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I think that we should stay in Afghanistan for a while, until things die down with the Taliban’s threats and the corrupt governments. But I also think we should take a step back, and figure out where we can save money because the cost for the Afghan war is hurting the US economy; $1 out of every $4 given to the military is wasted (Blimes and Stiglitz). Americans are unhappy with how much the war is costing, and if we leave Afghanistan then Middle Eastern countries will be unhappy with our leaving. For the time being, I think a good solution to this ongoing problem would be to find ways to reduce excessive military expenses. But overall we need to stay in Afghanistan because it is the right thing to do; we cannot sit on the side lines and watch innocent people die and become suppressed by the Taliban again.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Morrison, Lexie. "Talat Masood." Wikispaces. N.p., Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. http://buchholtzsidoramericanstudies.wikispaces.com

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Masood, Talat. "Patience, Not Punishment, for Pakistan." //The New York Times// 15

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">May 2011: n. pag.New York Times, The Opinion Pages. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">< <span style="background-color: initial; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|http://www.nytimes.com] <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">>.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Inderfurth, Karl F., and Theodore L. Elliot Jr. "Afghans in Transition."

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> //NYTimes.com//. N.p., 14 Nov. 2011. Web. Dec. 2011.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">"Criteria for a Just War.” //Plato.stanford.edu//. Stanford U Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 28 July 2005. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">D., Corbin. "Lara Olsen." //Wikispaces//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Olsen, Lara. “Fighting for Humanitarian Space: NGOs in Afghanistan.” //Journal of Military and Strategic Studies// Vol. 9.Issue 1 (2006): 1-28. //JMSS//. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <[|__http://www.jmss.org]

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">B., Bobby. "General John R. Allen." //Wikispaces//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Blimes, Linda J., and Joseph E. Stiglitz. "America's Costly War Machine." //Los// <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> //Angles Times//. N.p., 18 Sept. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.

A quality will essay will •open by setting up a context for the question--briefly explain why the unites States is fighting a war in Afghanistan, clearly done •develop a position or specific answer to the question that precisely states how the United States should proceed in Afghanistan, clearly done •use two criteria of the Just War Theory to analyze to what extent the U.S.'s involvement in Afghanistan is a Just War, clearly done •use three Perspectives to support your explanation of why our involvement in the war benefits or harms Afghanis, all three perspectives referenced •use three different Perspectives to support your explanation of why the war benefits or harms Americans three perspectives referenced •draw supporting information from the articles studied in class which are posted on Moodle, some articles referenced •wrap up the essay by restating the key reasons why your position is the best way for the U.S. to proceed in Afghanistan. Focused summary made • organize your ideas in extended power paragraphs, for the most part, competently done--make sure you always follow a citation with a sentence explaining how the evidence give the thesis authority •establish the credibility of sources, sources credited •cite sources internally and in a Works Cited, done, some minor formatting errors -- WC need to be in alphabetical order •edit language errors from writing, edited for language usage errors •post the essay on Student Recommendations done

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px;">Position Essay RUBRIC: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">A quality will essay will <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•open by setting up a context for the question--briefly explain why the unites States is fighting a war in Afghanistan, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•develop a position or specific answer to the question that precisely states how the United States should proceed in Afghanistan, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•use two criteria of the Just War Theory to analyze to what extent the U.S.'s involvement in Afghanistan is a Just War, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•use three Perspectives to support your explanation of why our involvement in the war benefits or harms AFGHANIS, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•use three different Perspectives to support your explanation of why the war benefits or harms AMERICANS, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•draw supporting information from the articles studied in class which are posted on Moodle, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•wrap up the essay by restating the key reasons why your position is the best way for the U.S. to proceed in Afghanistan. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•organize your ideas in extended power paragraphs, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•establish the credibility of sources, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•cite sources internally and in a Works Cited, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•edit language errors from writing, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">•post the essay on <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Student Recommendations