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

An Endless War

America has gotten it’s self into an endless war: no beginning, no ending, foggy allies and an unknown enemy with unknown whereabouts. The Afghanistan war has lasted longer than the First and Second World Wars combined, and what was once accepted by the public to be a just war is now being questioned;“ polls throughout 2009 show a U.S. public divided on whether the war is even worth fighting” (Rendall). People are beginning to question whether our rising national debt and casualties are worth America’s waste of time, money, and blood, all to fight for motives that we are still unsure of. Vice President Biden remarked that “ besides the demography, geography and history of the region, we have a lot going for us”; in other words, we have no chance of winning, and we are simply adding ourselves to the list of nations who have tried to fight Afghanistan—not to mention the blind waste of resources to do so. America is not the policeman of the world; we do not have any business involving our self in another nation’s issue, and we should immediately send all of our troops’ home in order to remove ourselves from this endless war.

Before a person can determine how to proceed in Afghanistan, it is important to take a step back and analyze the overall justness of the war. According to the Jus Ad Bellum criteria, the Afghanistan war is not a just war. The most important criteria—Just Cause—is not followed; in order for a war to be just, “the reason for going to war needs to be just and cannot therefore be solely for recapturing things taken or punishing people who have done wrong”. We went into Afghanistan in response to the 9-11 attacks; of course the atrocities of 9-11 were wrong, but two wrongs to not make a right. We went to war in order to punish people for committing a wrong, and this is not a just cause for war. This brings us to the second major criterion: Right Intention. “Force may be used only in a truly just cause and solely for that purpose—correcting a suffered wrong is considered a right intention”. We clearly did not have the right intention, seeing as getting vengeance by killing Osama Bin Laden was our main motive. We went to war out of anger, and we sought to punish other’s wrongs; because our cause was not just, and we didn’t have the right intentions, the war in Afghanistan is not just.

Numerous aspects of America have been deeply wounded by our involvement in the war: money, time, and most importantly, 40,000 casualties. Experts and civilians from America and the Middle East alike agree that the Afghanistan war has done nothing but hurt America. Senator Dick Durbin feels that military victory in Afghanistan is impossible, and he questions “how can we send one more American soldier to fight and die in Afghanistan”. Stanley McChrystal, a retired four-star general in the United States Army, feels that “America didn’t know enough and we still don’t know enough” to be engaged in this war. He warns that the United States’ war with Afghanistan “will likely result in failure”. In addition to a lack of knowledge and the loss of life, the war has greatly hurt our economy. Ismail Salami, a Middle-East expert and writer, says that “the wars which Washington Officials have mounted have cost the U.S. public billions of dollars which could have been used instead for empowering American people”. These are three of the many experts who advise a removal of troops from Afghanistan in so that we can focus our money, time, and attention to the many pressing problems that needed to be attended to in America.

In addition to harming America, the war in Afghanistan is not helping Afghans. Many people feel – despite the common American perception that we are fighting some kind of humanitarian war effort—the people of Afghanistan were actually better off under the Taliban rule. Fariba Nawa, an Afghan-American journalist, says that the current Afghanistan “is a bigger mess than it was before and if we hadn’t gotten involved, it would have been fine, but we got involved”. She recognizes that there was some stability and security under Taliban rule, and many Afghans feel less safe and secure with the Americans invading their cities. Wahidullah Shahrani, Afghanistan minister of mines, expects “Afghanistan to be able to make it on their own after the U.S. leaves, [since] Afghanistan currently has billions of dollars worth of copper and gold”. This supports the reality that Afghanistan doesn’t need the outrageous amount of current donations that they receive from foreign aid (primarily the U.S.), and they shouldn’t need it when we leave, since they have a huge amount of natural resources that can become a major income for the nation. Finally, it is a mere myth that the war is helping Afghan women; “ This simplistic morality tale of how American soldiers would advance the rights of Afghan women” was merely a rallying call in order to get the American public to support—most importantly, fund—a seemingly endless war. It is a bitter truth that this war is not even helping the Afghans.

America has no reason to fight in Afghanistan. We are not fighting for American freedom; we are not fighting for Afghanistan’s freedom. We are not fighting terrorism; we are not fighting to kill Osama Bin Laden, or to revive women’s’ rights. Are we fighting Islamic Fundamentalism? If we are, then that goes against the American principle that a state can operate under any form of government that they find fitting. America has so many pressing issues right here at home—poverty, hunger, pollution, and obesity, to name a few—and we have no business looking to solve the issues of a country a half a world away. Who is supporting this war? I couldn’t tell you, since neither the American public nor the Afghan public is. I do know that my generation will be paying for it. This is a war of revenge—a war to get even for 9-11; but this war is unjust, for two wrongs do not make a right. If we are hurting both America and Afghanistan, than I have only one question: what are we doing? I strongly believe that immediately bringing home American troops from Afghanistan is the best way to proceed in Afghanistan; let’s bring our boys home, and use our resources to make American the best place that it can be.


 * Citation:**

Bunting, Madeleine. "The Afghan War and the Myth of Women's Rights." //The Hindu//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

Heuerman, Sarah. "Dick Durbin." //Wikispaces//. Sidor/ Buchholtz, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. .

Miller, Emily. "Ismail Salami." //Wikispaces//. Sidor/ Buchholtz, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. .

Rendall, Steve. "In Afghan Debate, Few Antiwar Op-Eds." //FAIR//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

Jascot, Becca. "Gen. Stanley McCrystal." //Wikispaces//. Sidor/ Buchholtz, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. .

Medich, Elena. " Wahidullah Shahrani ." //Wikispaces//. Sidor/ Buchholtz, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. .

VanWinkle, Katie. "Fariba Nawa." //Wikispaces//. Sidor/ Buchholtz, n.d. Web. 12 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, 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, competently done •establish the credibility of sources, NOT all sources are credited •cite sources internally and in a Works Cited, NO sources are cited internally •edit language errors from writing, edited for language usage errors •post the essay on Student Recommendations done