1. Chris Haygood<br />Writing Project 3<br />ENGL 104<br />11/18/08<br />Since the beginning of man, war has been an inevitable part of major societies, and with these wars come many casualties. When is the point where an armed force is supposed to perhaps withdraw from a major conflict? Is it when the presence seems no longer needed? Or perhaps is it when great deals of civilian casualties are needlessly incurred as the bi- product of conflict? Whatever the answers to these questions might be, many civilians, including women and children, have been needlessly slaughtered in recent American conflicts, and in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<br />There is no doubt that many atrocities have happened to the civilians of war torn countries in the history of the United States. We have heard throughout our lifetimes that civilian casualties are just a part of war. In the Vietnam War, about 3 million civilian lives were taken from the year of 1959 to 1975, or until about the end of the war. The Iraq war, which has been going on for about five years, has already racked up nearly 655,000 civilian deaths (Karadsheh). That is almost one third as many deaths that occurred in Vietnam in one third of the time. This can be attributed to the living conditions that the native people have been left to deal with or to American war tactics. People in the United States can rarely watch the news each night and NOT see a report on more U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq, but why are the deaths of innocent civilians due to American soldiers not ever brought to light? In August 2004, a group of Marines was charged for the slaughter of twenty-four Iraqi civilians in Sadr City. A case similar to this also happened in the city of Haditha in 2005 when four Marines exacted vengeance on the Iraqi people when one of their fellow Marines was killed in a roadside bombing. The four Marines rampaged through the town mercilessly killing the twenty-four civilians, many of them women and children. There is currently one of the four marines, Staff Sergeant Frank D. Wuterich, still on trial while the other three Marines have been dismissed (Vonzielbauer). It seems that when members of the armed forces of the United States are caught in the midst of war crimes, they are somehow acquitted. There needs to be repercussions for those not willing to follow the regulations of war, or a more effective method needs to take place, such as the withdraw of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan or a more effective way of fighting the war. <br />“The preponderance of the Republican Guard divisions outside of Baghdad are now dead. I find it interesting when folks say we're softening them up. We're not softening them up, we're killing them.” This quote, said by Lt. Gen. Michael Moseley of the United States Air Force, describes the current state of war in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. Though most of “Iraqi Freedom” has been fought on land, the U.S. government also took to the skies in order to not only develop strategy against Iraqi insurgents, but to reduce the number of civilian casualties with modern technologies in air warfare. There is no doubt in any person’s mind that jets and airplanes are destructive tools used in war. Ever since World War I, planes have been used to carry out disparaging attacks brought upon by world leaders. In World War II, planes were used throughout the war by all sides and played a major roll throughout the war. The German war strategy of “blitzkrieg”, meaning lightning war, was a plane-heavy strategy in which the German army pulverized their enemy in an onslaught of continuous plane and artillery fire. The strategy worked against more than six countries, and somewhat put air warfare on the map as a developmental approach to win wars. After the development of the German V-1, a pilotless jet that was capable of carrying about two thousand pounds of explosives, it was evident that technology was transforming war significantly (The History Channel). Almost seventy years later, it is evident that the German development of the V-1 has greatly influenced American air warfare in the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The development of the Predator aircraft, and the use of cruise missiles, has been a giant factor in the destruction of Iraq and it’s people. The Predator aircraft is an unmanned aircraft that is piloted by two remote-wielding airmen. The Pentagon has spent nearly thirteen billion dollars on these aircraft, which, even though greatly help the United States in times of war, still have not eliminated civilian casualties in terms of air war (Schmitt). Even with the developing technologies of war, and the ability to cut down on civilian casualties, new “safer” means of war are still not only tearing apart countries, but also tearing apart the people. In 2003, the U.S. Department of Defense labeled their new air campaign “shock and awe” because of its ferocity, and its intent to terrify Iraqi forces. The attack was a destructive offensive that lasted from March 19th, 2003 until mid-April of the same year, of non-stop bombings of Iraq. More than 800 Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are about one million dollars per missile, along with other various bombs and missiles, were fired on Iraq, basically destroying the country. Even with the government’s use of cutting edge technology, and precision guided missiles, that didn’t mean that things were not going to go wrong. Errant missiles that were meant to be used in the attack somehow strayed into Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and in Iraqi residential areas in Baghdad (MSN Encarta). Even with the rise in technologies of modern warfare, civilians are still at high risks of being killed by even the most technologically advanced weapons of war. Though some civilians may not be killed directly by these tools of destruction, their homes and surroundings are devastated by advanced weaponry used by the United States, leaving men, women, and children dead or homeless.<br />It is clear that the current war in Iraq is not popular amongst the people in America, but what about the troops that are actually fighting the war? Are they comfortable with knowing that some of their comrades are killing off the very civilians that they are trying to “liberate”? There are many troops that are very uncomfortable with the fact that fellow soldiers are slaughtering civilians. Maybe that explains the annual average of soldiers going AWOL (absent without leave) in the United States armed forces from 2002 to 2005 was about 1,600, and in 2006 the number jumped up to almost 2,000, that is almost five soldiers per day. Now, with groups like Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace, more than 1,600 enlisted soldiers have signed an appeal that states that, “Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price.”(Wiltenburg) Former Staff Sergeant Jim Massey of the United States Marine Corps was part of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and spoke out about the atrocities that took place in Iraq. quot;
As far as I'm concerned, the real war did not begin until they saw us murdering innocent civilians. I mean, they were witnessing their loved ones being murdered by US Marines. It's kind of hard to tell someone that they are being liberated when they just saw their child shot or lost their husband or grandmother. We signaled a car to stop and when it didn't we opened fire. They were innocent civilians. We found no weapons, no explosives—nothing. Somehow, and I have no idea how he could have done it, but one guy got out of the car and he wasn't badly wounded. He was the brother of one of the men bleeding to death in the car. He looked at me and asked, 'Why did you kill my brother. What did he do to you?' There were 30-plus civilians killed over two days at these checkpoints.quot;
(Jim Massey)<br />In the wake of so much confusion and change going on in America, there is no doubt that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are influencing important decisions in America, and greatly affecting the American people. The United States has to not only make a decision to make the people of America happy, but to make life better for the people in Iraq and Afghanistan. The only way to make both parties happy, and to continue life in the countries we invaded is to withdraw from these countries.<br />