“Two Wars” Reading Response:

“Two Wars” Act one: “Talk to an Iraqi” caught my undivided attention from the beginning. As a first year college student knowing what the United States is doing (through military force) in other countries making rules for other nations has a strong impact on my perception of how the United States is the world’s super power. United States citizens have many perceptions due to the fact that many people believe what makes them feel better about war. The war in Middle Eastern countries has impacted the Iraqi people in a manner that does not allow them to live their lives without fear. The Iraqi people fear of losing their loved ones in war. They fear stepping out of their front doors after dark. Living in fear is not something most citizens of the United States are use to. Citizens of the United States find comfort in war in misconceptions of war. The United States is nothing but a giving government says some people living in the United States. People in Iraqi would disagree. War can be perceived in many ways but there is one truth, which an eleven-year-old girl pointed out when she openly apologized to an Iraqi on behalf of the (almighty) United States. She apologized to an Iraqi for our great nation, the United States, stomping into Iraq and forcing the occupation of the United States military in Iraq. I do not understand how an eleven year old could go to an Iraqi and apologize on behalf but other people that also spoke to the Iraqi had the nerve to tell him how the United States is helping the Iraqi people. I have had an open mind about war now that I have seen and heard from this man the suffering his people are facing due to our troops that are being funded by taxpayers in the United States. The point that caught my attention is the fact that people find a way to make peace with fact the United States is at war with innocent people of other nations. Act Two: The war over a mowed lawn sounded like a very petty and pointless war because the married couple accepted the fact of each of their decisions. Yet a happy point was reached. I believe the purpose was to express the fact that they made a decision to make each other happy. This raised a few questions in my mind, why can’t the United States help another nation WITHOUT military enforcement? Why can’t the United States accept the other nations for the way they function without our presence?