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Americans on War: Mixed Messages is an article written in 2007 during the second term of the Bush presidency, and discusses the conflict in Americans then deciding whether or not they thought the troops should stay in or leave Iraq. David Nather discusses how Republicans and Democrats alike were conflicted, stating that the majority “overwhelmingly disapproves of Bush’s handling of the war and… believe the war was not worth fighting, [but] they are split over whether U.S. troops should stay in Iraq or leave, according to most recent polls.” He states how the mixed feelings are most accurately represented by the Independent Party, whose for/against-the-war ratio is almost 50-50. Nather discusses how the negative national sentiment is not shared by many military people, and that those who support the war live in “Republican Territory.” Nather’s negative viewpoint on the situation is made clear by his repetition in explaining Americans’ “deep dissatisfaction” with the war, and he quotes Senator Alexander from Tennessee, saying “We’re not happy with the conduct of the war, but we also want to express support for the troops, and it’s hard to do both things at once.” He discusses blocking funding for a troop increase, and concludes with a statement that suggests it’s “time to find the best way out.” This article was written with an extreme bias, shining a very negative light on public opinion of Iraq. Nather’s mentioning of how military people tend to disagree was extremely brief, and was written as though he felt it was unimportant. This article is offensive to those who support the war, but is an excellent example of the opinions of the opposition. All in all, the article is two years old now- and the U.S. is still in Iraq.
Meghan Fulchure,
ReplyDeleteTo start off this letter, I wanted to tell you how extremely impressed I was with your introductory story! It is so engaging and heart wrenching, almost made me want to cry. My only suggestion is that you may want to change it from being a story about you and someone to two other people because right when you said “This hasn’t happened to me yet,” I actually got kind of upset like “Seriously!? Just point five seconds ago I was about to cry for you and now you say it was all made up!?” If you use words like “imagine you are---,” it will keep the reader engaged by giving them the opportunity to put themselves in the position of the fictional character. I learned this technique in English 101, so if you beg to differ, I totally understand, that’s just how I feel after reading it. Next, I realize this was a very rough draft, meaning you have a ton of amazing ideas laid out on these pages, but not an actual paper to read. After reading the first two paragraphs that you did write though, my first question is “What is the focus question you would like answered by the end of your research paper?” Again I want to say that you have a lot of good ideas, but there are so many. You will definitely have to narrow down your focus. So is the purpose of your paper to explain the importance of war, but also how it causes problems and a lot of times it seems unnecessary? In the third paragraph on page two, you have a very good explanation of what people consider a “great American.” How does that explanation make you feel? Personally, I feel really sad that our country’s greatness is focused on power. Why is power so important to people? You have really good questions. I really would like to know why people hurt and destroy other people’s lives for..nothing basically. I mean for what, why do we need a country? And why do we need to hurt people in order to maintain that power? When you say “everyone hates America, why?” It kind of makes me think of the movie Mean Girls when they think everyone likes them because of their beauty and power, but actually everyone hates them because they are mean. I like how your paragraphs use research but you add a little of your own voice to make it original. Just make sure you explain your thoughts and research so that people who don’t understand war and history can understand it easily. By the sound of your essay and the questions you have, it seems you are very passionate about your paper. That will definitely produce a good final result, just remember to organize your thoughts. How can you unify your thoughts about the history of war, the importance of it, or how you don’t feel it is necessary and so on. Why does our government need to send our innocent men overseas just so they can be killed or destroyed mentally and physically? How does war affect your relationship(s) with friends/family involved? Add some personal stories as well if possible. Awesome start! -Sam Martin, Editor J