September 11, 2001. It’s hard to find someone here in America who doesn’t know about that day, over ten years ago, when our nation was hit by the worst terrorist attack in its history. The Bush administration’s reaction to this sharp poke was quite succinct: get revenge. And that’s what we’ve gotten, right?

The war in Afghanistan and other places in the Middle East has been the longest ever: ten years. Huge numbers of American military troops have been slaughtered. In this recession, out of the current national debt of nearly 15 trillion dollars, nearly $700 billion is devoted entirely to war. Not exactly revenge on the “enemy,” it seems. So why are we still in the Middle East?

Some people argue that the main reason for the United State’s involvement in the Middle East is because of terrorism. Those that support this position may say that there is increased defense by sending the military to prevent potential terrorist attacks in the future. This may seem reasonable, but since September 2001, there have been over twenty attempted terrorist attacks against America. Remember the car bomb that failed to explode in New York? That’s an example of an act of terrorism. So, it seems as if that can’t be the explanation.

Some people argue that we are there in order to protect our oil interests. Since we do use that nonrenewable resource at an explosive rate, that seems to be the answer. However, these are the facts; the top two main places of our foreign oil source are Canada and Mexico. Saudi Arabia comes in third place. Interestingly, the U.S. hasn’t placed soldiers in Canada as much as those in the Middle East. Also, why isn’t China, a supposedly growing international power, sending troops like us? What about the European countries?
In addition to the fact that the military requires massive amounts of funding, many American soldiers have lost their lives. If we don’t care to realize that this long war is quite wasteful, we should at least grasp the fact that our troops do have value. And if oil is a motive to send troops to their deaths in an unfamiliar land, then this should provide enough motivation to find another energy source.

Myself personally, I don’t really think we’ve accomplished much in the longest war in U.S. history. Ask anyone the question mentioned and he/ she will hesitate at first answering. The two possibilities above are just a few of the vast number available. Bottom line is this: if people, like you, actually know what war is really like, then they will not support it. I encourage you to take of the Safesearch on Google and type in “Afghanistan War.” You might be surprised.