By Lindsey Shibelhut, Staff Reporter.
It has been 13 years since the events of September 11, 2001. A tragedy which not only changed our lives, but led to an 8-year war against Al Qaeda. We find ourselves fighting against a new “enemy”: ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). On Sept 23, Americans were at war again. An airstrike campaign was started in order to combat ISIS.
Has America not had enough of war? The war against ISIS begins and it’s far more complicated than just the “they hate us for our freedoms” argument.
Former U.S. Army General, Wesley Clark, made an appearance on “Democracy Now” in 2007 speaking about a memo that was discussed with him by another General. The memo stated that the Bush Administration had a plan to go to war with 7 countries within 5 years. The General, Clark says, told him, “We’re going to take out seven [middle eastern] countries in 5 years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran” This raises the question of a Syrian fight being either legitimate or was it planned all along?
There have also been other reports coming from different countries saying ISIS is a reactionary group created by U.S. involvement. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, said recently in a U.N. speech, “Certain intelligence agencies have put blades in the hands of madmen, who now spare no one… all those who have played a role in founding and supporting these terror groups must acknowledge their errors and apologize”. Is this the case? Have we created an enemy only to find once it was created it couldn’t be controlled and now has to be eradicated? Hillary Clinton addressed Congress in 2008 about Al Qaeda. Clinton states, “Let’s remember here, the people we are fighting today we funded 20 years ago…. but let’s be careful what we sow because we will harvest.”
I’ll admit these airstrikes may have a temporary effect on the situation, but not permanently without ground forces. No matter how many times we go to war, innocent men, women and children are “collateral damage”. What is never killed in these situations is the ideology. There will always be another radical group to continue the fight, just to be replaced with another name. Does this mean we stay in a constant state of war and fear?
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of a “military industrial complex” by saying, “We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex…We must learn how to compose differences not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.”
We never stop to ask where these groups came from? Who is funding them? Why? The cycle of being at war never ends. Our nation can’t afford to continue to be in a perpetual state of war and fear; nothing good ever comes of it.
