Justine Neill

Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
01 December 2014
War Zone: Where Should We Be?
In reading Celeste Ward Gventers article, Adjusting the War on Terror in Afghanistan to
Fit the Times, Gventer states that in American troops being removed from Afghanistan would
limit U.S. operational flexibility in tracking and interdicting terrorist threats there. President,
Barack Obamas decision to follow up his claims of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan has
caused not only an increase of possible terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda but a new group called
ISIS or the Islamic State. Although I can understand why Obama would see the need to bring
home the troops to America for he did say earlier in his terms as president that he would bring
home the troops and officially end the war, it made the people happy so he went through with the
actions he said he would take. Obama gave a specific timeline of when he wanted the troops
removed by and this excited the families of soldiers and excited the people of America, now
maybe we can get out of war and begin to end our debt. Gventer acknowledges this in her
writing but I still maintain that troops should remain in Afghanistan and dangerous terrorist
known areas throughout the Middle East to keep the United States free of anymore terrorist
attacks.
Referring to the article Gventer writes If radical groups seized the country, the United
States could threaten (and be prepared to inflict) grievous consequences for harboring Al Qaeda
and its fellow travelers. In other words the US troops are there to protect not only America but
other countries from also being attacked and taken over by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. I

agree that this is a good thing, to be keeping these restricting forces in the Middle East just to
keep innocent countries safe from the terrifying threatening terrorist force. In my experience if a
person is continuously bullying you and taking from you but a teacher is helping protect you
from that bully, but then that teacher is taken away from the classroom, the bully would then not
only bully you but possibly the rest of the classroom. This is a smaller scale example but shows
how taking away authority can affect not only you but others as well, we should keep those
authoritarian forces in place for reinforcement and comfort.
Gventer makes the statement that not all radical groups in Afghanistan have global
goals. Although I do agree that some terrorist groups do not plan to go global but as we saw in
the 9/11 attacks they obviously have other plans. Why take another risk like that, we didnt think
they would actually harm us, but they did. We can say they wont go global as much as we want
but that will only further encourage them to take engage in taking action. Steve Mumford of the
New York Times writes Furthermore, recent reports on actual Afghan Army casualties are very
discouraging and suggest that the Taliban will indeed keep fighting with the ambition to take
large parts of the country, if not the whole thing which further takes the idea that the Taliban
and other terrorist groups could possibly try to take over now that all troops are being withdrawn
from Afghanistan. I also do not believe that we allowed the Afghan people to engage in
controlling their own government before leaving the country. The troops should have worked
with leaders of Afghanistan to learn how to hold a steady government and be taught how to
control what goes on within their country. If these measures would have been taken before
removing the troops Afghanistan may have been able to recover and regain control over the
Taliban and other such terrorist endeavors.

American troops could stay out of Afghanistan while still having some control, author
Javid Ahmad says For regional stability, India should assume a more active role to ensure a
stable post-2014 Afghanistan and to minimize the risk of terrorist resurgence. This endorses
America leaving Afghanistan and India stepping in to help with the economy, India can
consider providing technical assistance in sectors like mining, textiles and information
technology that could expand employment and foreign investments. If things go as this article
states everything should be just great, but although this would help both Afghanistans and
Indias economy and provides many job openings, there is still the eminent threat of a terrorist
take over. But maybe were just paranoid Americans who over think the power of terrorism.
Since 9/11 the country heightened its security routines across the entire United States, so why
are we going to remove the troops from Afghanistan if that threat is still existent?
If all troops are removed The Taliban will celebrate and, along with other insurgent
groups, will launch attacks against vulnerable targets in small, provincial towns and gradually
consolidate their power this relates back to President Obama setting a specific end date for
troops to be in Afghanistan, by the end of 2014 all troops are supposed to be liquidated
completely from the country. Although I do agree that soldiers coming home to their families is a
positive aspect I still maintain that the issue of terrorism is more important to the entire countrys
safety and comfort. The U.S. will have to rely on Iran and Pakistan to contain the Taliban, at
least along their borders but we can not be completely trustful that these countries will keep the
Taliban out of their countries. We have underestimated the power of Al Qaeda and the Taliban
before, if they made an attack once they will be more than willing to do it again. In other words it
is better to be safe than sorry.

Understanding that troops need to remain in Afghanistan is important because the threat
of terrorism is still relevant today and should not be taken as a joke, as we have seen in the past if
not taken seriously, there could be extreme consequences that could cost many American lives.

Works Cited
Ahmad, Javid. "Afghan Stability Is in Indias Interest." The New York Times [New
York]: n. pag. Room for Debate. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Esfandiari, Haleh. "The U.S. Will Have to Rely on Iran and Pakistan to Contain
the Taliban." The New York Times [New York]: n. pag. Room for Debate. Web.
1 Dec. 2014.
Gventer, Celeste. "Adjusting the War on Terror in Afghanistan to Fit the Times."
The New York Times [New York]: n. pag. Room for Debate. Web. 1 Dec.
2014.
Mumford, Steve. "Keep American Troops in Afghanistan?" The New York Times [New
York]: n. pag. Room for Debate. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.