The Legacy of Unimaginable Trade-Offs

One major flaw of our current generation is that we have lost our understanding of legacy. History has reiterated time and again the importance of establing our 'mark' in society. That 'mark' is often insinuated through our children, through monuments, through policy changes, and through other means as well.

To lose sight of the future while forsaking the past creates a societal vacuum in the present. What I mean is that as our culture becomes increasingly nearsighted our individual and collective ambitions become more and more temporal. Our legacy becomes unimportant.









I say this in support of our nation's war efforts in Iraq. Perhaps to regain your attention after such a bold statement I should quote our nation's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Richard Meyers. General Meyers claims that "the outcome and consequences of defeat [in Iraq] are greater than World War II." Meyers goes on to say that "Iraq is now Al-Qaeda's center of gravity, and if terrorism wins in Iraq, the next 9/11 is right around the corner."

While I am not completely convinced that a loss in Iraq would be equivalent to a loss in WWII, I am convinced that we should analyze the ramifications of a premature military evacuation. Although much of the war details are either skewed or blurred by progandists, I implore that our nation think logically while considering the outcome of our obvious two options regarding Iraq. We could evacuate our troops, or we could remain in the nation while while continuing to train Iraqi soldiers until they were capable of fending for their own civil liberties.

General Meyers even says that we should not reallocate funds from Iraq to the relief of Katrina. Hesitantly, I say that I agree. Yet, my consent is completely dependent upon which of the two aforementioned options we as a nation choose. If we decide to continue our overseas support, then we should do so with no hesitation. And if we agree to evacuate Iraq, then it should be a complete evacuation. We should use the funds from the war, in this case, to support the relief effort of the Katrina survivors.

Regardless of the decision, the consequences are inevitable. I, personally, am thankful that I do not have to make this decision. All that I know is that whichever path we choose, we'll either have Americans who will never want to depend on our federal government again. Or we'll have a nation who remembers how we abandoned them in their moment of crisis. Which legacy would you choose...?