I Believe Paper

Drew Kim
World Lit. 1:30

America’s Over-Involvement
The Middle East is a region with a long history of both great success and troublesome times. This is a history that many in America are either unaware of or completely oblivious to. The conflicts between various countries and peoples in the Middle East are the result of in some cases thousands of years of disputes. In recent times, our country has become very involved with the region, economically, culturally, and militarily. I believe that our presence in the Middle East is in fact intensifying the great number of problems in the region. We are involved due to our own needs and do not fully consider or care about the needs of the people of the Middle East.
Following the Terrorist attacks of September 11th, everyone in America was confronted with the fact that there are people in this world who despise and hate our way of life and our country. We are the strongest country in the world in terms of economics, military power and cultural influence. We are undoubtedly going to have a large amount of influence on many different countries and cultures throughout the world. However, does there come a time when our foreign policy begins to create more problems than solutions? In a time when partisan politics has taken away the true voice of the people, it seems that our country and our great ideals have not been what we are conveying to the people of the Middle East.
In my opinion a large problem is our addiction to oil, and the subsequent need to purchase large quantities of it. This absolute need for oil, as a source of power for our cities as well as our automobiles denies us the ability to be fair in our dealings with the Middle East. Quite simply, those who have oil or the ability to sell us oil are going to have much greater political clout. For example we have long supported the Saudi Arabian monarchy due to their country’s large amount of oil. Our country was founded on the principles of democracy and freedom, however we are supporting a monarchy rather than allowing free elections, simply because this family can satisfy our hunger for oil. This is believed to be one of the very reasons that the Al-Qaeda organization began its great hatred of the American government and people.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are most certainly the lightning rods for debate over our involvement in the Middle East. Military action is most often seen as a last resort when diplomatic procedures have failed through. I believe our involvement in the war in Afghanistan was an acceptable act, as the Taliban government had been sheltering the Al-Qaeda organization that had executed the September 11th attacks. Another benefit was that we liberated many people from the overbearing rule of the Taliban. However, I do not share the same support and feelings about our involvement in the Iraq War. Iraq did not pose an immediate threat to the United States. There had been reports that Saddam Hussein was possibly hiding weapons of mass destruction. However the information was inconclusive. It is true that Hussein was a horrible ruler who killed thousands of people due to disputes over policy and race. However, are we supposed to be a country that polices over the others? All that we have done was further destabilize the region, make Iran an even bigger threat with no immediate counterbalance. It now seems that it is too late for President Bush to change his decision and the current Democrat controlled Congress is doing little to uphold their promises of withdrawal.
I believe that the Middle East poses a very tricky situation for our nation. Do we simply take an isolationist attitude and allow the conflicts to happen on their own? Or do we take an approach of policeman, continuing to watch over the area and take action when needed? I believe that our over involvement in the Middle East, fueled by our own needs, has only created more turmoil and trouble in an already troubled region.