Write about a current controversy in the news. It can be local, national, or international in scope. Be sure to answer the journalist's questions about the topic and then discuss the issue.
The withdrawal of troops out of the Middle East.
President Obama released a State of the Union address about two months ago stating his intention for the early withdrawal of U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. He further states that the withdrawal will start with 10,000 troops coming home by next summer and the remaining troops out by 2014. The mounting cost of the war, loss of lives, and the fact that we have been there too long with only recent progress has been factors in his decision.
I am torn on this issue. I feel both sides very heavily. I am happy and relieved that our guys and gals are coming home but I am also worried about the repercussions of leaving too soon. This issue hits too close to home because I am an Army Wife. I have been one for over ten years and its been a long ten years. Many deployments and many nights of wondering if my husband was going to make it home. He is currently home on RnR from a deployment right now and I am so happy that for a while I can sleep stress free. At least until he has to leave and finish his tour.
With the cost of the war increasing, the threats of not receiving a paycheck is a major concern for our continued stay in the Middle East. We have only recently seen real progress with the capture and death of Osama bin Laden. Along with that is the list of casualties growing. But what if we leave too soon and suddenly have another war or terrorist plot on our hands, one that actually succeeds again. This is what tears me is the fact of not knowing if this is going to affect us worse in the future.
It also breaks my heart that if we stay longer, the loss grows. I am on the knowing end of that casualty list, I have had to call down and do notifications. Recently in fact, and I know that I will have to do some more. It hurts knowing that even though you are happy that your loved one is safe, someone else's didnt make it and that guilt piles on you. Can bringing the soldiers home early save even one person from going through that? Yes, but will it save another from something worse in the future? I know that this decision was a hard one for the President to make, and God only knows what the results will be. Pray and thank our soldiers, they do so much for so little.
I can feel it too. Back in 1990 when the first Gulf War happened I was sure my husband, a reservist, was going to be called up. It did not happen then, but our nephew, a member of that unit years later, was called up and was killed by an IED.
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