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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? ** The war on Afghanistan started out as just revenge for the terrorist attack on 9/11. Though it was an event that changed everyone’s lives in the United states and all over the world, the United states didn’t have “just” reasons for going to war, all they wanted to do was get back at the person who was believed to have started this war, Osama Bin Laden. Osama was shot this year, Navy Seal Team #6 was successful in what looked like the U.S.’s primary goal in the Afghanistan war. But yet there was still controversy on whether the U.S. should stay in Afghanistan.

This controversy is affecting everyone around the world, from Middle-Eastern Presidents, to U.S.’s senators and governors. I’m part of this controversy myself, and my views on this war are that the United States should not leave Afghanistan, because the country is being rebuilt while American troops are there, but the country might get torn down by Taliban if there’s no-one to stop them, even though Osama is dead there still other powerful members of the Taliban on the lose.

The United States didn’t have good intentions entering this war. Although they said that it’s goal was to eliminate threats not only for the United States but for Afghanistan, all there was behind was a feeling of revenge. But that feeling changed throughout the years. After a whole decade in Afghanistan the country has become a better place with American troops there. “ Force may be used only in a truly just cause and solely for that purpose-correcting a suffered wrong is considered a right intention”, that’s one of the just war criteria, and it was taken into consideration as years went by, and Afghanistan was being run over by not only Taliban, but by many other terrorist groups when the United States arrived, and there needed to be change, and the United States decided to assume that role and embrace this new goal the war had brought in. The U.S.’s is trying to keeps civilian casualties to a minimum, and that falls under the category of Distinction, and the U.S. is doing so by using drones to distinguish between Afghani citizens and terrorist groups.

Hands down, Afghanistan was chaotic when the U.S. first arrived a decade ago. Although Talat Massoot believes that American troops “made Pakistan and Afghanistan a lot safer” (Talat Massoot, Lexi M.), meaning that the benefits of American troops in Afghanistan weren’t just limited to one country, it was also helping with the protection of other countries. John McCain also believes that the U.S. has brought security by staying in Afghanistan, but his point of view is a little different then Massoot’s, he believes that “the fight in Afghanistan is critical to our national security” (John McCain, Michael W), and I agree with that statement, because if there are American troops in Afghanistan, then terrorist groups are going to have to fight them first before trying to come to America. General John R. also brings up a good view that relates to war in general, but that is specific to the war in Afghanistan, he states that “transition is a process, not an end state, and there will be further challenges as we move toward 2014” (General John R., Bobby B.) meaning that there are always going to be things the U.S.’s help will be needed in, and that moving needs to be a slow and steady process, it doesn’t all happen at once.

The U.S. also benefited Afghanistan in the long run by improving its economy. Hamid Karzay, the president of Afghanistan, said that “with the U.S.’s help, Afghanistan’s economy could be revived” (Hamid Karzay, Brooks M.), and I agree with President Karzay because the U.S. invests a lot of money on Afghanistan to make sure American troops are safe, and bit by bit, Afghanistan could restore its economy with that money, also if the United States left, Afghanistan’s GDP would drop “from 9% to 5-6%” (Investing or a-whoring). Veterans of Foreign wars also think the United States isn’t ready to retrieve from Afghanistan, they said “they do not believe they have been successful in bringing Afghanistan to a state of well being” (VFW, John M.), they meaning the United States. So the U.S. needs to make sure Afghanistan is going to maintain a state of well being if there’s no one there to help them, which isn’t the case now due to the fact that there are still many terrorist groups out there waiting for the right moment to strike. Also Lara Olsen beings up a point that will pay off in the next generations to come, she sais that “the U.S.’s presence can help bring stability in Afghanistan, so that children can go to school and people can get food” (Lara Olsen, Corbin D.) and why I find this so interesting is because if kids go to school, they’re most likely have the mentality of a regular schoolboy, and they will want to get a job in the future, which will help eliminate terrorism, because in my opinion terrorism is a way of living for the ones who couldn’t afford to sustain what they had, so if Lara is correct, soon the generation of blood thirsty terrorist would vanish, and a new generation of well motivated Afghanis would arise.

In conclusion, I don’t’ believe the United States should leave Afghanistan, at least not for another decade or so. Although it seems like a long time, it will pay off in the long run, because the rate or criminality and terrorism will go down, which will be the time American troops will be able to come home, without fearing for their country being attacked by terrorists.

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, consistently done •establish the credibility of sources, some sources not credited •cite sources internally and in a Works Cited, Internal citations and WC mostly correct-- web addressed truncated after .com •edit language errors from writing, minor language usage errors •post the essay on Student Recommendations done

Works Cited

D., Corbin. “Lara Olsen.” // American Studies Wiki //. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <__http://buchholtzsidoramericanstudies.wikispaces.com/ ‌ Report+on+NGOs--Lara+Olsen%2C__>.

M., Brooks. “Hamid Karzai-President of Afghanistan.” // American Studies Wiki //. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <__http://buchholtzsidoramericanstudies.wikispaces.com/ ‌ Hamid+Karzai%2C+President+of+Afghanistan__>.

Morrison, Lexie. "Talat Masood." Wikispaces. N.p., Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. http://buchholtzsidoramericanstudies.wikispaces.com

John M., U.S. Personnel in Afghanistan & Pakistan, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Diverse Perspective on Afghanistan assignment, December 12, 2011

http://buchholtzsidoramericanstudies.wikispaces.com/Veterans+of+Foreign+Wars+%28VFW+%29

Watkins, Michael. "John McCain." // Wikispaces //. Wiki, 7 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

Brunner, Bobby. "General John R. Allen." // Wikispaces //. Wiki, 12 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

"Investing or a-whoring?" The Economist 26 Nov. 2011, Print ed.: n. pag

Position Essay RUBRIC: 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, •develop a position or specific answer to the question that precisely states how the United States should proceed in Afghanistan, •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