A strange feeling - Where does the War go from here?
102 replies, posted
When I was eleven years old, barely old enough to understand what I was seeing, I sat in front of my television set in Al-Sharjah in the UAE. It was late at night as I watched the Towers burn, and every moment of that night is burned into my memory. It was like watching a movie of the poorest taste, I remember thinking. But it was only too real.
This war has defined our generation. It has forged anew the American identity, and to a great degree, the identity of Canada as well. And the changes haven't all been for the better. The West has marched into the 21st century bearing the banner of war, and we haven't always stayed on course. We haven't always done the right thing, and we haven't always planned as well as we should have.
And now, it's over. The USA has accomplished what it set out to do. There's a feeling of emptiness, of weariness beyond measure, and a collective holding of the world's breath to see what happens next. The iconic struggle against evil which persisted as I grew from a boy into a man, as I developed my sense of identity, my beliefs and values, is ended. It's almost like losing a part of myself, and I'm thankful that I feel no sorrow. There is, rather, a strange mix of relief and lingering unease as we wait for the fallout.
But the war is far from over. Stability, if not victory, must still be established in Afghanistan before we can leave - and that may take years yet. The work isn't over, and Americans must not be angry when the announcement comes - as it must - that the troops are not coming home yet.
America will rest more easily in their beds tonight than they have for ten years - but some of us won't get much sleep.
don't worry i'm sure they'll get back home when they've gathered all the oil
Dammit, D2K. I was being all serious and dramatic and you had to go and ruin it.
You're correct about the troops not being able to turn home yet, it's sad really.
I myself feel unaffected by this whole thing, all I recall it did was to change my perspective of America, as with the rest of the world. I guess that in the end America seemed worse than it actually was - don't get me wrong, the real truth is that war isn't really beneficial.
[QUOTE=Satyria;29567510]You're correct about the troops not being able to turn home yet, it's sad really.
I myself feel unaffected by this whole thing, all I recall it did was to change my perspective of America, as with the rest of the world. I guess that in the end America seemed worse than it actually was - don't get me wrong, the real truth is that war isn't really beneficial.[/QUOTE]
Aye. It's a waste of life, but it happens and must be accepted.
[QUOTE=Satyria;29567510]You're correct about the troops not being able to turn home yet, it's sad really.
I myself feel unaffected by this whole thing, all I recall it did was to change my perspective of America, as with the rest of the world. I guess that in the end America seemed worse than it actually was - don't get me wrong, the real truth is that war isn't really beneficial.[/QUOTE]
You can't say [i]all[/i] wars aren't beneficial, the civil war ended slavery and WWII ended the holocaust. You can say most wars aren't beneficial, however, this one included.
[QUOTE=archangel125;29567436]When I was eleven years old, barely old enough to understand what I was seeing, I sat in front of my television set in Al-Sharjah in the UAE. It was late at night as I watched the Towers burn, and every moment of that night is burned into my memory. It was like watching a movie of the poorest taste, I remember thinking. But it was only too real.
This war has defined our generation. It has forged anew the American identity, and to a great degree, the identity of Canada as well. And the changes haven't all been for the better. The West has marched into the 21st century bearing the banner of war, and we haven't always stayed on course. We haven't always done the right thing, and we haven't always planned as well as we should have.
And now, it's over. The USA has accomplished what it set out to do. There's a feeling of emptiness, of weariness beyond measure, and a collective holding of the world's breath to see what happens next. The iconic struggle against evil which persisted as I grew from a boy into a man, as I developed my sense of identity, my beliefs and values, is ended. It's almost like losing a part of myself, and I'm thankful that I feel no sorrow.
But the war is far from over. Stability, if not victory, must still be established in Afghanistan before we can leave - and that may take years yet. The work isn't over, and Americans must not be angry when the announcement comes - as it must - that the troops are not coming home yet.
America will rest more easily in their beds than they have for ten years - but some of us won't get much sleep.[/QUOTE]
When I was 14 I was in a sense inoocent to the events in the world, it seemed that we would always be bouncing aslong and thwn the towers fell. At first I wanted to laugh but then I started thinking and that's when I realised the consuqences of what was happening. Nothing of me wa slost that day apart from my own barriers to the world but yet my eyes were opened and in another wayt other ideas popped into my head.
Seeing the USA fight in the first wat against Bin Laden made me so amazed and intrested in what was happened. Sometimes what I would do is miagine that I was a commander in the american millitary and pretend I was given missions and imagine how things would turn out. Still even when the war was over there was still this creeping feeling that there was more to come.
When Iraq come around I saw all the protests that came and went and I tried to see noth sided in my head but also I tried to see why the USA would take oil. I was pro-war but I began to see the other side and why this might be different and strange. When we finally took over Iraq I was so happy. We had doen it, we had saved the Iraqis and noone could stop it, yet as the mission started to drasg on then I started to realise the sad truth. That this going to turn into a hard dangerous road.
Time would pass on and 2 years later I was having fun messing around and doing stuff but then bam the bombs hit our allies but me into a new sense of shock. Realiszation that this war was only making thing harder and still somem part of me hoped that maybe Bush and hid friends weren't all that bad. As more bad news creeped in I realised that the problems weren't the wars but they way they dealt witht he people.
There is the rest the battles in Iraq and finally the slow pull out, what it leaves you with is not a loss of personality, it's more the about how the world is neutral and how some people with good intentions go wrong. Bush was never evil but he did fuck up badly and now we have to play clean up. Saying that we cleared 2 tyrants and we are getting them on their feet. We still have a long way to go until someone else is going to take the mantle.
how many deaths did it take to kill 1 old man? i wonder if it was worth it......
[editline]2nd May 2011[/editline]
old father time would have gotten him soon
theyre gonna find a new sockpuppet to stick all the blame to and go on.
its in the interest of all corporations
[QUOTE=hula whoop;29567596]You can't say [i]all[/i] wars aren't beneficial, the civil war ended slavery and WWII ended the holocaust. You can say most wars aren't beneficial, however, this one included.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I was merely implying starting a war, promoting it in that sense. Everyone ponders hate from time to time.
It leaves this feeling of ugliness. Osama's dead, Al Qaeda is probably still as strong as it was 10 years ago except with new people, countries have been torn apart and countless innocents have died. It makes me ask, how worth it was it? It seems so utterly pointless in the end, and makes the (former) American leadership seem just as bad as the enemy they wanted to destroy. The thing that hit me the most is all those Americans, jumping up and down and celebrating over Osama's death. Doesn't that make those people worse then the people they're fighting? Aren't they doing exactly what the enemy did when they hit the WTC? It makes me think, if America never retaliated, would things be better or worse?
The war will go on like usual. Osama will be replaced. And more coalition soldiers and civilians will die.
People seem to think that with Osama dead, we've somehow disrupted his entire organisation. He wasn't the only guy planning attacks. His death will change nothing.
I find it funny you people think that just because you shoot Ronald McDonald you seem to think McDonalds will go down.
[QUOTE=Zee!;29567986]I find it funny you people think that just because you shoot Ronald McDonald you seem to think McDonalds will go down.[/QUOTE]
All but the most foolish of us know better. And I never said it was so in the OP. What gave you such an idea?
There is still an active enemy force there, the war is not over. The people and governments of Afghanistan and Iraq still need our help in re building the two nations. I think people should be ready for an "retaliation" by terrorist forces.
Well I believe they may have to stick around till democracy is finally hammered into their society as now it's been a long game of tug-of-war over there. And well some may even be sent over to the civil war happening with gidaffi. But even if they had nothing else to do it would easily take a couple years to pack everything up and ship it home. At least now we can have our troops return to us without the fear of sending them back
[QUOTE=PN_Redux;29568053]Well I believe they may have to stick around till democracy is finally hammered into their society as now it's been a long game of tug-of-war over there. And well some may even be sent over to the civil war happening with gidaffi. But even if they had nothing else to do it would easily take a couple years to pack everything up and ship it home. At least now we can have our troops return to us without the fear of sending them back[/QUOTE]
You can never bring anything but a mockery of democracy to Afghanistan. The west needs to get that idea out of their head. We're there to drive the Taliban out and equip the government to keep them out. That's all.
[QUOTE=Lachz0r;29567669]how many deaths did it take to kill 1 old man? i wonder if it was worth it......[/QUOTE]
The war wasn't to catch Bin Laden you know...
[QUOTE=ChestyMcGee;29568172]The war wasn't to catch Bin Laden you know...[/QUOTE]
But putting a shit ton of people in the afghan mountains were for that purpose.
I feel sorry for whoever has to put up with mountain combat on a day to day basis.
Well he's dead, now we can't have a hilarious televised court case.
[QUOTE=Coffee;29568329]Well he's dead, now we can't have a hilarious televised court case.[/QUOTE]
Less dangerous dead in my opinion.
that was very well written, OP.
And now all of the west has to get ready for the retaliation attack that is to come.
Nothing is actually going to change. Hunting Bin Laden was a thin excuse to set up an American-backed puppet government in Afghanistan and Iraq. The business of the occupation will continue as usual.
It seems pretty timely that Osama is killed just when Obama's re-election campaign is starting up. Regardless, killing Osama is probably just gonna piss Al Qaeda off even more. I wouldn't be surprised if more people are being put at risk by killing Osama rather than leaving him, but it's a morale victory for the US.
[QUOTE=archangel125;29567436]
And now, it's over. The USA has accomplished what it set out to do. There's a feeling of emptiness, [b]The iconic struggle against evil which persisted as I grew from a boy into a man, as I developed my sense of identity, my beliefs and values, is ended. It's almost like losing a part of myself, and I'm thankful that I feel no sorrow. There is, rather, a strange mix of relief and lingering unease as we wait for the fallout.[/b][/QUOTE]
This accurately describes how monumental this event is for me. This has been who I am. My world has been at war for a majority of my life, and this moment is one of the defining events that really throws you off kilter.
[QUOTE=imarawrus;29572140]This accurately describes how monumental this event is for me. This has been who I am. My world has been at war for a majority of my life, and this moment is one of the defining events that really throws you off kilter.[/QUOTE]
I'm generally apathetic to the whole situation.
[QUOTE=mobrockers2;29568609]And now all of the west has to get ready for the retaliation attack that is to come.[/QUOTE]
Lovely.
Wouldn't that lead to an endless cycle?
We kill a major leader, they retaliate, we invade, kill the new major leader, they retaliate, we invade, kill the new major leader etc...
I watched the towers burn, went to some school assembly, etc.
I saw people who cried at the news and others who cheered it.
As for me, I had no strong feelings one way or the other.
The next logical step in war is [b]War In Space[/b]
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