Welcome to Hannah's style page! Here you will read about what is new in the entertainment world, cultural arts and about people like you.
In all our universe's history, landing on the moon was, as Neil Armstrong put it, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. It was significant world wide, for America was the first to land on the surface of the moon. It was a leap for technology, and humankind.
- Our debate topic is the death penalty, i'm doing the Cons-
************Abolish the Death Penalty**********************
The United States is just one of quite a few countries which still executes people. There are currently more people on death row than there has been at any point in history. Over 50% of the people executed since 1976 have been killed since 1992. More than 3/4 the executions have been held in southern states, the majority in Texas. It's time to take a stand against the barbaric acts of the death penalty.
The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. There are currently over 70 juveniles on death row waiting to be executed. Recently there have been 13 juveniles under the age of 18 executed for the crime they are convicted of. There have also been a number of mentally retarted inmates executed. Since the Furman V. Georgia case which abolished the death penalty for four years, 34 mentally retarted convicted inmates have been killed by the death penalty.
The death penalty condemns the innocent to die. 1 in 7 people on death row have been freed after being fully free of blame. One example of this is Joe Hill. Joe Hill was a famous songwriter and a union organizer in the early 20th century. Hill was framed by authorities and was executed in 1915. Joe Hill was guilty of absolutely nothing besides fighting for social justice around America, there were several movements to help fight to free Joe Hill. A similar present-day situation is Mumia Abu-Jamal, this man was framed and convicted of murder despite the fact of real evidence. There are several organizations to help free him around the globe.
The death penalty is racist. African Americans take up about 12% of the U.S population, although 43% of the prisoners on death row are black. 37 out of the over 18,000 executions in our country involved a white person beingpunished for killing a black person. A Georgia study showed that killers of whites are 4.3 times more likely to be executed than killers of blacks.
The death penalty targets and punishes the poor. Most likely, if you have the money to buy a good legal representation, you will not go to death row. Those who can not afford them are forced to use an inexperienced court-appointed atourney, 90% of defendants that are charged with capital crime can not afford a well trained lawyer. The majority of capital trials using court-appointed lawyers last less then a week.
-----------------The Midnight Rangers-----------------------
It was silent, cold and in total darkness when the Taliban would least expect to be attacked. Early Saturday morning, just a little after midnight some 100 troops of Taliban fighters were parachuted into an empty airfield in the outskirts on Kandahar, the Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Special Operations teams were helicoptered in to yet another taliban-controlled site. The troops only stayed a few hours before they were broughtback.
Recently, U.S. commanders have been conclusively talking of scooping up and interrogating Taliban leaders in hope to find any whereabouts on Osama Bin Laden. Officials say no Al Quada or Taliban leaders have been captured nor killed as of yet. As President Bush put it, “We are, slowly but surely, encircling the terrorists so that we can bring them to justice.”
When the top intelligence officials in the administration said they had narrowed down Bin Laden's hiding location to a 20 by 20 mile area in Afghanistan we were only to find caves and tunnels, the area was so full of caves and tunnels that it was impossible to find his exact location. Until we have better intelligence of where he is in that area, the method will remain to be dropping bombs.
Operation Enduring Freedom is a battle plan America has never seen. Last week we began phase two of the operation when we began to fight the taliban on the ground, rather then seeing the enemy through the all too familiar aircrafts in the distance.
The next phase is close-in fighting in Afghanistan's forbidden turf. Like anything, it has its pros and its cons. The nation could have its great rewards such as better intelligence, a more accurate target, and better chances of capturing Bin Laden and taking the Taliban's power, our ultimate goal. Then again, this next phase could have some very extreme consequences as well. These cons could include real numbers of casualties and heavily embarrising failures.
The majority of the dirty, dangerous work will go to the special operations forces, whom were trained upon fighting in wars like this one. The Special Ops forces were trained well for the occasion, they were trained under extreme conditions, and hostile terrotory. Though they are meant for the job, this is a new test for them, a test unlike any other.
Many americans are asking why send ground troops rather then dropping bombs? well, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield put it, "bombs alone, can’t crawl around on the ground and find people." Results have been unclear even after three weeks of bombing. Bush wants to send a clear signal to the taliban and to the American people, our nation will not give up.
The army, navy and the air force all have their own elite Special Ops group. They are usually the first to enter a hostile situation, or any time under extreme conditions. They then fight their way to an airstrip or harbor, secure it then send the signal to let other troops in as they then step aside. These rangers are young men with an aspiration and a determination who love what they do.
Frank Pacheco, one of the scouts for the Ranger school says, its not easy to get in, it takes heart, soul, determination and skill. To even be considered, rangers in training have to learn to jump out of an airplane, parachuting is considered a basic skill for rangers. The people who make it past jump school then are able to apply for Ranger School.
Rangers are sometimes called "three time volunteers," for signing up for the army, airbourne then they apply for ranger school. There is a strenuous and punishing pre-ranger course that boldly seperates those who are meant to be rangers and those who want to be rangers. Those who make it through he Pre-ranger course, then move on to the Ranger School. The Ranger School consists of 61 long, hard, challenging days of battle training. The intense experience is held at Fort Benning, Georgia. The ranger "candidates" must master rock and mountain climbing. After having to wear full equipment every morning, that includes the 100 pound back packs, the combat boots etc., about two thirds of the rangers drop out of the school.
Rangers graduate after learning to take apart and put back together over a dozen weapons and other means of equipment. These rangers go through all this in order to teach the young men to work both individually and in groups and to always be prepared no matter what may turn the corner. Ranger Kelso stated, " a ranger will not give up, it will make it to it's target if it has to crawl."
The Army's fifth special forces group was sent to train the Northern Alliance forces fighting the Taliban. The fifth special forces group is a collection of especially motivated and skilled rangers. These rangers will most likely be apart of a future raid in the south.
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