The events that took place on Tuesday September 11, 2001 were anything short of horrific. I can only attempt to select words to describe how the terrorist attacks caused a great nation to feel: shocked, saddened, appalled, frightened, even enraged. Immediately Americans rallied up, not long thereafter, calling for an act of retaliation. Obviously, the mastermind of the event does indeed deserve to get what?s coming to him, but just exactly how far should the US take it? No matter what, the United States and the Bush administration should do their best to prevent direct warfare.
Already Americans want to see their nation demolish Afghanistan. So why not nuke them, you say? That would bring the United States no good. Afghanistan is a poor nation which lacks any real targets. To destroy their nation would be to destroy the little they have. This would set them back even further than they already are.
United States
English: Osama bin Laden interviewed for Daily Pak...
English: Hamid Mir interviewing Osama bin Laden fo...There are merely individuals, namely Osama bin Ladin, who are being targeted by the United States. Bombing part of Afghanistan, would not do anything against these individual men. Also, simply bombing the enemy would cause more nations to rally against the United States. Many nations already despise the US as it is. You saw them dancing in the streets in celebration on the eleventh. Another nuking would cause them to think even less of the big bad United States. This would also enflame the Arab world and cause them to consider this whole ordeal as a holy crusade. The number of our enemies could greatly increase. We do not want war.
We sit here and mourn over the loss of thousands of innocent lives that took place in New York and Washington, but are we not doing the same by bombing them? Yes they are from Afghanistan, our enemy, but they too are still human. There is no need to sink to their level and take out thousands of innocents. We especially, as Christians, need to recognize the sanctity of life and not be so blood thirsty for a mass destruction.
There has been talk of infiltrating Afghanistan with large quantities of Army and Marines, but who knows what they would have waiting for us. Who knows what weapons they truly have. Who knows how willing their people are to do battle. Now I know that Afghanistan doesn?t have the army and soldiers like the Vietnamese, but still anything can happen on foreign turf. Afghanistan is a very mountainous and desert region. As poor as it is, Afghanistan has gone to war before and won. They did battle twice with Britain in the last 100 years and had a 10 year war with powerful Germany. Using their home terrain to their advantage, Afghanistan was able to overcome the greater nations. One key strategy was hiding out in caves and ambushing the unsuspecting enemy. Last time we went to war in a strange foreign nation, Vietnam, we didn?t know what to expect. They were able to use their environment and strategy to outlast the powerful United States. The last thing we need is a recreation of Vietnam. America lost so many lives that it didn?t need to. They may be soldiers and may be trained in warfare, but nonetheless they are still Americans just like you and me. They are still humans, just like they next guy. We cannot afford to lose our men in such great amounts. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld stated that he plans to put 35,500 citizen soldiers on active duty with 50,000 reserves. The Army is also likely to contribute 10,000 National Guard and Reserve members. The only way to keep these men alive would be to avoid an all out war.
Attacking Afghanistan would also have it negative affects here in the United States. If we take action to Afghanistan, there will likely be some sort of Anti-war movement. If it gets strong enough it will cause the government to change its gameplan and have trouble carrying out what it wants to do. How much say would an anti-war movement truly have you might ask? Surprisingly, a whole lot. Think back to Vietnam where a great anti-war movement took place. The government soon became cautious with what it carried out and it ended up costing them.
Osama bin Laden has been labeled as the leader behind this whole ordeal. Stationed somewhere in Afghanistan, the United States will use high intelligence forces to track him down. President Bush has demanded his apprehension whether it be dead or alive. Would our government truly be safe if the mastermind were dead? Not likely. There?s still many so-called freedom fighters who look up to bin Ladin. How many, exactly, we don?t know. Killing bin Ladin would only cause his followers to view him as a martyr and rise up stronger than they have in the past. So why not bring him to trial, convict him and throw him in jail? Again this has its setbacks. Giving him a fair trial would also give him a stage to proclaim his views and opinions, allowing all the world to hear what he has to say. We do not need to boost his celebrity and have any more agreeing with this man then there already are. Then again, can we throw him in jail without trial? Not if we want to follow the American way. Bin Ladin and his men work in the shadows, they work behind the scenes. Bin Ladin constantly moves from hideout to hideout, rarely staying in the same place for long periods of time. If we attack where we think he is, he may already be gone. We must use intelligence, not warfare to track these men down before anything other tragedies occur.
If we plan to seek out bin Ladin, the United States must have the aid of Afghanistan?s neighboring countries to do so. We need to be able to use their land to get as close to bin Ladin as possible. We also need to join with the nations who are against Afghanistan themselves. However, their biggest threat, a man by the name of Ahmad shah Massood was killed a mere 2 days before the Attack on America by bin Ladin?s goons. Coincidence? I think not. Massood would have been able to lead the united states to their goal. Of course now that is no longer possible. Pakistan is crucial in helping us find bin Ladin as it shares a 1500-mile border with Afghanistan. Their leader has been very cooperative, but there are many citizens who accept the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam and are therefore backing bin Ladin and rallying against the United States. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak points out that if we join an alliance with some nations and become enemies with the rest, ?then we are going to fight each other without any reason.? Last Tuesday, terrorists shocked an entire world as they attacked the United States. Retaliation is set to take place in the near future. There is away around warfare. Highly strategic intelligence action must be taken. An all out combat warfare or bombing would accomplish nothing. We cannot afford to lose the lives of our fellow Americans nor take the lives of thousands of innocents. For we live under God and we are men not monsters.
U.S. propaganda leaflet used in Afghanistan, with ...
September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City: View ...
English: Two U.S. Army soldiers watch President Ob...