My Life Be Like…

Cliff makes some controversial points in his post, by stating that the government did an excellent job of promoting the general welfare of the people. Although I have to say that I strongly agree with some of the topics that he discusses. Cliff writes:

The largest lesson from Katrina is about New Orleans.  In 2001, a Popular Mechanics article stated the dire situation New Orleans faced.  Interestingly enough, it was published on September 11, 2001, another tragic date in our history.  It is a foolish idea to be pumping time and money into a city that constantly is having water pumped out.  Hopefully, we will learn a lesson from this and not rebuild the city. 

I strongly agree with the point that he is making here. It is a known fact that New Orleans is situated below sea level, making it a catastrophic location for there to be a hurricane because flooding would be that much easier. So, I believe like Cliff, that we should not rebuild the city. Instead, it should be relocated to a different location with a higher elevation which would further protect the city from another disaster like Katrina.

It is a known fact that in the preamble of the United States constitution it states that it is the government’s job to promote the general welfare of the people. Hurricane Katrina is an example of a situation where the government has to try its hardest to promote the general welfare of the people. The government, along with other agencies such as FEMA (federal emergency management agency) were harshly criticised after hurricane katrina for their poor response to the disaster, but I do believe that it tried and did a good job in a deadly and bad situation. First of all, the reigons that Katrina hit, such as New Orleans are below sea level, which is a catastrophic characteristic to have in a hurricane. So naturally there will be flooding just due to the topagraphy of the land. Secondly there are hundreds of thousands of people in that reigon, many who were reluctant to leave their flooding homes regardless of what the national guards men and relief workers advised. Should the government be penalized for stubborn citizens? In fact, relief agencies started to work on relief efforts even before the storm hit

Some disaster recovery response to Katrina began before the storm, with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) preparations that ranged from logistical supply deployments to a mortuary team with refrigerated trucks. A network of volunteers began rendering assistance to local residents and residents emerging from New Orleans and surrounding Parishes as soon as the storm made landfall, and has continued for more than six months after the storm. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina#Government_response)

So yes, there is still more work to be done down in the south to clean up from last years disaster, which has been deemed the costliest natural disaster in the United States to date. In response to my original question, however, i believe that while there is still work to be done, the government along with the relief agencies have tried their hardest, and continue to strive and help rebuild the reigon and offer aid to the hurricanes victims.

There are numerous paralells that can be seen between the terrorist attacks made on the United States on September 11th 2001 and the attack which was made on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the catalyst that sparked the United States’ entry into the Second World War. For one thing, both of these were unprovoked attacks on American soil which both caused the U.S. to enter a war.  After these events occured, there was much predjudice against people of Japanese and Arab decsent; which of course there was bound to be as it was the Japanese and terrorists of mostly Arab descent who had attacked us in the first place. This state of mind, however, is absolutely wrong. There should not be any sort of prejudice against those citizens; just becasue they are of the same descent as the attackers does not mean that they are guilty of attempting to harm the United States. Unfortunately these feelings remained after pearl harbor and September 11th, which led to the creation of the Japanese Internment Camp, and the start of suspected terrorists being held indefinately within the walls of Guatanamo Bay. During the Second World War all citizens of Japansese decsent were taken out of their homes and sent to internment camps where they would live for the duration of the war, all becasue the American government suspected that just because they were Japanese, they were sending important information overseas and aiding the enemy. Families were torn apart, and innocent peoples lives were ruined just becasue of thier ancestory.

It was very embarassing for women especially. The parent actually lost control of the child. I had no parents, so I did as I pleased. When I think back, what happened to the Japanese family… (Terkel 27)

In present times, the institution of Guatanamo Bay exists to hold dangerous terrorists indefinately. This seems like a great institution that will protect us, but in fact it is strikingly simmilar to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII. At Guatanamo Bay, terrorist suspects are held, but like the Japanese prisoners, they are unsure why they are being held in the first place. This lack of knowledge is due to the fact that the United States law does not allow the suspects to see the evidence that has been presented against them, so they are in fact literally without a clue of why they are being held indefinately. Looking back on WWII, regarding Japanese internment, we always say how horrible that was and how we should never let anything like that happen again, but in reality we are being hypocrites, becasue the same thing is occurring with Guatanamo Bay. Now, I am not suggesting that we let all the terrorist suspects out to run free, but if there is not any legitimate evidence against them, why are we holding them in prison? More importantly, if there is evidence it should be shown to them becasue in America we argue thatt everyone has rights to a fair and speedy trial regardless of religion or race. So why won’t we allow them to have one?

When it comes to an issue such as this one, I am on the fence. I won’t waste my time lying to you, the existence of Guatanamo Bay does make it easier to sleep at night knowing that we are a little safer from terrorist suspects, but at the same time this institution is almost disturbing. The founding fathers of the United States built this country upon life liberty and persuit of happiness and upon the fact that every American citizen would be entitled to certain rights, but now these rights are being violated because terroritst suspects are being held indefinately at Guatanamo Bay. It is clear that the Executive branch of the United States government is trying to act responsibly by holding these suspects, but it becomes hypocritical when the prisoners are not given fair trials, and makes it look almost as though the government is detaining these prisoners in order to make it seem like they are really accomplishing something here. So, No, it is not ok that the prisoners are being denied their fifth ammendment rights; They should be allowed to have a trial. Generally when we think of the judicial system in the United States it goes along with the saying, “innocent until proven guilty.” So why is it so impossible to treat these prisoners like the criminals that go through the law system in the United States and find them innocent until they are proven guilty?

Survival may be the only thing the troops here agree on. The first death of a comrade in battle is always an emotional shock, and the views from the foxhole here are probably as varied as the 34 soldiers. Still, in this hostile stretch of western Iraq, some of the troops have begun to wonder if the presence of United States forces here is worth the cost in American lives.”  - Michael R. Gordon, www.newyorktimes.com

The five year anniversary of September 11th is coming up on monday, marking the day that the United States faced devastation and decided to declare war on terrorists. Soon after, our soldiers were shipped over to the middle east to fight possibly one of the toughest wars of all times. Unlike other wars like the first and second world wars, these soldiers are not fighting against a designated enemy wearing a uniform, but normal men and women wearing civilian clothing which makes it almost impossible to separate the enemies from the innocent. This anniversary also outlines the fact that we have been in the middle east for almost five years, and we have not accompished much. Yes, we have Sadaam Hussein in custody, and we have destroyed the major terrorist training camps and captured many high up terrorists, but now we have found ourselves in a rut not accomplishing anything, fighting against hostile militants who are killing more and more of ours soldiers each day. As the article said, it is very hard to watch one of your comerades be killed in action, the devastation that it puts on one’s emotions is almost unfathomable. Soldiers have begun to question whether this war is worth all that devastation, because really, is it worth innocent american lives to stay in Iraq and look like we are accomplishing something?