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Iraq
The war in Iraq is one of the most prominent political American issues today. In addition to its prevalence on international news networks, it is also prominently on the minds and lips of many a critic. Mark Danner's article, "Iraq: The War of the Imagination" is a manifestation of this. In the article, the author addresses the discrepancy between the ideals upon which the war in its initial phases were built, and the reality of thousands of American dead today. At its core, the title, "The War of the Imagination" can be said to refer to the initial American, and particularly the governmental, idealism of the war.
Specifically, such idealism concerns the governmental ideal to build a democratic world by means of war. The "war on terror" is built upon two basic ideals: the American drive towards revenge on the one hand and democracy on the other. According to the article, the initial war focused very much on Sadam Hussein, and the eradication of the terrorist force. When this was accomplished, the ideal of democracy was used to justify further war. After several years of ongoing death and destruction, this ideal is increasingly shown as a product of a very idealistic imagination.
The author's argument is made all the more poignant by the non-emotional and realistic tone of his writing. The construction of his writing makes clear the discrepancy between the reality and the ideal of the war. Indeed, he uses not only his own ideas, but also adds input from other political writers and thinkers to substantiate his ideas. These elements add to the realism of his writing.
In conclusion, articles such as the one by Danner provides the American public with valuable bases for both critical and realistic thinking. The Iraq war is assuming crisis proportions. The public however has the power to end the atrocity and to restore to their world a much-needed paradigm of peace and realistic thinking.
The fact that he was experienced in politics and learnt a lot of lessons from his predecessor's failures played an important role in securing his position. His initial ruling saw ruthless legislations and the eradication of practically all of his potential opponents. Saddam's ruling emphasized that he would not accept any kind of opposition and whoever expressed the slightest desire to contradict him was harshly punished. The few protests
This is not to suggest that either the United States or the Soviet Union were necessarily desiring this conflict, because "based on the scattered evidence now available from Soviet archives," Stalin was "wary and reluctant" in his support of the North, and only finally agreed to offer military equipment and advice when it became clear that China would intervene should the Soviet Union fail to offer support (Cumings 144).
War The Experience of War War has changed greatly in character from the days of knights in shining armor. The concept of a "state" rather than just a regional ruler has changed the dynamic of war. Rather than meeting on a battlefield and duking it out, two armies now willfully attack civilian targets to demoralize a population, cut off trade routes to starve a population, and, if it comes to it, invade
War on Terror & Human Rights The so-called "war on terror" -- initiated by former president George W. Bush after 9/11 -- has not succeeded in ending terrorism but it opened the door to numerous violations of human rights. A survey of verifiable, peer-reviewed sources in the literature show clearly that the Bush Administration and members of the military under Bush's command carried out human rights violations in the name of
However, little concern is given to the Afghan people when their innocent is killed due to military action of developed nations. This too will only exacerbate the turmoil within the country. Revenge is a powerful emotion, especially when an individual has nothing a stake to achieve it. As such, due in parts to foreign operations in Afghanistan, many individuals have extreme animosity towards the developed world. It is therefore much
War on terror has changed significantly since the attacks of 2001. Terrorism has always been a part of American life, with the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz. More recently, however, the United States has contested with terrorism stemming from extreme Islamist groups that are at ideological odds with the Western way of life. The war on terror that began in 2001 has grown to represent