"Risking Lives To Save Lives"

Something tragic happened on the day of September 11, 2001 that would affect us for years to come. It’s still affecting us at this time, possibly more than ever. The families of military men and woman are affected the most right now. In case you haven’t figured out what I’m talking about, I’m speaking of the war in Iraq and the idea of sending over more than 20,000 troops overseas.
Coming from someone who grew up in a military family, a grandfather who served in his younger years, a brother in the Army, a cousin in the Air Force, an uncle in the Army, and another brother who served in the Marines that I lost overseas in 2003, I am not happy with George W. Bush’s proposal at all. Not only am I upset about the fact that it could be my family sent over, I’m upset that my friends could go overseas as well.
When this war first started in 2002 I supported it for the most part. Now in retrospect, I believe it was my anger that supported it, not my intellect. I was so enraged about what had happened on September 11, 2001, I was willing to support anything at that moment. When my brother got shipped off in 2002 my views slowly started changing. I think mainly due to fear at that point. But I stuck to my initial views of supporting it. When I lost my brother in 2003 I had no clue what to think anymore. Eventually I came to realize that, in my opinion, we have been over in Iraq for way to long.
Is risking American lives to save foreign lives worth it? That is the million dollar question I keep asking myself. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud that our country uses its resources to help other countries, but there is a time when enough is enough. One country can only do so much. We have been fighting in this war for over five years now, that’s longer than many of us expected. So overall, I don’t believe that sending more than 20,000 troops to Iraq is the wisest decision, but it may be a decision we have to make.