Posts tagged as "war_on_terror" - Chris Hardie

These numbers came into my inbox today: Number of US citizens (non-military) killed by terrorists in 2005: 56 Amount spent by US government on War on Terror in 2005: $136 billion Number of people worldwide who died of hunger in 2005: 8,000,000 Amount spent by US government on aid to world's poor in 2005: $4.9 billion (Sources: US Dept. of State; The End of Poverty; Congressional Research Service) When I was in College, where I learned that world-views which can be expressed on hip bumper...

In my eighth grade English class, Mr. Sweeney asked us to write a persuasive essay and then deliver it to the rest of the class convincingly. The United States had just sent its military to the Middle East to expel the Iraqi forces that had invaded Kuwait, and that was a hot topic of discussion and controversy. As a part of these events, the head pastor at my church had recently delivered a sermon on what constitutes a "just war." It was a good sermon - contemplative, balanced, and challenging...

It looks like the War on Terror is over. That is, it's now become a Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism, according to the Bush administration's shift in language being used to describe that particular set of economic, military, domestic law enforcement, and foreign policy initiatives. I suppose we've come along way from the national security policy known as "Smoke 'Em Out" or "Bring 'Em On", but this new phrasing doesn't really warm the heart either. As someone who has come to appreciate...

The U.S. State Department is issuing a warning cautioning Americans against traveling to Bahrain for fear of terrorist attacks, which means that once again my 4th of July plans for this weekend have been completely messed up. I guess they don't really understand that some people made plans a long time ago to visit various Persian Gulf nations, and that an advisory on the Friday before a big travel weekend just doesn't cut it. Dagnabbit!