Iraq

This is a post for all the people who want to get out of Iraq now. While I think that the war, at this point, is pointless, we should NOT pull out. Also, for those who say that the war was never beneficial, I will cover that. There is a basis to these points, and please hear it out before passing judgment.

Imagine, for a moment, yourself as an Iraqi child. Poor and helpless against the tyrannical dictatorship that rules the land with an iron fist. Everyone around you is too scared to sometimes even go to work, because if there is one misstep, their family is killed. If Hussein gets mad enough, he may try to purge the entire nation of people like you(i.e. the Kurds). This constant fear and hate is the only thing besides religion that is prevalent in the society. Even religion holds death, however, because of ll the conflict.

Now, the Americans come in, and to your dismay, they punish the leader who caused your great state so much harm. They show you hope. They had to destroy some things to do it, and now terrorist factions spread through the land, and yet you feel safer than you ever have before. These American troops show some little children what it means to be loved, and to love someone back.

Then, imagine what it would be like if we took all that away. If instead of helping, we removed our support, leaving th infrastructure in tatters. If the terrorist warlords swept in and took control of the land. If your nation, the one that so many of the people you loved died for, split into three warring states, all hating the others more than anything. All this from a nation that almost began to rise from the ashes left by the fires of war.

Would you wish that on anyone? I know that willingly, most Americans would not wan to cause so much hardship to so many people. The common argument is that we're losing soldiers. The second gulf war has had the fewest American casualties for a major conflict we have actively participated in since the Spanish-American War, in 1898. And money? We are the richest nation on Earth. If it is our duty to help people, then this is where we need to be, when we need to be there.

America Today

So i've never really been into this blogging thing, but lately i've been thinking about a lot of things, and wondering how to get my ideas out. I figured that if there was any good way to do it, this would be one. I tossed around the idea of writing a column for the paper, but i was doubtful they'd take me. Maybe someday. Please leave your comments, as they would be really helpful in my future writings.

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So anyway, politics today seems kind of pointless to me at a glance.Its just a bunch of stuck up, old, corrupt people campaigning for what the interest groups and lobbies pay them for. The political, social, and economic theories that each politician holds prevents the whole from working smoothly, and what ends up happening is that nothing that matters ever seems to be addressed, leastways not passed. We end up with them passing pointless things like the ocular penetration act of 2007 (look it up if you don't know), and nothing ever gets done. I applaud the people who go into government to make a change, but it is very disheartening to see them all corrupted so quickly, or shot down without any way to prevent it.

While I concede that government is important, our political system is not able to be sustained such as it is much longer. Historically, when has a representative democracy worked for long? The longest one was just around 400 or 500 years, and most lasted 300 or less. Think of the Roman Republic, a most notable example. It started out pure, a great system, led by visionaries, forcing their way through bad policy laid down by absolute monarchs. It worked very well, until the senate chambers were soon filled by corruption, bigotry, and hypocrisy. The Republic disintegrated under this system until at last, Julius Caesar seemed to bring the people to their senses. This visionary man, who kept refusing the crown and the rule of Rome, had to lead an army against his great friend and fellow citizen to prevent the collapse of Rome. Then he had to die, and a great anarchy and civil war ensued, and the nation was rocked to its very foundations, upsetting the entire order of things, and creating an oppressive empire.

What will it take for us to realize that we need to change? How long will it be before civil war decides our policy? How long before an Augustus arises out of the masses and bears us out of war? Will history repeat itself as it has so many times? Or will America get smart and learn to resolve its affairs with love and compromise, instead of hate and stubbornness. Only time will tell.