TonyK45

       America's intervention into other countries' affairs causes more death and destruction, is very expensive, and creates awareness of those countries' problems.  When America intervenes there are more people, which means more death and more destruction.  It's also very expensive to take troops over there and the weapons they use are expensive too.  The best consequence of America intervening is probably that it creates awareness for the problems that the country is facing.

       America's intervention into other countries' affairs causes even more death and destruction.  First, in the movie Black Hawk Down American troops are sent to Somalia and that only created more death and destruction.  The troops had better weapons so they destroyed more buildings and homes than the people that lived there would have.  They also killed more people because they went out to stop the militia and there were more people there.  If America hadn't intervened there wouldn't have been any troops in Somalia, so those soldiers wouldn't have died.  Second, in World War II America wasn't going to intervene, but when we did we caused and astronomical amount of death and destruction.  The death toll for countries in WWII went up by the thousands as a direct result of America joining the war.  The number of people that died in WWII is almost impossible to fathom.  America also completely annihilated entire cities.  When the troops went through Europe they ruined many buildings and homes as well.  Of course the two bombs that America dropped on Japan probably caused more damage than any other event in such a short amount of time.  The bombs not only killed almost everybody and destroyed almost every building, but also left enough radiation there to make it unsafe to live there if you did survive.  Third, the war in Iraq was supposed to be a small task but turned into a large project.  It wasn't going to last very long but it's still going a few years later and many soldiers have died.  There have been thousands of casualties in Iraq because of a war that many people don't support.  Bush and other politicians refuse to pull our troops out of Iraq so the death toll keeps rising.  You can't put a price on a life but it is also very expensive for America to intervene.

       It's very expensive to intervene in other countries' affairs.  First of all, the Vietnam War was very expensive for America.  The veteran we interviewed told us a story about one day when four helicopters were destroyed.  He flew two of the helicopters and his roommate flew two of the helicopters.  Both men were shot down twice in one day, so they were told the military had lost too much equipment for the day and they couldn't go out again.  Helicopters are very expensive and there was a lot more equipment that was lost during the war too.  Secondly, in Black Hawk Down two of their helicopters were shot down.  There were bigger and more expensive helicopters, but they weren't worth anything when they got shot down.  For one of their missions they wanted a nicer helicopter but couldn't get it because it was too expensive.  A lot of money was used to repair the hummers and helicopters that were damaged too.  Lastly, the Iraq War has become extremely expensive.  There was even a bill passed to give the troops more money.  The total cost for the Iraq War is about $550 billion dollars and is going up right now as you read this.  Many people still complain about the soldiers not having the best equipment.  I would think that a few billion dollars could buy some pretty good equipment, but who knows where all of that money is actually going.  Regardless of what the money is being used for, that is a lot of money being spent to fight for someone else.  Most consequences from America intervening in other countries' problems are negative, but intervening creates awareness for problems Americans most likely wouldn't hear about otherwise.

       When America intervenes into other countries' problems many people take notice of these problems and some even try to help the cause as well.  My first example is from the Iraq War.  If America hadn't intervened many people wouldn't have known about the problems that are still going on there.  Even though most Americans are against the war in Iraq, the soldiers fighting over there have helped the country become a better place.  The media loves to show everything negative about the war but it still creates awareness for their problems.  Iraq still isn't a safe place but it is safer than before America intervened.  My second example comes from the Vietnam War.  Many people might have known about the war but didn't realize how bad it was until America intervened.  Once America intervened people realized how terrible the conditions there were.  The troops tried to help improve the horrible conditions in Vietnam.  The soldiers fought to help the people of South Vietnam keep their freedom.  Many people opposed the war and even protested against it; but America's intervention created awareness of the problems in Vietnam.  My final example is from Black Hawk Down.  When the troops were fighting in Somalia it created awareness of how bad it was to live there.  The militia was controlling the people and there was a civil war going on.  America brought food and soldiers to help stop the pandemonium in Somalia.  The militia even took the food that was brought for the starving people, so they could keep control over the people in Somalia.  The American soldiers helped fight against the militia and try to stop the constant violence.  Most Americans wouldn't have known what was going on in Somalia without America's intervention.

          America's intervention causes death and destruction, is expensive, and creates awareness of problems.  I believe there are times that America should intervene but our leaders don't always choose the best situations to intervene in.  Most of the time the negative consequence outweigh the positive consequences for intervening into other countries' problems.  I think America should choose which situations to intervene in more carefully than we have.