By BRITTANY PRESTON, Central York High School
Teen Takeover staff
As an avid news watcher, I can say that it is quite disheartening to see day after day that another young soldier was killed by a roadside bomb or insurgent attack in Iraq. It is beyond my comprehension as to how any legislator can watch the news and still feel that we need to “stay the course� in Iraq. How many more service people need to lose their lives for our lawmakers on Capitol Hill to realize that we are traveling down a dead-end road?
We have heard over and over again that U.S. troops must stay in combat because of the threat to Iraq that is posed by our withdrawl. Has anyone considered the threat and consequences that are being suffered here in America because of this war? Has anyone realized that there are potentially disastrous situations brewing in North Korea, Iran, Israel and other countries?
The United States is making a tactical blunder by devoting so much energy and resources to a dead-end mission in Iraq when the world could erupt in World War III at any time.
It may also seem a mystery to many as to why the United States decided to engage in combat in the Middle East with the cover that we are promoting democracy and fighting terrorism. Many countries in the world are currently suffering from oppressive dictators or domestic terrorism, including the United States.
Hate crimes and racism are commonplace in cities all over, including York. I find it hard to believe that we can successfully fight terrorism in other parts of the world if we can’t look within our own country and see that groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Neo-Nazis are a form of terrorism just as troublesome as the Taliban. The current administration either needs to confess the real reason that we are invading the Middle East, or they need to put just as much effort into domestic “anti-terrorism� efforts.
In October 2003, when President Bush stood proudly smiling on a U.S. naval ship, he boldly declared “mission accomplished,� referring to the conflict in Iraq. However, almost three years later, U.S. troops are still fighting and billions of dollars are still being poured into the country. I am not sure what Bush was referring to when he gave himself a pat on the back for a job well done, but I know that the mission in Iraq is far from accomplished.
If President Bush and the Republican party really want a reason to brag, they should devote serious time and energy to drafting a plan that would prove through actions and not empty words that the conflict in Iraq is truly a “mission accomplished.�
The nightly news is an ominous reminder that the deadlock in Washington is only prolonging the time that American soldiers have to be away from their families, and the heavy financial burden on the national debt. Now is not a time for petty partisan stubbornness, but a time when Congress needs to unite and draft a plan to save America, starting with the removal of our troops from Iraq.
Congressional consideration of a withdrawl plan that would ensure the return and safety of our troops would prove to be the ultimate act of support for our troops.
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