Saturday, May 16, 2020

The War On Afghanistan And Iraq - 2333 Words

The war on Afghanistan and Iraq was a learning experience for the United States foreign policy. On September 11th, 2001 nineteen Al Qaeda members hijacked four planes, two of which crashed into the world trade center, another into the pentagon and the last into Shanksville, Pennsylvania (Scholastic). The man who was behind this attack was Osama bin Laden and with refusal to hand him over, the United States quickly prompted an attack on Afghanistan. The second war which began in 2003 was due to the belief that Saddam Hussein had acquired weapons of mass destruction which was a direct threat to the safety of the United States, in addition there were also claims that Saddam Hussein had ties with Al Qaeda and was being supported by Osama†¦show more content†¦The war in Afghanistan which has become the longest war in American history has also become one of the most expensive war in history behind the war in Iraq, which justifies the idea that the United States is unable to manage their expenses and resources in times of war. The war which has lasted for thirteen years along with two years of soldiers still stationed in Afghanistan has caused America to invest a lot into the war against terror. The cost of the Afghanistan war alone has reached almost 1 trillion dollars and counting. The Money has been used for military defense, medical aid, reconstruction, and post war relief (PBS). All of these expenses are from tax payer’s dollars and money that was borrowed and comes with a hefty amount of interest, 124 billion dollars already paid (CNBC). A total of almost two trillion dollars was borrowed and was approximately 20% of the total United States debt (Global Research). During this war money was not being spent effectively, one example includes 6.5 million dollars on communication towers that were never used. For the reconstruction of Afghanistan approximately 104 billion dollars was used and a billions of dollars lost due to wasteful spending, fraud a nd corruption (MSNBC). Exact values cannot even be placed on where the money went exactly and how much was really lost because the costs were never detailed by the government and further exemplifies the idea that the United States is unable to manage their spending

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