On Tuesday, the United States and the world marked the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11 with moments of silence and solemn vows of "never again." Yet on a day when the nation should be mourning, Democrats and Republicans were arguing on Capitol Hill about the war in Iraq.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, told reporters after Gen. David Petraeus, top general in Iraq, gave his report that "this is unacceptable to me; it’s unacceptable to the American people."
What Reid was referring to was Petraeus’ statement that there could be a 30,000-troop reduction in Iraq by next July.
Why must our politicians continue to bicker among themselves like little children on a day when Americans unite regardless of political, social or religious differences? Yes, an overwhelming majority of Americans are unhappy with the war in Iraq. True, President Bush has an approval rating of only 33 percent, but do we forget that it was he who inspired us as a nation to unite as one and tell the world: "We’re still here, you have not defeated us"?
Our politicians are so hell-bent on their paths of "what is right for America," they cannot even take time to stop and remember why we are where we are. Nearly 3,000 Americans were killed in the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. Our country suffered the worst attack on our soil since Pearl Harbor.
Then, as now, the ideals that we hold dear were under attack.
The difference is that our politicians then were able to put aside their differences because they realized that if they did not do so, the United States might not survive.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not wars fought because we want to fight them. If you asked the average person, "Would you like to fight a war and send our young men and women to die?" do you think the answer would be yes? I can say with perfect certainty that everyone would answer "no." The reasons for going to war in the case of Afghanistan were clear: the Taliban supported Osama bin-Laden and al-Qaida, offering them refuge in their country. Hindsight is always 20/20, and while we were wrong in our assumptions about the threat of Saddam Hussein, we are in Iraq and we cannot just pull out.
Instead of our politicians using current situations for their own gain, they should take a look at the bigger picture. As cliche as our president is, he is right about one thing: The terrorists inside Iraq and Afghanistan must be stopped. Our troops are over there fighting to protect our nation from another devastating attack like what happened on Sept. 11.
If we pulled our troops out now, we would not be helping America, the Iraqis or the Afghans. Instead, we would be leaving a vacuum for the terrorists to fill. Any exit made before either country is ready to stand on their own feet would be a sign to the terrorists that their underhanded and cowardly tactics of improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings are working.
As our lives continue on this week and for the rest of the year, we can never forget to take a moment and remember those who died on Sept. 11. Nor should we forget that our troops are overseas fighting to make sure that such attacks never happen again.
Our politicians have forgotten this and need to be reminded of it before they make another mistake that proves to be fatal, not just for their political careers, but for Americans.
What is unacceptable, Reid, is that you are more worried about your career and how you look in the polls instead of the lives of the American people. Regardless of personal feelings for the reasons behind wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I support our troops and the noble work they are doing.
Clancy, a political science senior, can be reached via [email protected]
