Since I've only been on this planet for 20 years and I'm hesitant to believe everything I've read in my history books during high school, I will have to parallel the United States' involvement with the Libyan affairs to our Invasion of Iraq in the mid-2000's. Regardless of the administration or party represented, questionable decisions are questionable decisions. The United States apparently intervened not because we were threatened but for the well-being of the Libyan community. Sounds eerily similar to our reasoning behind "liberating" Iraq. The problem is, there seems to have been much more harm done with the war in Iraq than good.
As the war in Iraq was supposed to be quick and to the point, we still have many troops out there fighting years later. Civilians and soldiers alike have been killed over the course of 8 long years for an unclear reason. All this for what America has deemed to be the appropriate form of government. Like Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein had his share of issues with the U.S. government through out his term. Both nations also coincidentally happen to be rich with oil. Now I know that oil prices are important and none of us want to pay $5.00 for a gallon of gas but is there not a better way of going about your agenda that doesn't involve risking the lives of human beings? If the U.S. is so concerned with other nation's problems, how come we have sat back and watched plenty of other genocides and "injustices" though out the world? Because we have nothing to gain? We need to view things from a more humanitarian perspective in the future and use force as a last resort. As cliche as it may be, it is probably in everyone's best interest for us to mind our own business.
"Those that ignore the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them."
If we do not take our past failures seriously as lessons, we will never be able to move on and improve as a nation and as humans. We can't be stubborn.
Maybe I'm completely off base though and not well-informed. Or maybe I'm right. Not sure.
Ok bye.
"If we do not take our past failures seriously as lessons, we will never be able to move on and improve as a nation and as humans." sometimes, we do not care what we did in the past. It means, we never improve from the past. War is good example of this quate. I am still curious what U.S. learn from wars.
ReplyDeleteI picked up on the same quote as Kwan--this, I think, is at the heart of the matter--it is dangerous to forget the past. I would also argue, however, that it may be just as dangerous to remember the past in the wrong way. Take for instance the history books that for years made Columbus practically a saint, when he committed killed native peoples on a grand scale as he explored this continent and its islands. (I like The People's History of the United States as an alternative view). At any rate, I appreciate your acknowledgment that this is a complex issue....
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