6. June 2009 by student.

 According to documents provided by former Treasury Secretary Paul O’ Neil, George W. Bush instructed his aides to look for a way to overthrow the Iraqi regime ten days after taking office in January 2001. A secret memo entitled “Plan for Saddam Iraq” was discussed in January and February 2001, and a Pentagon document dated March 5, 2001, and entitled “Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oil field Contracts”. The Iraq war, also known as the second Persian Gulf War. Prior to the war, The governments of United States and United Kingdom claimed that Iraq’s alledge posession of weapon of mass destruction posed in an imminent threat to their security and that of their coalition allies. United Nations weapon inspectors found no evidence of WMD. Some U. S. officials also accussed Saddam Hussein of harboring and supporting Al- Qaeda, but no evidence of any collaborative relationship was found. Other reasons of invasion stated by U.S. officials included Iraq’s financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers,Iraqi government human rights abuses, and an effort on the part of the coalition forces to spread democracy in the country and regions. Some officials said Iraq’s oil reserves were a factor in the decision to invade, but other officials denied this. According to AC(associated content )news, the economic and emotional effect of the war in the home front is immense, and the full scope of it may not be clear for years to come. There is no way to put a price tag on the loss of even one soldier, and  innocent victims and the emotional trauma or prolonged separation from families cannot be calculated. In TODAY’s news, we have spent over $500 billion on Iraq war. Many commentators said that the amount of money should been put to use at home. $500 billion would fund the social security system for the next 75 years, well beyond the crisis point that the retirement of the “Baby Boomers” generation to bring, instead of jumping into catastrophe, we could averted one. Deployment of National Guard to Iraq for extended combat rotations that we see emotional and economic effects at their worst. The prolonged separation of families takes a tremendous toll. Military spouses, parents, and children are more prone to have anxiety and heart problems due to stress and worries for their love ones in combat.The number of small businesses wiped out because of their owners are overseas continue to grow and small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Police forces have dissapeared as Grand and Reservist Mp’s are sent to patrol Baghdad “safer” while crime increases at home. Psychologist ’s findings are showing that many returning soldiers are showing PTSD( Post Traumatic Syndrome), depression, and alcohol problems. According to U.S. Labor, nearly 200 times what the U.S. now spends per month on military operations in Afghanistan. A 10% total federal budget, meaning that health care, education, social security, medicare and other services and benefit that working people have earned could face cuts.

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6. June 2009 by student.

Waterboarding is a form of torture that has been used as an interogation tactic. It has been a technique that militaries have used to force informaton out of people. When someone recieves “waterboarding”, they are strapped to a board with their feet in the air and their head towards the ground and water is dripped down their face, causing an effect that makes the victim feel as if he/she is drowning. Which causes a question of whether this procedure really is torture or not. Of course it is torture. Anything that is done to someone against their will is a form of torture. However, isn’t there occasions when something like this is necessary? In 2007, it was made public to Americans that the CIA was using this technique on certain prisoners who had been authorized by the United States Department of Justice. This was cleared under the Bush administration, so when Obama became president, he banned waterboarding in January 2009. However, in April 2009, the United States Department of Defense refused to answer whether or not the technique was still used for training purposes. Now I am not a Bush fan like most people, but I do feel that although this may be a cruel and unruly procedure, we may need something like this sometime. I definitley don’t think it should be able to used on an everyday basis and there should be extreme stipulations to be able to use it. Just imagine if your child is kidnapped by someone and there is much reason to think that your child is still alive somewhere…. would you be in favor of using “waterboarding” if it meant getting your kid back? I definitley would. I feel that the people who do this procedure need to take extra precautions and make sure that the person getting waterboarded is properly watched so he/she does not die and any health damages are tried to be prevented.

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