you're doomed to repeat it. I first want to preface this by stating the following post is merely an idea that has been circulating in my head for awhile, and that is all it should be perceived as. I just want everyone's personal opinions, thoughts, agreements, disagreements, etc. based upon what you an individual feel, not a member of a certain political party.
As I get older and prepare to leave college in a few weeks, I cannot help but think of the world with a more broader scope. After all, I might not always be here in the sheltered world of the Great Plans. As a result, I have begun to really think about our country, specifically the war, and what direction we may or may not be headed in. Whereas in the past I merely accepted the fact we were at war and nothing I could say or do would change that so I might as well support it, now I am beginning to wonder whether or not we are truly acting in the best interests of our country or whether there is an ulterior motive involved. I haven't really made up my mind yet, so I do not intend to sound as if I am attacking our President, his party, or our country in general. These are merely thoughts that have been bouncing around my head recently, and I would like to share them with you in order to hear the insights and opinions of some of the members with whom I have gained much respect in my short time here.
The reason I titled this thread in such a manner is because of the similarities I have begun to see between this War on Terrorism and the American Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War served as a major turning point in the course of human history, and I see our world at a similar crossroads now. Britian was one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, countries in the entire world, much like the United States today. Another similarity between the two countries is their large involvement in foreign matters. The British held possessions all over the known globe, hence the government had to make policy decisions with not only the interests of her own countryman, but also people in far away lands. Much like the King and Queen long ago, the President has similar responsbilities. In order to control those interests abroad, England had to station military garrisons all over the world, in the same manner as our armed forces are spread out throughout the globe.
Another way in which the American Revolution changed the world was the style of warfare in which it was fought. This leads to another connection I see between the two wars. Previous to the Revolutionary War, memebers of the opposing armies got into full dress uniform, formed ranks, and marched on the enemy in an open field somewhere. The colonists knew they would never defeat the British in such a battle, so they camouflaged themselves, hid behind objects, and fired whenever they had a shot, as opposed to "volley firing". This obviously proved to be very effective in defeating the soliders clad in their bright "redcoats". The British viewed this form of fighting as acts of terrorism. Now I don't mean to imply that by hiding behind trees the American colonists fighting for their own freedom from tyranny and oppression were terrorists, but in the eyes of the British at the time, the Americans style of warfare was met with the same view of cowardice as modern terrorists. This new, supposedly immoral style of warfare enabled the American nation to be born and allowed us to become a world power.
The reason I bring all this up is because I fear the way of terrorism might be gradually becoming the new style of warfare. All you have to do is read some of the other threads on this board or pick up a newspaper to see how prevalent terrorists acts have become. The last prior to 9/11 the United States suffered a surprise attack was Pearl Harbor, which was attacked in the typical military fashion. We knew who are enemies were, we knew how to defeat them, hence we answered in typical military fashion and the Allies won the war. In this case, it is not so cut and dried however. We are trying to fight each battle in a typical military fashion, but this is a very different kind of war. So far, our results have not been that great. We took Saddam out of power, but the terrorist attacks have yet to slow down and show no sign of doing so. We defeated the greatest threat to humanity and civility in 5 years. We've had 4 years so far to do the same and have gotten nowhere. Whether you personally feel that means we have to step up our military involvement or it means we should end the military operations altogether is up for you to decide. I, as a fellow American, merely want to see our great country grow and prosper. One of the signatures of a board member is a quote from President Bush about how war is what they wanted and war is what they got. We also got war, but is it the kind we expected? I'm not necessarily against the war, but I do question the manner in which we are going about it. When Japan surrendered, the World War II was over. Plain and simple. How will we know when this kind of war is over?
So after reading this, do you think I'm completely off-base? I believe these terrorists need to be punished accordingly, so I can see the President's reasoning for the war. I also see the other side of the coin in that we need a better plan of accomplishing that justice. So please let me know what you think. I have hung the target on my chest, so fire away! Just please attack my ideas and my analogy, not your least favorite political party. I will far more disappointed if you start slinging political mud than if you threaten to shove a floorlamp up my mother's ass.
