Afghanistan Under Attack
Monday, the 15th of October, on the eighth day of attacks, the Taliban agreed to turn Osama bin Laden over to a neutral country. President Bush said, "There's no negotiations." Because the United States government is not negotiating, the Pentagon is planning further attacks on the Taliban.
This day was reported the strongest bombings on Afghanistan. The United States warplanes attacked targets all over Afghanistan. The United States concentrated its
attacks on the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul. Sixty warplanes, including 50 carrier-based fighter jets, and 10 long range bombers, attacked the targets all through the night.
The first Special Forces began ground attacks this past week. They are attacking the main area of the Taliban, in Southern Afghanistan. The CIA is working in this area to pursued ethnic leaders to stop supporting the Taliban. The Special Forces are attacking to reinforce the CIA’s pursuit of terrorists. There are not many Special Forces on the ground in Afghanistan, at this time. But, the presence of the ground troops implies an escalation in the war against terrorism.
Two soldiers died in a helicopter crash, during the first U.S. ground attacks. The crash occurred in Pakistan, and marked the first casualties on the United States side, during the first two weeks of this war. This accident happened during an operation including 100
Debate Topics:
I believe the death penalty should be abolished in all of the United States. I will be working on defending the "con" side of this debate.
Army Rangers and different Special Forces.
The next attacks planned by the Pentagon are, helicopter attacks and more bombings. The helicopter attacks are a plan to warn the Taliban that we have ground troops that are
currently fighting terrorism, according to defense officials.
Over the next month, the U.S. military is going to concentrate its attacks on the 55th Brigade, of the Taliban's militia. The 55th Brigade is made up of mostly Arabs and a few other foreigners. This brigade is said to best represent bin Laden's terrorist group.
The United States is using new technology in the war against terrorism. The military is flying unmanned, armed aircraft. These aircraft are directed from the U.S. These aircraft are known as RQ-1 Predators and are slowly propelled towards their target. They carry powerful weapons, that would usually be flown by helicopter. United States officials have stated that, these RQ-1 Predators have dropped several missiles in Afghanistan. These
revolutionary aircraft get the job done, without putting an pilots in danger.
The United Nations met with Colin Powell, to discuss the future of the Afghan government. The Taliban is in charge of the country, but it is only acknowledged as the
true government by the Pakistani government. But, now Pakistan is supporting the United States in this war against terrorism. The U.S. military is going to cooperate with the Pakistani military. The United States government is also offering education exchanges and
training.
Yesterday, President Bush met with China’s President Jiang Zemin. Jiang has agreed to help the United States fight terrorism. Jiang offered Bush intelligence and made several
other fast actions, to help in the war against terrorism. China has made no long term arrangements to help, but Jiang said, “China stands ready to make joint efforts with the
U.S. side to develop constructive relationships.”
As the United States continues to attack the Taliban, conditions are deteriorating in Afghanistan. The Taliban's important officials have fled to the neighborhoods, where the United States will not attack. The 27 billion citizens, are experiencing war and tragedy,
once again.
This weekend as the United States heavily attacked the Taliban, thousands of Afghans fled to Pakistan. The 3,500 refugees were mostly women and children. They walked across
the border, although, the border was to be shut down to everyone, except those with travel documents. The number of refugees has been extremely high, especially during the
past three days of attacks.
Debate Topic:
The death penalty is a a cruel and unusual punishment that should be abolished. My debate will support the "con" argument of the death penalty.
According to the Eighth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, all American citizens are protected from cruel and unusual punishment. The fact that 75 countries and territories have abolished the death penalty, proves that other civilized nations believe capital punishment to be cruel. Every year, since the death penalty was legalized, in 1976, about three countries have eliminated capital punishment. Also, there are 12 states and the District of Colombia, where the death penalty is illegal. There are enough people, throughout the world, that have abolished the death penalty, to prove that it is cruel. Therefore we are violating our Constitution by allowing capital punishment.
It is believed that the death penalty eliminates
criminals, but what if after a prisoner is executed, new
evidence is exposed, and this person is proven innocent, they’re dead. Keep them in jail for life, make them suffer and face their mistakes. It is often said that the cost of keeping a prisoner in jail for life is to high, but it costs more for one lethal injection, than it does to hold them in prison for life. Your tax money is going towards killing someone, therefore each and everyone of us is indirectly reasonable for the death of a
person on death row.
Since capital punishment was legalized 710 people have been executed in the United States. There have been 545 lethal injections, 149 electrocutions, 11 gas chamber executions, 3 hangings, and 2 executions by firing squads. Right now, more than five times the amount of people who have been executed are on death row. The number of executions has increased steadily, each year since 1976. Almost half the executions that have taken place in this country, occurred after 1976.
About 12% of the people on death row are located in Texas. As of April 1, 2001, 450 people in Texas alone, have been sentenced to death. Texas is the only state that has executed minors, and also, the only state with minors on death row. There is something wrong when a state has percentages this much greater than other states, and it needs to be stopped.
If we keep these criminals in prison, instead of executing them, there is possibility that some positive may come from their mistakes. They can make videos of their lives, to discourage kids from repeating their mistakes. The same thing can be achieved by writing books. They can do community service and try to make things better. Criminals can turn their horrible experiences into a lesson, so people in the future, won’t make the same mistakes.
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