Opinions Writing Preview- Commentary Article

Topic: Justified Use of the Military

Justified use of the military isn’t something specific that we should have in writing; I believe it should be a circumstantial decision left up to our President and U.S. government leaders.

If you put restrictions on when the U.S. military can be used, then you’re leaving a lot up to chance. There are situations that can come up in the world where people will want aid and support.

Half of U.S. citizen might feel like our nation needs to provide relief, the other half will reference a law or agreement that will keep us from getting involved.

The United States are often looked up to for military help because we are one of the biggest powers out there. So one of the main questions is, does that make it our responsibility?

A lot of people feel that just because we carry a lot of influence, doesn’t mean we should use it. The idea of not getting involved with other country’s issues to keep our military safe can be jumbled with the term “justified use.” They don’t always translate.

Situations like the one in Syria right now, that involve defenseless families, are the kind of situations that we, as a stronger country, should want to help with. The U.S. is actually doing all we can right now in Syria, without having to issue a Declaration of War.

We are issuing air strikes now and have been providing humanitarian aid and social programs there since 2011. People from the U.S. (troops and volunteers) are also in refugee camps helping with skills and training for any violence that could be put upon them.

Some of our troops are still in Iraq and Afghanistan trying to help maintain peace. Although that involvement is a controversial move, since we’ve been there for quite a while.

The pulling of troops Afghanistan has been gradual, but the plan is to have them all out by the end of 2016. This is good news for the United States, but some think it’s long overdue.

The United States efforts in Afghanistan didn’t stick, once most of our influence left, the country abandon most of the organization we put in place. President Obama spoke out and said, “We have to recognize Afghanistan will not be a perfect place, and it is not America’s responsibility to make it one,” he said. “The future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans.”

“Justified use of the military” was bounced around a lot during that time. President Obama and Secretary Clinton (at the time) both said that our interference in the Middle East was necessary after the 9/11 attacks.

A lot of citizens feel the U.S. overextends our time in other countries, and that it’s good to help, but restrictions should limit our time there. That’s a compromise that has yet to be made in our government.

Justified use of the military is definitely an opinion. There will always be people who won’t want to risk anything for a country that’s not ours. I like to think genuinely good people who will be willing to use our resources to help others are running our government. As a stable, strong country we should want to help other countries and groups in crisis. Judging what times are appropriate for our assistance is “justified use of the military.”