America loses itself in senseless Iraq war

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opnewb5637214apr04,0,1724621.story

Nicholas Ryerson | Nicholas Ryerson is a junior at South Side High School in Rockville Centre.

April 4, 2008

After reading about the horrific tragedies that occur daily in Iraq, I have become fed up, ashamed and disgusted with the number of fatalities. The amount of lives lost, not only Americans but also Iraqis, is innumerable. The amount of innocent women and children struck dead by our hands makes me shudder. As an American, it is my duty to create and inspire change.

There is an increase in youth interest and activity in politics today, and a foolish war where thousands are dying. What is this like? Vietnam. I thought we were supposed to learn from our mistakes.

Do Americans want to maintain prosperity or humanity? Politicians would argue that it is not as simple as that, that there are many other aspects to consider, but that is false when dealing with human life.

To aim for benevolence, we must isolate ourselves from this overwhelming sense of supremacy that has been forced upon us as Americans since our birth. We need to reclaim America and build the trust and respect of not only foreign governments but also of foreigners. This is the only hope we have as humans, the only hope that will conquer this modern feudal system.

[Rydz777]

1. This war is a disaster by every measure. We now have the

calculation of a Nobel winning economist that if we stopped it today the total cost would be $ 3 trillion . That's $ 3,000,000,000,000. And where is the $ 3 trillion coming from? From debt which the next generation will have to pay through a lower standard of living.

In 1950 we had all the money in the world; now we are the world's biggest debtor. We need to realize that it's no longer 1950.