One Last Post

I have talked about how the money that is spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be spent on other things, but I have not gone greatly in depth with this. Therefore, I am going to talk about that in this; my last post. I think that a large portion of the money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should be used on education once the wars are over. I think that more public schools could be built, or more teachers could be hired to decrease the large class sizes. Or more money used on technology in the classrooms to help students learn in different ways, and so they could be better prepared after they graduate. I think this is a good idea because not only would it help improve education, it would also improve the economy, because it will provide more jobs. I also think that some of the money spent on war could be used on healthcare. Healthcare is a very important aspect of our society, and now that healthcare is universal, it could become more expensive. Therefore, if less money was spent on war, then more money could be used on healthcare. Which would improve the lives of Americans. I also think that the money could be used on developing alternative energy. This would improve the economy by creating more jobs. It would also help the environment because green energy is better for the environment than using fossil fuels. The money that is spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be used on a variety of things that could help the nation.

Recap

The war in Afghanistan started in 2001 and the war in Iraq has been going on since 2003, and as of now there is no end in sight. The costs of the wars have been expensive and numerous. The costs range from money and resources, to deaths of troops and civilians. The wars have also been a factor in the downturn of the economy. The wars started to fight terrorism in the Middle East and the war in Iraq started mainly because of threats of weapons of mass destruction. And now, here we are years later with no real progress and billions, maybe even trillions of dollars spent on the conflicts in the Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, I understand why we went to war and that some people want to continue fighting so that we can continue to fight terrorism. But, we can never completely win this war and I think that we have spent enough time and resources on these conflicts. I am not saying that the troops should come home right this second, because I think that we have made some progress and chaos may ensue if we leave abruptly. However, I think a plausible exit strategy needs to be put in place, and followed through with. We have spent so much money on the wars, and especially considering the current economy, I think the money spent on the wars would be better spent on other things. The money could be spent on improving schools, hiring more teachers, and/or creating more jobs in America to help the economy.

Self Analysis Post

When I started this blog I did not know much about this issue; I only knew the basic facts. I had some information on the topic just from watching the news; which mostly included The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. However, I was intrigued by this topic because I knew that I did not know as much about the topic as I should and it is an interesting issue. Before I started this blog I thought that too much money has been and is being spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that the money could be spent on things to improve the country. However, as I started researching, my topic became more about the debate about how much the war is actually costing, and if we should continue to fight in the Middle East or not. As I have been researching for this topic I have also researched more about the other side. I started off thinking that it was a pretty obvious issue, that too much money is spent on war and not on trying to improve the country and economy. However, I began to realize that this is more than just money but it is also about making sure that we continue supporting our troops regardless of how we feel about government decisions. It is also about the different sides, and why some people want to continue to fight in the wars, and why others want to withdraw from the Middle East. And, while I have tried to remain unbiased by discussing both sides of the issue, I still agree with my original stance on the issue. I also learned a lot about this issue when I was working on my analysis post, because I had to discuss how the wars started and this helped me to understand how people on both sides of the issue feel and understand why they think that we should or should not continue fighting. Overall, I think that I learned so much about this issue and that I have explained both sides of the issue and my opinions well.

Cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Compared to previous wars

I read an article recently that I found interesting. It showed the amounts of money spent on previous wars that we have fought in and how the money spent is compared to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The article is called "Cost of War/The Big Picture". However, some people have commented saying that the charts are misleading. And, this is one a type of bias, showing graphs that are not drawn to scale or leaving out important data. But, the reason why I am discussing this article is because it does bring up some interesting points that I have read in other articles. For example, I have read other articles that say that (considering the price of inflation) the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing more than the Vietnam war. But, they still cost less than the amount that we spent on World War II. This means that as of now the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined are the second most expensive wars in history. Now, like I said some people have commented on the article saying that it is biased, partly because in War World II we were mostly building equipment for the war but we only fought in the last couple of years of the war. Furthermore, the article said that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not affecting our economy as much as other wars. But it said that World War II affected our economy the most, but it was beneficial because it created jobs and helped end the Great Depression. Now, I think that this article brings up some interesting ideas that I would like to research more, about how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan compare to other wars in the past. But, at the same time I am also pointing out that there is a lot of information on the internet and everyone has to be suspicious of the information they find to make sure it is credible and unbiased.

Links Post

There have been many articles that have helped me learn more about my issue. The ones that I found most useful are listed below:
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home This article has been helpful because it has been keeping track of the amount of money that we have been spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html This article has been useful because it provides another estimate of what the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing. This is important because it is hard to calculate the total cost, and different sources have different estimates.
http://education-portal.com/articles/Iraq_War_Spending_vs._Education_Spending.html This article has been helpful because it demonstrates an example of how taxes are distributed in state budgets, and it reflects how the budgets are organized at different levels of government.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/54400 This article helped me be less biased because I talk about how much money is spent on the war, but this article describes how President Obama spent almost as much on stimulus this year as Former President Bush spent on both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, it puts the amount spent on the war in perspective.
http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm This article was helpful because it shows the federal budget as a pie chart and it shows the percent of the federal budget that is spent on military.
http://www.controversialforums.com/War-in-Iraq.php I found this article useful because it clearly defined some of the pros and cons of the war in Iraq.
 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCounting/story?id=2844304&page=1 I found this article to be beneficial while writing my blog because it discusses the amount of money spent on the war and it talks about ways that we could have used the money.

Class Blogs

Legalizing Pot...a California Dilemmia...or Dream
I have been reading this blog because it is an interesting issue that I have not thought much about. It is informative and also funny at times.

Reforming Immigration Laws
I also enjoy reading this blog because I have been hearing about immigration in the news lately, but I have not had the opportunity to really learn the full story. I think this is an interesting subject and I also like the blog because I think it paints a clear picture of the issue and how it is affecting our country.

Mosque in Manhattan?
I have been reading this blog because everyone has been talking about this issue in the news lately. And it is loosely related to my topic because I have been discussing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were somewhat caused by the 9/11 attacks. And 9/11 was also the reason for the negative feelings against Muslims.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been very controversial issues since they started, because of the opposing sides. There are many people who think that it is a good thing that we are over in the Middle East spreading freedom and democracy, and just as many people who think that it is a waste of money and resources. The wars have been a very discussed topic of debate, but now that election season has started more and more people are focusing on the wars. According to one article “By far, war in Iraq tops list of issues concerning voters”, the war in Iraq one of the biggest issues that voters are looking at. I am bringing this up because I want to show why this is an important issue not just because of the money and lives that are spent, but because this could be a deciding factor in who is elected. I do think that people should consider this issue not only for election purposes, but also for the reasons that I have mentioned early in my blog. Such as, the large amount of money that is spent and the number of lives that have been sacrificed. According to the same article the war in Iraq has claimed 4,000 lives and it costs 2 million dollars a week. All the money that is spent on the war could be used on government programs that would benefit the economy and the country. According to the blog “Educational Justice”, the money that is spent on war could have been used to hire 13,291 public school teachers for a year. It could have also been used on other aspects of education like better schools, text books, or computers; along with countless other possibilities. There are so many ways we could be using the money spent on war, therefore, I think that instead of fighting we should bring the troops home and use the money on improving our country.