Why We Fight

24 October 1945: This is the date that forever placed the United States of America into a role that we have yet to relinquish; "The World's Police," as the United Nations was established. Through the years, there has been many conflicts in which we get involved in just because we are in that role; We are, and even though some say we are not, the world's military superpower and we have the ability to fight the fights that some opressed countries cannot. We attempted this in Vietnam with little to no success... We again tried and succeeded in Panama and would have been Haiti as well. Now, as Saddam Hussein was completely out of control and was a tyrranous dictator, we moved in to "free the oppressed." Is this why we fight now?

11 September 2001: Terrorists crash planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentegon and supposedly were sending one to the White House but was thwarted due to a few brave passengers on that plane, United 93. This day, which is our modern day "Pearl Harbor," set into motion events that have been crippling this nation since. Shortly thereafter, the United States Army via the Rangers and various Special Forces Units invaded Afghanistan which began our Global War on Terrorism via Operation Enduring Freedom. Is this why we fight?

During the Bush adminstration, our country was thrust into the conflict of Operation Enduring Freedom as we moved into Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and Al Qaeida regimes, regimes responsible for the September 11th attacks. The United States Army spearheaded the operation by parachuting the Army Rangers and various Special Forces units into Khandahar to take the airport there. This move was supported hands down by the American public and was continued to be supported by the majority of Americans until recently. This fight was to thwart terrorism... an idea.

Again, in 2003, the United States military was thrust into action with the beginning of the Operation Iraqi Freedom conflict. This move was fairly criticized and is highly criticized today. The driving force behind the invasion into Iraq was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, a speculation that turned out to be false. The real point that we were going to be removing a tyrant from power was lost and thus, causing much irritation with the American public.

How do I feel about it? Well, with me being an American soldier, I am not really supposed to say much about anything but, I am going to... Do I think we should be here? At this point, no... Now, we are just wasting taxpayer money being here (and yes, I pay those taxes too). The Iraqi Army has grown to be dependent upon us while we are supposed to be making them independent. We continue to pander to the leadership of Iraq by giving them money, giving them supplies and equipment, and by doing their military's job for them. Case in point is the current situation that I am in... We have been tasked to occupy and assist in combined, partnered checkpoints for the upcoming elections. These checkpoints are nothing more than traffic control points on steroids. We are now constructing these new checkpoints and small camps throughout Iraq... I thought we were supposed to be downsizing here and now, we are adding to everything. In my opinion, by putting American soldiers on main roads with the Iraqi Army and another group known as Pesh, we are putting soldiers in unnecessary harms way just to please some lazy Iraqi official. This is their country and from what I have seen in my travels, they don't want us here any longer anyway. So... Should we be here? In the beginning, Yes... Now... No.

Afghanistan... We must continue this fight... We must. We started this fight to keep terrorism at bay and Afghanistan is a notorious breeding ground for terrorists. The terrorists that attacked the World Trade Center were trained here and still, the man at the top of the Heirarchy in the terrorist network in Afghanistan is still at large, Osama Bin Laden.

Iraq... We should finish this fight... It is almost over and we cannot continue to get caught up in the laziness of the members of this Iraqi government and military. We cannot and must not continue to babysit and hold these guys hands for no reason. This Iraqi military is ready to do what it needs to do to secure its country but will not do that until we say, "NO MORE."

Terrorism... Should we continue to fight terrorism... No... Terrorism is an idea... However, we should fight those responsible and not allow countries to harbor those terrorists. We have become too trusting of a nation in this world. We must be firm and stand tall and strong as an oak.

We need to do what needs to be done and not pander to all these people around the world... We must let these countries of Iraq and Afghanistan start to take care of themselves because if we do not... These conflicts will drag on forever and we will continue to waste money on unwinnable wars.

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William H. Cobb