Switching Focus

Iraq! It seems to be the war that most people think about these days. What about Afghanistan, did we forget about that country? A fair amount of US troops are stationed in Afghanistan trying to combat Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden. Now Obama is shedding more light on the Afghanistan affairs and is focusing less on the Iraq War. Is this the right move? Well I believe we did a fair job in helping Iraq establish itself better than when ruled by Saddam. I believe, though, that going to Iraq before finishing the job in Afghanistan was a big and fatal mistake. We nearly had Bin Laden and the Taliban. Our forces were closing in and, according to a show on the history channel, they interviewed a soldier who nearly had him in his sights. But our Government hesitated due to the Iraq issue and speculation of weapons of mass destruction and thus they got away. We never did find WMD, but at least we made Iraq a more established and a safer country. Now with most of that war behind us it's time to focus on the main task at hand; catching a man and his men who we almost certainly know were behind the 9/11 attack. So I think that finishing what we started in afghan is the right thing to do, it's just that we've should have done in sooner.

Are Americans the only ones with voices?

Rich Lott, a republican candidate running for Congress, is being accused of being a Nazi enthusiast. He was questioned for doing a WWII re-enactment of German soldiers. He was asked if he believes in Nazi ideology. He denied. Instead, he replied that he is presenting an unbiased view point that educates people on the life of German soldiers during WWII. The German point of view is just as important as that of an American’s.

I have a large German ancestral background and, just as well, I am an American. I do condone what the Nazi party did, but I don’t think that all Germans are in the wrong. When Germany was falling after WWI, the German citizens needed a leader. In an unfortunate turn of events, Hitler took the helm and promised to guide the Germans. The people of Germany were in desperate times and Hitler took advantage of that. It may be hard to forgive the German soldiers of what they did. But, in desperate times, when you have a family to care for, what else is a man to do? Sure, the German soldiers made mistakes when they joined the ranks of the Nazi party, but they have a voice and it can justify their reasoning for doing so.  What does this have to do with Lott? He was sticking up for the voice of our past enemies as he would for the voices of his own people. If an American cannot understand that a simple German soldier has a voice too, then their sheer ignorance shows that they don’t value their own rights.