Why Are We At War...

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I agree with what Norman Mailer said in his essay, but there are points that I don't agree with. My perspective on all of this news about the war was limited because I don't really watch the news at all.

Before I read this book, I had never heard a description about the day of 9/11. When I read Dotson Rader's description of that day, I was speechless. I didn't realize how it had affected every single person in New York City. When we, as Americans, saw what was happening on television, we couldn't believe it. It is one thing to see it on tv, but a whole another matter to actuallyu witness it or to be a part of it. Knowing about it is one thing, but expriencing it is another.

One of Mailer's points is "We do no evil." How can we say that, if we do do evil? When anybody commits a murder, or kidnaps someone, we do evil. No matter what anyone says, these are acts of evil. How can we not do evil, if we go to war?

Why are we hated so much? I think that it is because we don't let anything get in our way. Now, that's not to say say that other countries let things get in their way. We stand for freedom, liberty, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of choice. We also stand for equal rights to every individual who wants to come to America, who dream of one day becoming someone special. There are places out there that keep a very short leash on their people. Now, why do they do that? I don't know. But I know this, that in one country it has gotten out of hand. I know someone who is from South Korea. Her parents sent her here to America to get a good education. They sent her here knowing the consequences. That they may never be able to see her again, that she might convert from their family religion of Buddhism, that she might want to stay and not return home. After knowing all of this, they loved her and still sent her here. Since then, as far as I know, she has seen her parents once, and that was the summer before she started her sophmore year of high school.

Everything about this war does create nightmares. Just think about all of our troops over in Iraq and Baghdad, they are risking their lives for us, but they are also seeing the cruelties of war. Today, I saw a report on CNN about a mother whose son had served in Iraq. She said that when he came home, he was never the same. Shortly after coming home, her son had commited suicide. Another part of the report gave the common top five wounds of War Veterans. The one with the highest percentage rate was post tramatic syndrom (13%).