The Inevitability of War

100 Black Men Scholarship: War
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are nearly impossible to “win”. At this point, the only good that can be achieved is closure to the invaded country and closure back home.   Many opportunities exit that will help us end these wars.
First, we must learn about the culture of our enemies. Knowledge regarding why people act a certain way, or why they feel terror is their first option, removes the blinders from our eyes. If we continue to wear the blinders we can only feel the impact of their violence but we have no visibility to its root cause.   As a result, we are provoked to react and that reaction is more violence. Former President Bush wore such blinders when we went into the situation.   He could only see the attack, the precious oil at stake, and the possibility of finishing a war that his father started.   President Obama is taking the correct route in widening his view of the situation. Obama understands that we must get to know our enemy to truly understand them. He has met with the Iraqi leader countless times to discuss the war. He sees that Iraq should not be the country we are at war with. He has widened his view enough to know that the “heart of terrorism” is not in Iraq, but in countries like Pakistan. Truth abounds in the cliché “when you fight fire with fire you will get burned.   This belief rests with many generations of people and streams through movies, television shows and other media.
Second, we must remember that each soldier in the war is a living breathing human being. These soldiers are not just numbers that can be added and subtracted at will. Each time you the death toll increases someone has lost a member of their family or a friend.   We should not take these soldiers for granted or take advantage of their willingness to fight for their country. This is why it is imperative that warfare be viewed as a last response to any conflict. While disregarding this truism, Former President Bush added countless numbers...