Argumentative Reflection War Essay

Nobody likes war; it is so costly in so many ways. Lives are lost, property is destroyed, people are injured and some are disabled mentally and physically. Because of this many people think war must be avoided at all costs. All these facts regarding the high cost of war on a country are true. On the other hand there are situations in which a nation has an obligation to go to war. Their were many times in the United States history when the decision to enter a war was in question. World War II was a time when people were arguing about whether or not the United States should enter a war against Germany, Japan and their allies. When this war started WWI was still fresh in people’s memories. The citizens knew how bad war could be. Many people felt that these new problems were not the United States problems and war should be avoided. Author Jon Bridgman tells us in an article in the Seattle Post- Intelligencer â€Å"The nation was deeply and bitterly divided on the question of our participation in the war. American isolationists felt that the war in Europe and Asia was not our problem and that we should stay out of it†. Of course other people knew that war was going to come, because Germany and Japan were proving they wanted to take over the world. The argument was settled by Japan. There sneak attack on Pearl Harbor solved the argument. They forced us into the war. The attack they made in Pearl Harbor was a direct attack on the United States military and a direct attack on United States land. Now US citizens knew it was all out war for the countries survival. On September 11, 2001 the US was again attacked. This time it wasn’t by another country but by terrorists. It was similar to the Pearl Harbor attack because Americans were surprised and thousands of people lost their lives. The big difference was that the attack was not done by a country but by terrorists from many different countries. The citizens of the United States pretty much agreed that this was an evil act and that the terrorists needed to be stopped so that they could not attack again. The problem was that it was not a country that attacked but a terrorist group hiding and spread out across several countries. Who could the United States blame and hold responsible for the attacks? President George Bush immediately blamed Afghanistan and later Iraq for letting terrorists use their countries to train and operate. He felt these countries should be attacked so terrorists could be stopped. The President sent our troops to Afghanistan and the troops were successful in that area and then President Bush decided the US needed to invade Iraq. This is when the argument about going to war in another country was the United States concern. A lot of people had heard that, Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq was a supporter of terrorists and also a threat to the world. The argument about attacking Iraq was big. If you look b ack to 2003 when people were arguing this you can see that their was enough people who wanted to go to war. Nicholas Lemann wrote in an article in the New Yorker magazine that â€Å"Everyone agrees that Saddam Hussein is truly evil, everyone agrees he has weapons of mass destruction†. On the other side of the argument many countries and people disagreed with attacking Iraq. Many inspections done by the United Nations could not find weapons of mass destruction. President Bush eventually convinced the United States Congress that Iraq was dangerous and the US army attacked Iraq. It turned out after a tough fight, the United States military could not find any weapons of mass destruction. A report in the Washington Post said â€Å"The new report from the Iraq Survey Group has confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt what most people have assumed for the past year: At the time of the 2003 U.S. invasion, Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction, and most of its programs to produce them were dormant.† The United States was wrong about the weapons. Even though the pro- war people were wrong about the weapons of mass destruction they felt that they were stopping a horrible dictator who could have been a big threat in the future. At least the army fought terrorists because as the war dragged on the United States did eventually find itself fighting terrorists because many terrorists came to Iraq to face the United States army. Lionel Beehner reported in the Backgrounder magazine that â€Å"Large-scale suicide attacks in Iraq are up in recent months, demonstrating that al-Qaeda in Iraq and its homegrown affiliates remain a potent force.† In both of these cases the United States went to war to provide safety for United States citizens. In both these cases the United States was attacked. In both these case people debated and argued about going to war .Yes many people were killed and injured but these examples show that there is definitely situations when a country is obligated to go to war. Works Cited John Bridgman â€Å"Lessons learned from two days of infamy† Seattle Post -Intelligencer Sunday December 2, 2001 Nicholas Lemann â€Å" How It Came To War† The New Yorker March 31, 2003 Editorial â€Å"Weapons That Weren’t There† The Washington Post October 7,2004 Lionel Beehner â€Å"Al-Qaeda in Iraq: Resurging or Splintering? Backgrounder