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Showing posts with the label violence

Drone On

Unmanned flying machines that are typically operated by a person using a game controller often fly over places such as Pakistan. For the most part, they watch and attack. Drone strikes happen much more frequently since Obama has been living in the White House. According to the New American Foundation , there has been 339 total number of drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004. Of those, 293 were since 2009. In 2009, only 2 strikes happened under Bush. Let’s break down the numbers. Under 8 years of Bush, there were 48 drone strikes in Pakistan. In 4 years of Obama, there have been 291. The latest was just the 29th of November. I shudder to think what another 4 years will bring. Troops will still remain after the 2014 end date. Now, these drone attacks do not happen on their own. The President must authorize each and every attack. That’s a lot of drone strikes for a guy who said that he was bringing the troops home and ending our wars. And let’s not forget the drone strike in Y...

Fight or Flight

Mid East violence has hit a new high against the US. Flags burn. Embassies and consulates are being attacked. At least one diplomat is dead. Anti-American chants reverberate through the streets. At what point do we bring our people home? Humans have retained basic survival instincts since the beginnings of humanity—fight or flight. Both of these actions increase our chance of survival. What does not is just sticking around for the heck of it. In these highly violent areas, we are neither fighting nor fleeing. Sure, we shut down the embassy in Indonesia. But why are we allowing these sorts of attacks? Workers in the embassies or consulates are innocent civilians. Most do not even have proper military defense for these little bits of America in foreign lands. Declaring war is not a feasible option. We simply do not have the resources to attack an entire string of nations after our three “wars” (including our involvement in Libya). Nor do we have the stomach to sustain a lon...

The New Normal

Less and less Americans have jobs. Prices keep jumping higher and higher. Crime seeps even further into our streets. Americans are dying abroad. Our flag’s ashes mix with the sands of foreign lands. Every time I read a new headline on Drudge , my insides drop and unrelenting sadness crashes over me like a tidal wave and I try to not let myself be pulled under with the current. The election is less than two months away. We can get out of this maelstrom.