by For decades, thousands of brave men and women have fought hard in the middle east for the sake of what they were told was American freedom. Beginning in the early 90’s Americans were sent into the middle east because our political leaders, like George H.W. Bush invaded Iraq in order to quell a dispute over oil, alongside dozens of other countries. His son, George W. Bush sent American lives back into Iraq in the early 2000’s claiming that there were “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq. Ironically, this never turned out to be the case. And thousands of men and women were sent in for almost no reason. But then, on September 11, 2001, the twin towers were struck by a radical group of terrorists called Al-Qaeda, which mobilized the United States back into the middle east. Though the United States was justified in retaliating in this instance, the lack of weapons from their first go around in the middle east a decade earlier demonstrates something truly criminal… The corporate war machine!
This machine has claimed the lives of thousands of troops from many countries around the world and has led many to wonder why we were stationed in the middle east to begin with. The leader of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, was killed in 2011. With this being the case, the United States stayed in the middle east for another ten years afterwards. Curiously, this action didn’t seem appropriate because Americans ultimately became a police force militarily when those countries should have been defending themselves. The excuses used for the United States to stay in Iraq after terrorist leaders like Abu Bakr Al-baghdadi were killed in 2019, is an indication that american troops were being used for purposes that weren’t morally sound from the beginning. Which is why the Trump administration issued an exit order the moment the ISIS leader was killed.
Most recently, as of July 2021, the Biden administration has just announced that American troops will finally begin being withdrawn from Afghanistan in the heart of the Middle east. This action is a wise move because the force deployment at this time seems almost unnecessary as the middle east begins the process of protecting itself from terror. Meanwhile, there are other areas in the world which require more attention to watch for more “radical Islamic terrorism”, according to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that the troops will be completely withdrawn from Afghanistan, but their force posture will be significantly decreased in order to promote regional stability by allowing the local countries to defend themselves.
Curiously, China is looking to enter into the Middle east economically upon United States troops leaving Afghanistan. Whether this venture goes in their favor is yet to be determined, but the odds of that occurring are slim. Economically, it’s important for the United States to stand it’s ground against China by securing American industry and avoiding investment in overseas companies like that of those in China. Unfortunately, Wall Street has begun sourcing American investments to these Chinese companies, which is “ultimately senseless” according to Dr. Jonathon T.D. Ward, author of China’s Vision Of Victory. Ultimately, Ward states that we can not facilitate the rise of our greatest adversary. The smartest to overcome this particular threat is through policy and strong economic action by the United States.
Regardless of China’s new endeavor, it is a great disservice to the men and women in our military to stay in a region longer than they need to be in a physical sense. They were trained to save people, not make greedy politicians and corporate lobbyists wealthier. This action performed by the Biden administration is a wise move because the middle east is a zone that no longer has to be occupied by our military to such an extreme extent. There are numerous other regions on earth which could use the attention of our military like East Africa. The United States military was never meant to be a corporate war machine and it’s men and women deserve to be treated with more respect.
