The "A to Z" theme is not meant to make light of or trivialize the topic. Rather, it helps shed light on some of the more obscure issues to come up after 9/11 and the resulting War On Terror.
Afghanistan. 14,000 to 34,000 civilians (men, women, and children) killed since 2001.
Barack Obama. It was his unpopular stance against invading Iraq that contrasted him with Democratic opponent (and presumed nominee) Hillary Clinton. It was one of the key reasons he beat Clinton and later McCain.
Civil liberties. Eroded by the USA Patriot Act, which was passed with virtually zero scrutiny just six short weeks after 9/11.
Draft. With no draft, the U.S. military relied on its all-volunteer soldiers and civilian contractors. Multiple tours of duty took a heavy toll on the soldiers' mental health, which led to more suicides, domestic abuse, and misery at home.
England, Lynndie. When photos of the sadistic Abu Ghraib guard surfaced, America's standing in the world stage plummeted.
Freedom fries. Because the French opposed the Iraq invasion, members of Congress changed the name of French fries in their cafeteria to Freedom fries. The French response? "We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues and we are not focusing on the name you give to potatoes."
Guantanamo. Pro: Some good intelligence has been gathered there. Con: It's a legal black hole.
Hurt Locker, The. The Hollywood elite's opposition to the Iraq war was strong enough to propel this mediocre film into an Oscar winner.
Iraq. Over 100,000 civilian deaths. 12,000 people were killed by 1,000 suicide bombers.
Journalism. If the New York Times' Judith Miller says there's WMDs in Iraq, that must be true. Right?
Kurdistan. One of the few bright spots. Iraqi Kurdistan is safe, prosperous, and most importantly, autonomous.
Liquids on planes. 3.4 oz plastic bottle manufacturers in China must have had a hand in this asinine edict.
Manless drones. Bad for Pakistanis in the North-West Frontier Province. Good for DARPA.
NATO/coalition casualties in Afghanistan. Australia (29), Belgium (1), Canada (157), Czech Republic (4), Denmark (42), Estonia (8), Finland (2), France (73), Georgia (10), Germany (53), Hungary (7), Italy (39), Jordan (2), Latvia (3), Lithuania (1), Netherlands (25), New Zealand (3), Norway (10), Poland (29), Portugal (2), Romania (19), South Korea (1), Spain (33), Sweden (5), Turkey (2), U.K. (380), U.S. (1,756).
Oil. It's not about the oil; it's about freedom from despots(tm).
PTSD. 1 in 5 military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Qatar-based TV station Al Jazeera. Its coverage of Afghanistan and Iraq (and those OBL tapes) have earned praise, envy, and suspicion worldwide.
Recession. Bad mortgages and lack of government oversight of the financial industry are the root causes of the slow down. But massive tax cuts while fighting two unfunded wars did not help the situation.
Sunni-Shiite conflict. The toppling of Saddam and his Sunni minority from power meant Shiite majority rule. This increased the influence of Iran and spurred the short-lived uprising in Bahrain (where a Sunni royal family rules Shiites, who make up 60-70% of the population).
TSA. Body scanners, intrusive pat downs/grabs, and walking barefoot through metal detectors. The upside: Without all those useless screeners at your local airport, our national unemployment rate would shoot up to 15%.
Urdu-Pashtun conflict in Pakistan. Consequence of instability in Afghanistan spilling over into neighboring countries.
Victory. Mission accomplished. How do we define victory? Are we going to live in perpetual fear? What does that do to our society? Our psyche?
Waterboarding. Torture or enhanced interrogation technique?
Xinjiang. China used 9/11 as a pretense to crack down on Uyghurs. A number of them were sent to Guantanamo, where they were found to be harmless. We can't send them back home (where they will surely be imprisoned or worse) and China has pressured its trade partners, i.e. virtually every country in the world, into not taking these Uyghurs in. So where are they now? Albania, Bermuda, Palau, and Guatanamo (still).
Yemen. Al Qaeda shifted some of its network from Afghanistan to Yemen. Just what a poor, war-ravaged country needs.
Zealots. Jihadists. Zionist extremists. Christian fundamentalists. Peaceniks. A polarizing and vocal minority has ruined it for the moderate and silent majority.
The main question is, I think, are you safer now? After all these topics you mention, is the USA safer than before?
ReplyDeleteI imagine we will never know for sure, but at least there hasn't been a new 9/11.
(I'm not justifying anything here, by the way, specially the invasion of Iraq, for which there is no excuse)
i think we were unsafe then and we are unsafe now. the only difference is that we have now (partially) woken up to the fact whereas before we were blissfully unaware.
ReplyDelete@Viva: I think we are probably safer now. But you're right, we'll never know. But we could have reached the same goal at 20% of the current cost, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I'm at an airport and I see a fit guy in his 20s with a missing leg (I assume he's a veteran), I get very angry.
I understand your anger for wasted lives. Not to belittle their sacrifice, but at least they are volunteers, unlike in many countries where you don't have choice but to go to war. I do think the US has grown a bit detached from war since it's been a while since you've had to deal with it on your own soil. The grim reality of war is easy to shut from your mind when it's thousands of miles away and all it takes is one click of the remote control. All the movies, tv-shows, war games about Iraq and Afghanistan etc make it feel more like a game than reality. Simply put, it's been made into entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure many youngsters who choose to go to war are in for a surprise, thinking they're going to play a bit of Call of Duty IRL. We've all seen videos of soldiers fooling around in warzones and while it is good for the troops to get their minds off some of things they've seen, this kind of lightheartedness in war does feel very macabre when youngsters on the other side are giving their lives for their ideals. I'm afraid it'll only get worse as warfare technology moves more towards video ga... unmanned drones. A scary thought and it sure won't help the Middle East and the Western world see eye to eye.