Reflection and lessons learned.

The purpose of this blog project was to develop our mental capacity as thinkers and writers while concentrating on a current issue facing our nation. Though we want to get the best possible grade in any class project, the primary goal for this particular project was to help us to develop as people and change how we take in and process information given to us.

At the end of this project, I asked myself the following questions: what have I learned, has my position on the issue been changed, and how has blogging altered me?

The Iraq war was the issue about which people were most concerned about at the start of the Presidential campaigns. However, with the introduction of the recent surge in Iraq and the economic turmoil in the US, the importance of the war to the presidential elections diminished. I primarily chose the Iraq War because I felt passionate about the topic and I was affected by a war, the Rwandan civil war in 1994. This project gave me the opportunity to better understand the reasons behind each candidate's polar opposite positions on the war, especially McCain whom I strongly disagreed with.

McCain is heavily influenced by his past as a serviceman, and so he takes the issue personally. Even though the war was unnecessary in the first place, McCain feels that now that we are there, we cannot just pull out and leave, as that would be considered a defeat. Obama, on the other hand, thinks differently. He wants to bring the troops back because he believes it is a war that we should have never got involved with in the first place.

My position on the war remains unchanged; I'm still against the war. However, I have moved passed my initial reasons because I was influenced by religious values. The project has given me the opportunity to widely view the issue and its associations, for example with the affects of the economy, better knowledge with our foreign policies and relations with other nations.

In addition, blogging introduced me to a new world, where I learnt that blogging could be very informative as it brings intellectuals together and exchange opinions based on a specific topic. My initial perspectives were that blogging was for older people, mainly talking book author. But I was a witness that this was not the case, I heavily got engaged with the project, the idea of blogging and I intend to continue visiting more blogs beyond this project.

Three blogs I highly recommend...

Velveeta Democracy

This blog covers the logistics of the mortgage crisis, explaining the fundamental basics of the issue to the highly sophistications of the bail out plans and excess information that has got our economy to where it is today. The author also specifically tells us in this blog how this issue will shape our future depending on which candidate, Barack Obama or John McCain is in the white house. 

Debt in our Nation: Doubt in our system

This is blog deals with one of the biggest issue in our nation that I think has the potential to hurt us and implicate burdens on our future generation. The author presents an unbiased view at the issue, covering where the current government has gone wrong.    

National Security

This blog covers our current security issues, focusing on the military of the US and possible threats to the US. The author presents the issues that both presidential candidates have had to deal with regarding what nation poses the greatest threat, Iraq, Iran or Pakistan. Discussing the war with terror, the author also talks about the Afghanistan, which for reasons has been forgotten. 

Implications…

America has lost 4500 lives and Iraq has lost about 420,000. The war has down slowed our economy, e.g.   so far, the estimated cost of the war is around the mark of $3 trillion and this does not take into account the interests paid to finance the war, costs for caring for the troops that return and the cost it will take to reconstruct Iraq ones the war ends. 

Sadly, if the war is not solved it will be the future generations that will be responsible for caring the burden the war will leave, both socially and financially and a disservice to our troops serving there. 

In addition, as we fail to solve this issue, we will also put ourselves in greater danger as we will not be fighting Al Qaeda but making enemies with the Iraqis who want US out of their country, if we put ourselves in the Iraqis place, what would it mean to have someone invade our country, destroy our economy, cause death and cause displacement of millions?   

Theoretically Thinking….

There are different reasons why individuals might be against or for the war, I'm against it but if you're for it I'm not gone judge you because it is a much bigger issue than perceived by many.  Put the media's influence aside and make up your mind based on the things we have seen and righteousness.

Reasons for invading Iraq proved to be wrong, yet we chose to remain there…how bizarre? We got attacked during 9/11 but does that make it alright to attack anyone, even if we're not sure they are responsible for attacking us? How many Iraqi civilians have died since the war, does an American civilian death hold superior values over an Iraqi to not consider about their innocent victims?

There is no doubt about the power the US holds, but with this power comes great responsibility and that's where we've failed, to use our power effectively. Even though we can, we have no right to invade anyone without clear proven reasons, and we shouldn't be forcing and telling other nations on how to run their country. Besides, we have enough problems to take care in our own backyard than to go try to solve Iraq's problems.

Our economy has flopped badly, our national debt keeps rising and it's not worth arguing that the war has nothing to do with it. Not only are Iraqi civilians dying but each day we are losing US lives in Iraq, yes those soldiers are serving their country, but are doing them no favor by making them fight a war that shouldn't be fought. Where's the honor in that?    

We all participate in the same common ground on wanting to defeat terrorism and protect ourselves from any potential threats, but war is not always a solution to our problems, Obama said, "As well as talking to our allies, we have to also be prepared to meet and talk to our enemies in order to solve problems before we turn to violence." I think he is right, which is again why he is the candidate for me, I think Obama will restore our International image because at the moment we are being accused of abusing our power by many nations.  

 
 

Powell's picking sides!

Wow! Obama is on the vibe; he got endorsed by Republican Gen. Colin Powell, former secretary of state for President Bush and who also happens to be McCain's long time good friend. He said he wouldn't campaign for Obama, but he endorsed him, which to me makes little difference. Is this a key endorsement, I'll let you decide but there are a lot of republicans who aren't happy with Powell?

Obama has said that he will take advices from Powell and since Powell was the one of the main people to lead and start the Iraq war, surely Obama will end it responsibly for those still in doubt.

Conservatives choose a liberal plan for our Banks.

Of the $700 billion bail out plan, $250 billion of it has been used to buy equity stacks in banks. With the frozen credit system, will this be the key to the economic crisis?

 
 

Surely for conservatives to turn to this ideological plan, we must have been at the end of the rope. Free market ideas are ideal, but this shows there are times when one must intervene. The plan is to get those top banks running and lending again. While we all want to be rich quickly, I hope banks have learnt enough with the mortgage crises in how and who to lend to in the future.

 
 

Now though, we must ask ourselves what it means that the Secretary Treasury will have to approve any new dividends. Will our economy ever be the same or is this the turn to socialism?

Bring the troops back home

The disagreement between Obama and McCain over the issue of Iraq troop withdrawal is important and will create the public's perceptions of the next president. Both candidates have been polar opposites before the war and to this day regarding the issue of troop withdrawal. In 2002, as the nation was forming its opinions on the need to invade Iraq, McCain voted for the war, giving President Bush the power to invade Iraq, which the senate now regrets. Obama on the other hand, opposed the war from the start.

 
 

Despite our opinions on the war, often we forget about the troops and what they might want, for example returning back home to their friends and families. Even though it is their job to serve the country, because the war is wrong, it is a disservice to them. The troops are there sacrificing their lives because they believe it is their duty to serve and honor the country. Even though they are not forced to be there, the point is that they shouldn't be there fighting a war that is unjust because all the reasons for going there proved to be a mistake, there was no prove of any WMD programs and no Iraq link to 9/11 or Al Qaeda.

 
 

 Although this might sound Anti-American, the US may go as far as being viewed as imperialist, wanting to solve other countries' problems before we solve our own national problems. An example would be forcing democracy on countries that don't want it. Back before the war, the Sunni and Shiite religious groups, though politically very different, were living in pseudo-peace when Saddam was in power. When Saddam was in power there were no large scale fights, but with his removal those two fractions started fighting and the Iranians started getting involved to further their own interests and destabilize the region. Even though we went in with the right intentions, alternative measures, such as diplomacy agreement would have been better than the invasion because we aggravated the situation in Iraq, which we ought to end by "encouraging the Iraqi government to step up."

 
 

Obama is correct; we should withdrawal our troops, 'with careful pace,' because we are fighting a war we should have never started. McCain takes the issue personal, wants to stay and win the war at all cost, which he has not calculated and he has not offered a strategy to exit. In the long run, McCain's plan could hurt us as we could be there indefinitely.