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opinion
Why choose to
protect Afghanistan?
I don't agree with
many things the U.S. government does, and the ethics of the
United States and its war on terrorism is no exception. I am
disappointed with the U.S. government's decision to wage war
on terrorism, a.k.a. Osama bin Laden, for a few reasons.
Obviously, terrorists
killed thousands of innocent people in the bombing of the
World Trade Center. And what about the unjust treatment of
millions of Afghan people by the Taliban? I question these
reasons. It seems that the U.S. government has ulterior motives
in waging this war.
In no way do I
think that the thousands of people killed in the WTC bombings
is acceptable. But I think the U.S. government is using that
tragedy and the images of that day as a tool to increase patriotism
and to gain support for the war on terrorism.
The U.S. government
has consistently told Palestine and Israel to stop retaliating
against one another in the battle for land because the war
would never end if neither side stops. But as soon as the
United States was attacked, the first thought we had was retaliate.
Some people were
so ignorant as to say that the United States should go out
and just bomb the whole country of Afghanistan. It's amazing
to me how the government can say one thing and then go out
and do the exact opposite. I don't see the war on terrorism
as an effective tool to accomplish the United States' goals.
If bin Laden is killed, the United States will find other
terrorist acts committed against our country, and the cycle
will continue.
The war on terrorism
could have also been brought about by the unjust treatment
of millions of Afghan people by the Taliban. It seems odd
that the United States would wage war to help the innocent
people of Afghanistan. I'm not saying that helping them is
wrong, but the United States is not going to war solely to
help the people of Afghanistan. The whole world has oppressive
governments and the United States has not helped any of them
in the manner that they are helping Afghanistan. So the question
becomes, why are we helping Afghanistan?
My answer: To protect
U.S. interests. This is where ethics come into play. What
is it then that makes our interests so important that it's
okay to kill the innocent people of Afghanistan and call them
casualties of war? And, what makes the Taliban any different
from the United States?
Our great nation
was built at the expense of others and it continues to exploit
the poor and reward the rich. As Ralph Waldo Emerson best
put it, "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of
life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without
helping himself."
Royce Mori is
a journalism major at Cal State Long Beach.
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