My son is in the Army stationed in Iraq. How do you feel about the war?

Answer 1

This is one question where the answer will be varied depending on one's political and moral beliefs and viewpoints. The answer also depend on whether you politically support the leader(s) in power who made the decision to go to war in the first place.

But my personal opinion is this:

Wars should be avoided as much as possible. I believe that misunderstanding between nations must be settled through diplomacy and peaceful means. This is the purpose why every government assign diplomats for negotiating peace with other nations. I may be idealistic, but there are also situations where armed conflicts cannot be avoided. I would like to state one instance in recent history where I supported war. That was the "Second World War" (although I was born in the middle '60s; but I studied a great deal about its history). This is a war where every diplomatic means and peaceful negotiations were exhausted up to the last minute by the U.S.. The U.S. had been forced to fight the war because Pearl Harbor was attacked without warning by Japan and shortly afterwards, Japan, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. At the time, Hitler's Germany is already gobbling every free nation in Europe one by one, and the same was done by Japan in powerless Asian countries. It was just a matter of time when the whole world will be eventually dominated by these agressors. All of the free nations prevailed with the help of the U.S. and victory achieved. Those soldiers who had given up their lives to liberate the whole world are all heroes. The whole world is anonymously grateful to their sacrifices.

However, subsequent wars are filled with controversies. These are the Korean War, Vietnam War, War in Afghanistan and the Iraq Wars. I am saying this because very clearly, these wars could have been avoided, if the U.S. had chosen to do so. But the U.S. preferred to be involved due strategic considerations (during the Cold War) for fear that communism would spread in Korea and Vietnam. These wars could have been avoided if only the U.S. used every diplomatic means in negotiating with the former Soviet Union and China (although I know how difficult it could have been in carrying this out). But peace could have been achieved instead of war. The invasion of Afghanistan was carried out with the reason that Bin Laden is using that country as the base to his terrorist group. Waging war against this small nation could have been easily avoided by the U.S. as well. Sanctions and embargoes could have been enough to force this poor nation to give away Bin Laden. However, continuous bombing of that country only resulted in suffering and death of innocent civilians, not to mention the losses in U.S. troops sent to fight there. To the eyes of the Afghan people, the U.S. committed an act of agression and caused their suffering. This could have given Bin Laden sympathy and hatred to the U.S. troops. The Iraq war could also have been avoided. But the U.S. chose to invade and start the conflict there as well. The reason given for that invasion are U.S. allegations of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction, biological and chemical weapons, which later on turned out to be false, because nothing of the sort were ever found after Saddam Hussein was gone. Now U.S. troops are deeply embroiled and caught up in a war of sectarian violence in Iraq, and it has now become difficult for the U.S. to extricate itself from the ongoing conflict. Now, there are a lot of civilian losses and more and more U.S. casualties everyday with no end to the war in sight. As for the answer to your question, I could feel that you are asking this question because you feel you are having some doubts deep within you that tells you whether this war is worth fighting. Your question is the same question that kept haunting many people during the war in Vietnam. It is sad to hear from our leader(s) supporting the war that this is a war for our freedom, democracy, and our cherished values. But in reality, how does this war in far-away Iraq affect our freedom and democracy?. Are we going to lose our democracy and freedom if Saddam Hussein remains in power?. For me, I support the U.S. troops in Iraq knowing that it is not their choice to fight a war there. But I do not support the war itself, knowing that it could have been avoided had our leader(s) chose to do so.

Lastly, I wish all U.S. troops fighting in Iraq that they can all safely come home....

Answer 2

If believe this war is necessary for the future of this country. I didn't agree with GWB about going into Iraq in the first place. I still believe it was a mistake. This isn't the same war we went into three years ago. It has become a jihad who's agenda is to get the infidel out of their lands.

The problems I see with all that is we are fighting people from other country's who are being supported by Iran. These people have not been invited to Iraq, they come to this land to kill Americans and their allies. They believe they belong there but we don't. They fail to understand that the democratic government of Iraq has endorsed our presence. This is a legitimate government voted on by the citizens of Iraq. It doesn't get any more legitimate than that.

The real enemy in this whole scenario is Iran. this is the country that must be neutralized before things settle down in the middle east. Iran is the negative force behind all of the problems in the middle east. They are the ones supporting Hamas in their fight against Israel vs the Palestinians. They support Hezbollah and the political murders that have befallen Lebanon as well as the pro-Syrian protests in the streets of Beruit. They support the insurgency in Iraq, and are directly behind the civil strife of Iraq as well as the plan to kill American soldiers and Marines.

This is not a country that should be allowed to exist in it's present form. It's president, Ahmadinejad should be eliminated. It's nuclear complex should be destroyed, and if that doesn't do it, then we should bomb the piss out of it until it capitulates!

Answer 3

My hubby retired from Marines a few years ago. After the first Gulf war ended I knew that we were not finished with Iraq. We pulled out way too soon. A totally political move. I think we need to finish this once and for all because I don't want to send our next generation over. We need to see Iraq stabilized. It's all very complicated. I understand your fear. You know he has a job to do but he is still a boy in your mind's eye. When my hubby was there I was a mess. They had a reporter embedded with his unit. I knew everything that his unit did. I even saw him interviewed over there. You would think that was good but I was in front of TV 24/7. I thought I would lose my mind. Nearly did. I hope your boy comes home soon, safe and sound.

Answer 4

QUOTE
" My son is in the Army stationed in Iraq "

So is my daughter, but support for our military is a completely separate issue to supporting a war. I didn't support the war in Vietnam either, but I still went there.

Answer 5

To answer your direct question, I believe that we were a little mislead by Bush into Iraq. I feel I support the war somewhat. I do, though, fully support the war in Afghanistan, because we need to show those al Queda jerks-I have better words but jerks is more appropriate- that America will not lie down in response to an attack on our soil.
However I do believe that the terrorists have had mild if not full success in their mission. They have got us to split into factions and to turn against our leader. That is their ultimate goal, and I believe they achieved that.
My ultimate goal in life is to be in the United States Coast Guard. I know that many people either forget or just brush off the fact that the Coast Guard is a military service. Even though no one appreciates the Guardsmen and women until they are needed, it is a way to serve my country. Having this goal makes me fully support our troops fighting those responsible for the attacks on our homeland, and those who just serve our countries in other ways.

Answer 6

Do not support it .. You want your son to be back in one piece , what your son is getting from this war ?? A missing arm ?? I live in South Korea and I met soldiers who served time in Iraq .. I heard stories that I wish I would never heard ..

Answer 7

briang731... bvincent....

I tottaly agree with you!! Iran is the big part of this war.

I support the war, whether it was a mistake or not, it's a big issue for us and we should worry because leaving that area won't help, but it will make thngs worst for Iraq and the US. Let's get the job done, come home and live our lives without having to worry about terrorism and Iran.

PS....This might take a long time, but it will pay off at the end if we get it done.

Answer 8

I'm a soldier myself. The war is a joke. Although you son and I are doing our duties and fighting hard, the problem does not lie there. There is no reconstructing going on as promised. We need to stop paying civilians three times the salary of soldier to do a job that we are already trained to do.

The first Gulf War was just. This was nothing more than ex-ceo's of companies looking to make a fortune. Don't believe me? Ask your son when he gets home who Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater, and Titan are. He knows all about them now.

Answer 9

I support our troops and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, my brother is also in Iraq right now.

Answer 10

It is not for me to decide (thank goodness) if the War is the right thing to do or not...however. I will always support our troops . We have such a couragous group of men and women in our armed forces today. I am very thankful that we have many men and women willing to serve our country.