Professor Sabir's Posse

Compassion and the War

As an American it is so easy to be oblivious to what is going on in the world out side of the United States. In March 2003 we invaded Iraq on the false assumptions that they possessed weapons of mass destruction and also because George W. Bush felt that promoting a democratic government in the “oppressed” Middle East was important. Many thousands of people have died in the war since 2003 and yet not one weapon of mass destruction has been found to this day. Personally I do not follow the war and what is going on because I do not believe that it has directly affected me; however, I feel compassion for those who are suffering because of the war such as the soldiers, victims, and there families in the United States and Iraq. I feel that innocent people should not be dying over a war that is so unnecessary.
To feel compassion is to experience “deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering” (dictionary.com). Since 2003 more then 3,400 hundred American soldiers have died in the war and over 22,000 American soldiers have been injured. I can not help but to feel empathy for these soldiers who have given there lives in the name of serving there country. These deaths are unnecessary and avoidable for these soldiers are fighting in war that originally had no true purpose, and yet Bush is asking the people of America to allow more funding to the war and to allow him to send over more troops. When will it end and how many American lives must we loose before Bush realizes that he has not helped our country but killed its people?
It is important to realize that while our soldiers are dying in Iraq, they are not the only ones suffering. In a survey of Iraqi households published by Lancet about 655,000 Iraqi deaths have occurred since 2003. The Iraqi government has not been keeping track of the number of citizens it has lost but estimated about 150,000 deaths since 2003. It was also projected that about 2000 people have been dying each month since the war commenced, most of the casualties are men but women and children are also dying in large numbers. The people of Iraq have been quoted during one of their anti-US protests saying, “no, no to America, no, no to Satan” (Aljazeera.net). They see the United States as a form of evil that is taking over their homes and destroying there people. I feel sympathy for the deaths of the innocent families that have been destroyed because of George Bush and for all those who are left to suffer while the United States invades their homes.
Mostly I feel compassion for the families of the American Soldiers that have died. Often it is not one’s families’ choice to have a loved one leave for war. I personally do not know anybody that has gone to war, but over 3,000 American families have dealt with their loved ones not returning home. Does George Bush realize the soldiers that he so frivolously put to war are peoples’ fathers, husbands, children, or even just someone’s best friend? Does he realize how many little kids will grow up with out there daddies because he started a war based on false assumptions? I am sure it easy for him to just keep sending more and more people over to Iraq because he himself does not actually have to fight in the war, and his family will never have to go to Iraq to see the conditions first hand. I feel extreme sorrow for each family that has lost a loved one in this war.
I am only human and I am forced to feel human compassion. I can not help but feel sorrow for all those that have died in this war, Iraqi or American. No one deserves to loose someone they love regardless of their nationality. Bush has convinced himself that victory is the only option when it comes to the war in Iraq, but how can you ever believe in a victory when you have already lost so much?
 

To: Wanda Sabir

From: Brittany Wilson

Date: 03-30-2007

Re: War in Iraq Essay
English 201 A/B 10-12 MW






What have been some of the ways the war has impacted American society and the world positively and negatively?




Although after four years of war, Americans are still increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for success in Iraq and a majority wants U.S. troops to begin coming home, according to an analysis of data from CBS News and CBS News/New York Times polls.

Americans did not expect the war to last this long, nor did they think it would cost as many lives as it has. President Bush continues to receive low ratings on his handling of Iraq and most Americans now oppose his decision to send more troops there. Democrats, meanwhile, are challenging Mr. Bush's Iraq policy, winning House committee approval this week for a troop withdrawal deadline of Sept. 1, 2008, but suffering defeat in the Senate on a separate plan to end the war. More than half the public now believes the U.S. will not succeed in Iraq. A February poll found that just 20 percent think there's something the U.S. can do to stop the fighting between Iraqis, while 70 percent think there's not much the U.S. can do about it. Nearly seven in ten Americans now say things are going badly for the U.S. in Iraq; just 29 percent say things are going well. That's a complete reversal from May 2003, two months into the war, when more than seven in 10 thought things in Iraq were going well. Assessments remained positive until shortly after Saddam Hussein was captured in December 2003. Since then, however, views have become gloomier.

Because the war has been longer and bloodier than Americans expected. At the start of the war, Americans thought it would be a short conflict with fewer than 1,000 fatalities. Since then, over 3,200 U.S. troops have died and more than 24,000 have been wounded. Asked in March 2003 how many U.S. troops they thought would die in the war, 66 percent of Americans said less than 1,000. Just 22 percent thought more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers would be killed. Asked in March 2003 how many U.S. troops they thought would die in the war, 66 percent of Americans said less than 1,000. Just 22 percent thought more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers would be killed. Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have also been killed in the war, but precise figures are difficult to come by. Estimates range from more than 50,000 into the hundreds of thousands, the Associated Press says. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq reports more than 34,000 deaths in 2006 alone. In April 2003, just weeks after the fall of Baghdad, seven in 10 Americans thought U.S. troops would be in Iraq for two years or less. Only 27 percent thought they'd be there longer than two years. Now, Americans indicate they're ready for the troops to start coming home. Fifty-six percent want to decrease U.S. troop levels or remove all U.S. forces from Iraq. Nearly six in ten oppose President Bush's decision to deploy more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq. (www.usatoday.com/polesandstatics.com)




Americans give the president some leeway, however. More than half think it will take at six months to determine if the troop increase is working. Despite the political arguments that have surrounded the troop and funding decisions, more than seven in ten Americans say one can oppose the war and still support U.S. troops. The American people continue to give Mr. Bush low marks for his leadership on Iraq. His current approval rating is 28 percent; he has not reached the 30 percent mark since October 2006.
That's a far cry from April 2003, after the fall of Baghdad, when Mr. Bush enjoyed a high of 79 percent approval. But as U.S. troops continued to suffer casualties, even after the president's declaration that major combat had ended, more Americans began to disapprove of Mr. Bush's handling of the war. There was a brief surge in support following Saddam's capture, but more Americans have disapproved than approved of the president's handing of the war since March 2004. Mr. Bush has also been hurt by the recent reports of shoody treatment of veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Three in four Americans do not think the Bush administration has done enough to care for these wounded soldiers. (www.oaklandtribune.com)
 

A. Stephens
English 201B

The War in Iraq

Although the War in Iraq has been a positive for the men and women who have willingly fought to serve our country, as well as those who have given their lives for a cause they believe in, for the most part it has been negative in several ways.

In January 2002, President Bush gave his State of the Union Address and called the terrorists and their allies, including Iraq an “axis of evil” because he felt Iraq and other terrorist allies were arming themselves to threaten world peace (Wikipedia). A year later, the President accused Baghdad of harboring terrorists and hiding weapons of mass destruction from U.N. inspectors (CNN). It took two years after President Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq for the search to end. Even though no weapons were found, the President stood by his decision to invade Iraq and said, “We had a regime that had a history of using weapons of mass destruction and had a history of defying the international community and had a history of ties to terrorist organizations in Iraq. We had the attacks on September 11, 2001, that taught us we must confront threats before it’s too late” (CNN).

In April 2003, President Bush told workers at the Boeing Company in St. Louis that “our work is not done, the difficulties have not passed, but the regime of Saddam Hussein has passed into history and organized military resistance in Iraq has virtually ended” (CNN). At that time, a top Pentagon official estimated the War in Iraq had cost the United States $20 billion and that amount was rising by approximately $2 billion a month.

On Monday, March 19, 2007, four years after the invasion of Iraq, President Bush asked Americans for patience and claimed, “The war can still be won. Withdrawing from Iraq would have devastating consequences” (Democracy Now). The consequences are already devastating. Since the war began, over 3,200 U.S soldiers have lost their lives; thousands have been wounded, and lives have been lost by the coalition members who are helping the U.S. troops in Iraq. Thousand of Iraqis have also been killed, and there is a refugee crisis in Iraq.

Because we have been patient and there is still unrest in Iraq, I’m sure many Americans feel the same way as Cindy Sheehan whose son died in Iraq in 2004. They “never thought that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States” (Wikipedia). I join other Americans who believe it is time for our troops to come home. There are many other things we could spend our money on such as health care, quality education, homelessness, hunger, jobs, youth programs, fighting drug abuse, and better care for our troops when they come home.
 

Sunita Jayram Shivji
3-28-07
Sabir 1-3
War in Iraq 4 year later
Although some people might say the war in Iraq has impacted America in a positive way such as economically, people have more courage, and everyone is getting along, it has not. The Iraq war has negatively impacted American society because a lot of US money is spent, lives have been lost, and discrimination is occurring.

Four years ago in 2003, the war was at place. Many people couldn’t have imagined that the war was going to be this long, and this much. According to a report by the congressional research service approximately $81billion was spent on the war. Also reading the article “US war cost could hit 81bn” on BBC new, say the cost was spent on ammunition, equipment, operational materials such as petrol, improved armor, replacement of damage vehicle, rebuilding and the building of a more extensive infrastructure to support the troops on the ground. Looking at the cost of the war, many cost in America today still needs to be fixed.

Some of the cost that needs help is school, roads, and welfare. Many students in k-12 need better books, more professional teachers and better meal on campus. The roads in some freeway, highway, and on streets have cracks, and holes that need to be fixed. Also a majority of people are indeed for money to give to the poorer family. If not a large portion of the United States would have spent it on the war, a least one of the cost needs for America would have been fulfilled. Not has only a large portion of cost been spent on the war, but many lives were lost and injured as well.

Dave McCary who is a writer for the Sprawl Magazine interviewed a solider named Sgt. David Moyer in Dublin while he was leaving for the holidays. Asking him many questions about how he felt, and how things were in Iraq, Sgt. David Moyer did come across a death and an injury that was in place. The question Dave McCary asked Sgt. David Moyer was “What was the worst situation you were asked to walk into? When I read this question I knew that death or some kind of injury was going to be mentioned. Starting to be very interesting Sgt. David answer was he was asked to go on a mission. A mission to go find ambushes.

By the end of his answer 2 out of 6 solider were injured and died. One of the solider that died in that mission got shrapnel and burns all over his face. “His legs were hamburgers”, said David (3), when the other person was injured. The solider that got injured for his leg injured and broke one of his femurs, but luckily he survived. As coming back to the main point here, the War in Iraq has impacted American society negatively because of all the lost and injured life.
The time period of this war has also had a big impact on American society by the Discrimination that is occurring. Discrimination against the Iraqis was at place 9/11. I personally have a friend who is muslin, and wears a scarf around her face. As telling me some stories that happened to her during her daily life, really hurt her. Her name is Haifa Mohammed, and just by referring to her name people look at her in a different way. One day I was over her house, and having a good time, until her stormed out in tears. I immediately asked her “What happened, is everything okay, should I call the hospital”, as I was walking over to the phone she grabbed my hand and sat me down again. She said “Today a very terrible thing happened to me while I was walking to the car from the Liquor store. There was this guy who was keep going around me and looking at me funny. I was terrified and was about to shout for help, until he said “Go back to your country and take all of your family members there, and don’t kill any more Americans”, I was in tears and came home, and now I am telling you .” The moment she said that to me I differently knew that this war in Iraq was impacting America in a negative was, by discrimination.
In conclusion the Iraq war has negatively impacted American society in a negative way because economically, losing life, and discrimination occurring. Economically the world is being impacted in a negative was because a large portion of cost in being spent in Iraq. Also many life’s are and is being lost, and last but not least my discrimination is taking place.