RyanS86

America's intervention into other countries affairs  causes awareness of other countries problems, is very expensive and causes much  death and destruction.

In the movie Black Hawk down, the U.S enters Somalia to give food to the starving people of Somalia, but gets caught in the middle of a civil war. Before America entered Somalia People had little knowledge of Somalia's ongoing famine or their civil war. In december 1992 the United States sends 28,000 troops to Somalia at head of "Operation Restore Hope", a U.N. military effort to cure Somalia's wartime famine. When The U.S enters a military conflict the press covers it from top to bottom, When you are flipping through The channels it is almost all you see. The following is a paragraph from an article during 1992, it tells a little history of the country and how they got into the current situation they are in.

"The roots of the present disaster lie in the 21-year rule of President Mohamed Siad Barre (1969-91). The former dictator destroyed all independent institutions, making it difficult for voices of moderation to emerge. He manipulated clan loyalties and encouraged regional rivalries in order to maintain his grip on power. The absence of democratic channels to protest and to curb severe and widespread human rights abuses made armed resistance the only possibility for challenging Barre's monopoly of power. Until 1977, his government was a close ally of the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union switched sides in the war between Ethiopia and Somalia over the Ogaden, he was strongly backed by the United States for a decade beginning 1978. In 1988, mounting criticism of Barre's extraordinarily brutal counter-insurgency campaign in the north finally led to strong criticism from the U.S. Congress and to a suspension of U.S. military and, ultimately, economic assistance. This campaign involved the destruction of the northern city of Hargeisa in an attempt to defeat the rebel Somali National Movement (SNM) and its Isaak clan supporters.In the late 1980s, armed opposition groups began fighting in the south and central regions, including the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) and the United Somali Congress (USC), and the same tactics were used against the civilian population living in the southern and central regions.  "  The city population is down from an estimated 1.25 million as of one year ago to a best-guess size of 600,000 to 800,000, the remainder having fled to camps on the fringes of the city or to sites elsewhere within Somalia. Civilians huddle in fear and scramble for food, hoping each evening that the night's barrage of shelling and machine gun fire, and the advance and retreat of forces fighting in streets and compounds, will spare their homes or squatter's lodgings."

When news of the military conflict is on virtually every channel, every newspaper and the history of the country is being told, people become aware of what is happening in that country. The news isnt the only way that awareness of another country can be spread. In october 1993 18 U.S. Army Rangers were killed when Somali militias shoot down two military helicopters. This event is told through the movie Black Hawk Down, which also helped to raise the awareness of Somalia and the things that were happening there. School teachers also spread the awareness of other countries by incorporating war into their teaching. Mr. Pelligrino a 4th grade teacher in Washington says "No matter how hard you try to avoid it, questions and discussions about the conflict in Iraq and the issues surrounding that conflict probably have a regular part of your teaching day. News about the war is pervasive and graphic. The war raises issues such as safety, diversity, conflict resolution, history, geography, current events, and more that students expect to be able to discuss in their classrooms." The war in Iraq is a war that has been incorporated into my own education since 6th grade. Before the war in Iraq the only thing I knew about that country was that its location was in the middleast. Now that the Iraq war has been going on for nearly eight years, I know much more about the country.One thing I have become aware of is that they have different religions and that they are having a civil war because of the different religions.

One major consequence of war is its very high costs.The human mind isn't very well equipped to make sense of a figure like $1.2 trillion. We don't deal with a trillion of anything in our daily lives, and so when we come across such a big number, it is hard to distinguish it from any other big number. Millions, billions, a trillion they all start to sound the same. The cost of the war in Iraq has hit $1.2 trillion and is rising every day. According to CNN, In the days before the war, almost eight years ago, the Pentagon estimated that it would cost about $50 billion. Democratic staff members in Congress largely agreed. Lawrence Lindsey, a White House economic adviser, was a bit more realistic, predicting that the cost could go as high as $200 billion, but President Bush fired him in part for saying so. The high costs of war are due to many things, fuel prices, machinery and equipment, military salaries and is a major consequence of war.

War affects countries and the people in it by changing peoples outlook on life, values and their overall personality

War can take a huge mental tole on people, exspecially the soldiers that are fighting in the war. War often changes a soldiers outlook on life because of what they have seen and been through while fighting the war. Often the soldiers outlook on life changes in a negative way. Brian a member of the U.S Army  was sent first to Kuwait, then Iraq, he told family members that he felt torn about the things he saw. Once while waiting for a helicopter to land in the Green Zone in central Baghdad, Brian waved at a man he knew. The man turned and Brian saw that half of the man's face was ripped off.Brian later told his sister he was shocked by how white the bones looked under the flesh.Then one day, while standing guard near the Green Zone, Brian killed an Iraqi man."The spirit of the man that he killed didn't leave him, it kept harassing him," Somdahl said of her brother. "He said 'This guy is following me around in the mess hall. He's trying to kill me. I told him to leave me alone but he says he wants to take me with him.'" According to family members and police reports, on Feb. 20, 2007, just a few months after being discharged from his second tour of duty in Iraq, Brian, of Jacksonville, N.C., smoked half of a cigarette as he wrote a suicide note, grabbed a gun and went to the Cumberland River Center Pavilion in Clarksville, Tenn. Just before dawn, he stared out at the park where he and his wife, Dena, had married.Then he placed the gun to his head and, at age 26, silenced his inner ghosts. This is a tragic event that happened because the soldier was suffering from severe PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, and his outlook on life had changed,he felt he had nothing to live for. A recent study by the nonprofit Rand Corp. found that 300,000 of the nearly 1.7 million soldiers who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from PTSD or a major mental illness. Those conditions are worsened by lengthy deployments and, if left untreated, can lead to suicide, said Lisa Jaycox, one of the study's lead researchers.

When the Iraq war started 82 percent of Americans supported the war on terrorism. People thought that the terrorist needed to be found along with all their weapons of mass destruction. Now that the war has been going on for almost eight years many peoples values have changed. They now dont care about the terrorists, but only care to bring home their husbands fathers and friends."I think the American people need to know that we have been betrayed in this rush to war," said Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey is among the more than 1,000 U.S. troops who died in the war."It's important that we get our troops home from Iraq as soon as possible so no other families have to go through what we are going through." Support for the war has drastically droped from 82 percent to 33 percent because many people in America have changed what they value. 

The Crucible, the movie Good Night and Good Luck, and modern events are very similar in how "the bad guy" is profiled and how fear is used to accomplish things, like persuading people . In the play the Crucible, when the people accused of witchcraft are on trial, the judge says a person is either with this court or against it. Meaning you are either a witch or you are not. In the movie Good NIght and Good Luck, Joe Mcarthy says you are either a communist or an american. IN one of president Bush's speeches, when talking about the war on terrorism, he says you're either with us or against us. When Bush says this he means if you are against us you are a terrorist. In these three examples the bad guy is profiled by saying you are either with the cause or against it, and if you are against it you are a bad guy. In these three examples fear is used to make people join the fight. Fear is used to make people think if they dont join the fight, whether it be against witches, communists or terrorists, then they will be profiled as a bad guy.

In the depths of the Depression in 1933, with more than a third of the nation "ill-housed, ill-clad and ill-nourished," Franklin Roosevelt made clear to a desperate people that the greatest threat was from fear itself.Unfortunately, fear remains an appealing weapon in the modern political arsenal. In a tight battle, the temptation is to scare the hell out of the public in order to win an issue or beat an opponent. Consultants design campaigns to get voters to vote their guts and not their brains. This affects both the way this nation elects its leaders and ultimately the way these leaders govern. Fear exacts a terrible toll on our democracy. Seven years ago, America went to war in Iraq over the false fear that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Even though we now know that there were intelligence officials who questioned that, few leaders were willing to challenge this argument for war because they knew it might undermine public support for the president's decision to invade Iraq. More recently, President Bush vetoed a law that would require the CIA and all the intelligence services to abide by the same rules on torture as contained in the U.S. Army Field Manual. President Bush uses fear to persuade people that he is doing the right thing, and finding the terrorists.

Fear can also be used by parents to make their children behave in a certain way. When children are little their parents use threats of no candy,early bed time or no T.V to make their children mind their manners and do thier chores.  As children get older and start getting friends, parents use threats of not being allowed to go over to their friends house to scare their children and make them behave. The older the child gets the more fear is used, children will do their homework more often because they fear their parents grounding them if they dont. When kids get older fear of being unsuccessful has been installed in them by their parents so they do their homework on their own. Fear is a powerful parenting tatic which I know has been used by my parents. I think it is a successful parenting tatic because I have been pretty successful so far and I credit it to my parents.

The play the crucible, the presidents address to the nation, and joe mcarthy's enemies from within are all examples of how fear is used as a tatic to make people to do something or beleive a certain thing.

In the presidents address to the nation fear is used to gain support for "the war on terror" and justify the U.S's presents in Iraq. President bush tells scarry stories of terrorists killing innocent people, "Al Qaeda terrorists and sunni insurgents recognized the mortal danger that Iraqs elections posed for their cause, and they responded with outrageous acts of murder aimed at innocent civilians." Bush highlights this to make people fear terrorists killing innocent people and therefor support "the war on terror."  Bush also talks about the terrorists coming to our homeland to make people fear terrorists more. "Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people. On september 11th, 2001 we saw what a refuge for extremists on the other side of the world could bring to the streets of our own cities. For the safety of our people, we must succeed in iraq."

In the crucible fear is used to make people admit to things even if it is not true. In act1 of the crucible Hale is talking to Abigail and says "It may be your cousin is dying. Did you call the devil last night?" Abigail responds by saying "I never called! Tituba, Tituba..." Abigail says this because she is scared that her cousin may die, so she quickly gives Hale an answer. Fear of pain being inflicted is also used to make people admit to things that arent true. When Hale is trying to get Tituba to confess to calling the devil Paris says to her "you will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!" Mr. Putnam also puts fear into Tituba by saying "this woman must be hanged! she must be taken and hanged!" Tituba, terrified says, "no, no dont hang Tituba! I tell him I dont desire to work for him, sir." Tituba admits to working with the devil because she is afraid she will be whipped or killed if she doesnt admit to it.

Fear can be used in many ways, one way it can be used is to scare people so you can be re-elected. With a defiant "We are not afraid" stance, President George W. Bush has dismissed the natural response to terrorism while tacitly making fear the basis of his politics. Fear is politically useful because it, at the same time, divides and unites. It breeds suspicions among neighbors as well as a common need for security. Using the battle cry of a "war on terrorism" and insisting that Saddam Hussein possessed "weapons of mass destruction," the Bush administration is not about to surrender the tactical advantages of an anxious public being told repeatedly that it is trapped in a war with no end-point. In January, The New York Times quoted a "senior political adviser" to Bush as describing how finely calibrated the president's re-election campaign will be in this era of global terrorism: It will have a "healthy mix of optimism and the fear factor," said Bush. 

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley represents fear. Small town folks fear that if they act different and fail to adhere to social rules they too will end up like Boo, isolated and remembered as a ugly monster. It is this fear that supports the social status, and keeps individuals from standing up for that which they believe. Until people can understand and accept Boo, as Scout does at the end of the book, they will always be stuck in a world filled with fear, lies, and ignorance. This is also true in the real world, many peope go through life not really doing what they want to do or being who they really want to be. People go through life acting this way because they are afraid to differnt from others, and fear they will be laughed at.