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Thompson 1 Breanna Thompson Mr.

Bigelow English 02 January 2012 Afghanistan War The war on terrorism has been going on for years and probably will continue into the future. Afghanistan had been at war for years with other countries and within their own country with the Taliban. The reason we went into war was because of the bombing of the Twin Towers and Pentagon. It was one of the biggest terrorism attacks in the U.S history. On 9/11, two planes hit the twin towers in New York City and one plane hit the pentagon in Washington D.C. There many lives lost and many injuried from these bombings including the passengers on the planes. The attack was by the al-Qaeda terrorist which was lead by Osama bin Ladin. This war was not really necessary. War was not the only option we had. We could have handled things differently. The whole U.S Military shouldnt have played any role in Afghanistan due to terrorism. Many U.S Military lives and many Afghanistan lives were lost in the war. In the article, Caught in a Crossfire: The forgotten casualties of war in Afghanistan, Civilian are being killed but just how many and by whom, is difficult to say. At a very rough estimate, the UN believes 1,018 civilians across the country died as a result of the conflict in the first six months of this year (Boone). In another article, The Unwinnable war, Over the course of ten years, the U.S has lost 1,786 service

Thompson 2 and 763 private contractors there (Baker). The number of lives lost continues to increase as the war goes on. We will never truly have the actual number of lives lost. The U.S has spent billions of dollars on the Afghanistan war. In the article, Afghan war cost now outpace Iraqs, Afghanistan will cost nearly $105 billion in the 2010 fiscal year that ends September 30, including most of $33 billion in addition spending requested by Obama and pending before congress. Iraq will cost about $66 billion, in fiscal 2011, Afghanistan is projected to cost $117 billion, Iraq $46 billion. To date, pentagon spending in Iraq has reached $620 billion compared with $190 billion in Afghanistan (Wolf). Imagine the possibilities of what else this money could have been spent on instead of war such balancing the budget, healthcare, homeless, etc. Some Military families feel that the deaths of their family members are caused by the rules of engagement. In the article, As U.S deaths in Afghanistan rise, military families grow critical A mother said, We let the enemy fire first, and they took my son from us. Beverly Osborn said of the rules, in which in most instances require U.S forces to identify an enemy threat before firing, and to with hold fire if civilians are close by. The rule also place restrictions on close air support and artillery, prompting complaints from some service members that their lives are put at risk against an enemy that fights by no rules at all (Zucchino). If you dont have the right to shoot first, then you could be dead before you even get the chance to shoot back. Some people may argue that the military should have gone to war to defend our country against terrorism. In the article, What 9/11 has Wrought, Even in the earliest days, the war in Afghanistan developed into a very different type of conflict then those with which U.S forces were familiar, but Afghanistans rugged and mountainous terrains is inhospitable to armored

Thompson 3 formations as well as to artillery units, and the altitudes in large swathes of the country create difficulties even for heliborne operations. The primary U.S military forces were, therefore special operations forces. Indeed the West became entranced with the image of these forces on horseback (Zakheim). Since the special operations forces were already in Afghanistan, they should have gone undercover to find Osama bin Ladin instead of going to war. The special operations forces should have played a significant role in Afghanistan terrorism instead of the whole U.S. Military going to war. The U.S has spent between 105 billion to 117 billion in the Afghanistan war. It has been estimated that 1,018 afghans lives have been lost, and about 1,786 service members lives have been lost partially due to the rules of engagement. The U.S military has lost too many lives and has spent too much money for the Afghanistan war.

Thompson 4 Works Cited Baker, Aryn The Unwinnable War TIME. 24 October 2011 Boone, Jon Caught in the crossfire: the forgotten casualties of war in Afghanistan The Guardian. 6 September 2009 Wolf, Richard Afghan war cost now outpace Iraq USA TODAY. 13 May 2010. Zakheim, Dov S. What 9/11 Has Wrought Middle East Quarterly 18.4 (2011) 3-13. Academic Search Premier. Web 21 Nov 2011 Zucchino, David As U.S deaths in Afghanistan rise, military families grow critical Los Angeles Times. 02 September 2010.

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