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[Karey]

Karey De Leon
English 101
Professor O’Connel
“Support Our Troops!”
No two conflicting theories have generated more debate over the course
of centuries than those concerning whether people are essentially good
or essentially evil. From the perspective of the character Apemantus
from Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, all humanity is selfish and
hateful, and only bears spiteful acts against each other. Like
Bacevich, Apemantus would view the military suspiciously and would
argue that the military only exists to benefit the wealthy. That is,
the military exists only to defend and protect government and
individual property interests, i.e., oil interests in the Middle East.
Apemantus would agree with Bacevich that the assumption that civilians
support the military is misguided. Thus, Apemantus would arguably be
opposed to any measure which benefited military personnel or the
family of anyone in the military, regardless of whether he supported
the military action in which the military was involved. On the other
hand, the character Alcibiades is a soldier at heart. He is the
defender of humanity, even of those who are purported wrong-doers.
Alcibiades would disagree with Bacevich and argue that the public
should support the military, even if the military effort itself is not
supported. Alcibiades represents the pre-Vietnam perspective
concerning the military- fighting for a righteous cause, as noted by
Bacevich. Like the World War II era soldier discussed by Bacevich,
Alcibiades fights to protect what he believes is right, even putting
his own life at stake. By way of example, he protested the death
sentence of his friend, and was therefore banished in doing so. It
was only then that he became an enemy of Athens. When Timon gifts him
the gold coins, Alcibiades’ faith in humanity was restored.
Alcibiades’ overall disposition is kind and helpful. Hence, aside
from the fact that he is a soldier himself, he would likely be in
favor of a measure which assisted military personnel or the family of
military personnel.
Bacevich focuses on the fact that the U.S. government is mistaken in
its belief that civilians support the military. In that, he is
correct. Studies show that financial outreach for military families
is at an all-time low. (Read, 2009). However, Bacevich largely
ignores that while lack of support may be the current public
sentiment, it is not necessarily wise or correct. From a strictly
humanitarian perspective, “rank and file” members of the military
should be protected. Persons enlisted in the military are not to be
blamed for the decisions being made by high-ranking officials in
Washington, and they should not be penalized or mistreated. As we
learned in the Nuremberg Trials, it is the military leaders who are
indicted and tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity- not the
enlisted. (Kloft, 2006). In fact, especially during a period in
which support for the military is dwindling, enlisted military should
be shielded from ridicule and poor treatment.
It is well-settled that all branches of the military widely and
disproportionately recruit from minority communities and those in poor
socio-economic classes. (Lutz, 2008; Moore, 2004). In fact, more
than 44 percent of U.S. military recruits hail from rural areas;
whereas only 14 percent come from major cities. (Scott Tyson, 2005.)
African-Americans are overrepresented at the enlisted level, as more
than 22 percent of the enlisted, although African-Americans comprise
approximately only fourteen percent of the overall population of the
United States. (Lee, 2005). Even more striking is the fact that
African-Americans are vastly underrepresented at the officer level, as
less than nine percent of officers. (Lee, 2005). Nearly half of
recruits are from lower-middle-class to impoverished households.
(Scott Tyson, 2005.) As recent as 2005, only 87 percent of the United
States Army recruits had graduated from high school. (Scott Tyson,
2005.) The military is so successful in recruiting from poorer,
isolated and undereducated communities because these classes of
persons are most vulnerable to influences of the military and have
limited career options outside the military. (Lutz, 2008; Lee,
2004).
The base from which enlisted military are recruited would explain the
recent surge in military enlistment during these challenging economic
times, despite the fact that there is a war going on. (George,
2009). In fact, the Department of Defense recently announced in May
of this year that each of the branches of the military have either met
or exceeded their active duty recruiting goals. (Smith, 2009). In
the past, when private sector jobs were plentiful, the military
actually struggled to meet its recruitment goals. (Smith, 2009).
Yet, since the recession hit in approximately 2006, the Department of
Defense has consistently met or exceeded its recruitment quotas.
(Smith, 2009).
Since the military tends to be predatory toward the poor,
undereducated and minority communities in the way of influencing them
to enlist in the military, the most humanitarian approach toward the
enlisted would be to support them once they have been recruited.
Americans can, and should, support the troops without supporting the
war- whatever the war that may be. The most important way that
Americans can support the troops is to support laws drafted in benefit
of the troops and their families. Specifically, business owners in
the private sector have an opportunity to demonstrate support for the
military by way of supporting, enforcing and implementing recently
enacted legislation for family members of military active duty. In
particular, the Family Medical Leave Act was recently amended to give
military families special leave of absence accommodations in the
workplace.
The Family Medical Leave Act, or the FMLA, to which it is commonly
referred, is a federal law which provides job protection, for up to 12
weeks, for employees in the private sector who take a medical leave of
absence or a leave of absence to care for a family member. To be
eligible for leave under the FMLA, employees must work for an
organization with a total of 50 or more employees (within a 75-mile
radius) and must have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month
period immediately preceding the request for time off. The FMLA took
effect in August 1993. Initially, the Act was criticized by business
groups as an unnecessary government intrusion into the workplace.
(DeBare, 1998) Yet, that has not stopped Congress from expanding the
law to protect service members and their families.
In January 2008, Congress amended the FMLA to provide for "qualifying
exigency leave" and "military caregiver leave". Under the “qualifying
exigency leave” provisions of the amended FMLA, an employee may take
up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for urgent, or “exigent,” needs related
to a call to active service by National Guard and reservists. Under
the “military caregiver leave” provisions, an employee may take up to
26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a family member who is injured
while serving on active military duty.
While the FMLA’s amendments to include the “qualifying exigency leave”
and “military caregiver leave” were met with much acclaim from the
military community, private sector employers did not share the in the
fanfare. Indeed, many employers did not even inform their employees
of the changes. In fact, by February 2009, only 28 percent of
employers had communicated changes in the act to employees, as
required by law. (Vespereny, 2009). This is hardly the “support” for
service members and their families intended by the law.
In early November 2009, President Obama signed into law the Fiscal
Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, which yet again amended
the FMLA. Under the new law, “qualifying exigency leave” benefits are
expanded to include family members of active duty service members, not
just National Guard and reservists. Furthermore, pursuant to the
recent amendments to the FMLA, the “military caregiver leave” is
expanded to include care for veterans who are undergoing medical
treatment, recuperation or therapy for serious injury or illness that
occurred any time during the five years preceding the date of
treatment. (Bosland, 2009)
The new law has come under much criticism. On a broad level, most
under scrutiny is the cost of the 2010 defense budget, within which
the FMLA amendments fall. (Specter, 2009). The defense budget
authorizes the appropriation of about $681 billion, primarily for the
fiscal year 2010 costs of the military functions of the Department of
Defense. Under scrutiny too by the business community, is the cost
private sector employers will be faced with contending in the coming
years as leave of absence protections expand. This is not only a
financial cost, but also an administrative one. (Giridhar, 2008)
Employers are concerned that they may be faced with the dilemma of
allowing leave to the family member of military personnel while work
needs to be done at their business. Whatever the cost to the private
sector, however, military families should be accommodated to show
support for the sacrifices they are making for the whole of our
society- especially since some aspects of the afforded leave are
geared toward care of injured military personnel.
Support of military personnel in general, even without support of the
war effort in particular, is the humanitarian and correct paradigm.
Given the lack of support for the war effort, military personnel are
faced with a level of criticism to which they have never before been
subjected. What is worse is that the personnel comprising the
enlisted military are persons of down-trodden, poor and minority
communities who are left with little choice but to join the military
in the first place. In other words, we as a society subject to
ridicule the ones who are most desperately in need of support. This
is a twisted and wretched societal mindset. However, we have an
opportunity to side with Alcibiades and show support for the
personnel, even without supporting the war effort itself. One way is
via the Family Medical Leave Act. Via the Act, business owners can
routinely afford accommodations to the families of military personnel
so that those family members can support and care for the enlisted
member. Perhaps then, military enlisted will begin to receive some of
the support they so deeply need.
References
Bacevich, Andrew. 2009. The Limits of Power: the End of American
Exceptionalism.
Bosland, Carl C. 2009, October 27. FMLA to Be Modified Today! The
Federal Sector.
DeBare, Ilana. 1998, August 3. A Time for Caring: Family & Medical
Leave Act is a workplace success story. San Francisco Chronicle
George, Justin. 2009, January 9. Military re-enlistments increase as
jobs become scarce. St. Petersburg Times.
Giridhar, Suneetha. 2008, November 14. FMLA Changes: Headache Relief
or Just More Headaches? American Society of Employers.
Kloft, Michael, Director and Producer. 2006. The Nuremberg Trials.
The American Experience.
Lee, Stephen. 2004, September 25. Index: Iraq Continued; Military
Recruiting. FootnoteTV.
Lutz, Amy. Winter 2008. Who Joins the Military? A Look at Race, Class
and Immigration Status. Journal of Political and Military Sociology.
Moore, Michael. 2004. Fahrenheit 9/11.
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, H.R. 2647.
October 22, 2009. United States House of Representatives.
Read, Tracey. 2009, September 11. Support for troops at all-time low.
The News-Herald.
Scott Tyson, Ann. 2005, November 4. Youths in Rural U.S. Are Drawn To
Military: Recruits' Job Worries Outweigh War Fears. Washington Post.
Smith, Aaron. 2009, March 16. Military recruitment surges as jobs
disappear: As the U.S. economy continues to shed jobs, recruits swarm
to the military, despite wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. CNNMoney.
Specter, Arn. 2009, October 29. The High Costs of Today's U.S.
Defense Budget, OpEd News.
U.S. Department of Labor. 2000. Balancing the Needs of Families and
Employers: Family and Medical Leave Surveys 2000. Westat for the U.S.
Department of Labor, Washington, DC.
Vespereny, Cynthia. 2009, February 27. Businesses need to act on
changes to employee leave. St. Louis Business Journal.

[Karey]

[Caroline D]

The United States has been known to be a country of freedoms and
supposed superpower. In the past, the United States had became
accustomed to doing what they wanted and however they wanted, but in
recent years the dominant fundamentals in which this country was
formed have been compromised due to the War on Terror and the cultural
practices of the United States civilization, which has caused “the
limits of power” that the United States truly holds. “The United
States is like a giant boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it,
there is no limit to the power it can generate” (Churchill). In his
book The Limits of Power, Andrew J. Bacevich tells Americans that we
have a military crisis, and one of the main problems of the United
States military is the obstruction and the “lost art of
strategy” (Bacevich, 165). The current harmful stature of the United
States military can be compared to Shakespeare's play, Timon of
Athens. Timon is the play’s main character and he is more then one way
is like the United States. Both Timon and the United States fail in
“crafting grand strategy instead nurse’s fantasies” (Bacevich, 167).
The fact is that Timon was being used by his "friends" for gifts and
money, and the United States military needs to focus on possible
solutions for the country’s problems insteas of trying to achieve
“permanent global hegemony or remaking the world in America’s image
”(Bacevich, 167). Although Timon is the main character in the play,
Alicibiades and Flavius can also be compared to the behavior of the
United States. After Alcibiades had to leave Athens he decided to rage
an invasion against Athens in order to fix what he felt was unjust and
incorrect. Alicibiades behavior compares to the United States because
the military also invaded a land in which did not as for our help.
Although The United States did not go on a mission to slaughter
individuals, one of the original intents was to capture Osama Bin
Laden and throughout the duration of this continual War on Terror
there have been numerous accounts of fatalities to both soldiers and
civilians. Flavius is actually a character that has great significance
as to what the United States and characters of Timon of Athens should
follow. Instead of the United States invading other countries and
claiming to “help” them we should have followed the behavior of
Flavius and not Alcibiades. Flavius was there to tell and warn Timon
of his financial problems, while helping Timon in any way he possibly
could if he was asked, but it was Timons choice not to listen. Flavius
proved to be an honorable character that sincerely cared about and did
what he could to help Timon. The United States needs to follow that
example. If the United States does not stop, the country can and will
continue to decline in its rich military stature. Instead, the United
States needs to learn how to correctly stragigize, and abide by those
straigies, in doing this, the United States could prevent future
unnecessary conflicts which will help the stabilization of the
military and economy.

In Derek Cohen’s article The Politics of Wealth: Timon of Athens, he
correctly states that “money buys power and its concomitants like
authority.” This proves to be true for both the economic standpoint
that the United States and Timon once processed. At the beginning of
the play he is a wealthy man who enjoys his life. He has plenty of
“friends” and plenty of money, but as the play progressed Timon
encounters financial difficulties that result in debt and
homelessness. Due to the fact that none of Timons’ friends were
interested in helping him, he began to view mankind as animosity. He
felt mankind deserved to be cursed because they lacked loyalty and
morals. Timon felt he was always there to give gifts and help others
(excluding Apemantus), yet he was puzzled to learn no one was willing
to assist him in his time of need. Timon made his mistake because he
did not fully educate himself on the importance of budgeting, and he
did not listen to someone who wisely advised him on how to spend his
money. The United States has advanced and improved several
technological aspects of the military, but it has been extremely
costly. It was reported that “the cost of war (Iraq and Afghanistan)
is estimated to be about $170 billion for the 2009 spending
alone” (Shah, World Military Spending). Due to the fact that the
United States is currently in a recession, it is a serious problem
that almost $200 billion is being spent annually on a war that has not
been proven to be beneficial to the United States or other countries.
The United States now carries a large deficit, and there have been
numerous fatalities and injuries to the military and civilians. The
United States relates to Timon because both the United States and
Timon are wasting money. Timon is spending money on lavish unnecessary
gifts for friends, whereas the United States is wasting money on a
long drawn out war. Like Timon, it would not be bad if the money was
spent on something useful, but because Timon spent his money
imprudently, he found himself isolated without money, a home, or
friends. The United States must learn the importance of strategy and
following the strategic plan because Timons’ financial stature
compared to that of the United States. The United States has been
known to be a “superpower” among several nations. At one point the
United States was well respected by other countries. The United States
did not have a deficit, and some individuals would describe the United
States military as a “power such as the world had never
seen” ( Bacevich, 126). Post September 11, 2001, many of the qualities
that were and are admired about the United States have diminished or
already ceased. After the War on Terror began, the United States has
managed to lose its “superpower” image along with billions of dollars
and the respect of several individuals’ nation and worldwide. The
United States military is one of the main issues that has caused great
quandary to the United States economy. Instead of being wasteful Timon
and the United States military should learn how to budget. Timon
should not have continually bought his friends gifts, because the
result of his spending caused him to be destitute. The United States
needs to go back to the simply way of life including the military. An
excellent example was given in Andrew J Bacivichs’ book The Limits of
Power. Becivich explained the way that The United States should tilt
“the civil- military balance back in favor of the general, untying the
hands of senior commander (Baceivich, 137).” If the United States
would delegate the proper authority to the appropriate people a lot of
incorrect assumptions and judgments about the War on Terror may not
have been made, because the decisions of the generals and commanders
would have been based on their experience and the history of what has
and has not worked in past wars. Bacivich also talked about the way
the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine was created and used. The main purpose
of the doctrine was to make sure that Vietnam did not reoccur. I think
that the doctrine is brilliant because it intended that “the United
States would fight only when genuinely vital interests were at stake.
(Baceivich, 129).” There for if the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine was in
practice today, I am certain that the United States would not be
engaged in The War on Terror, because there is no vital interest that
belongs to United States that is currently at stake. If The United
States would practice the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine today, plenty of
money and lives would be saved. The country needs to exit the war as
soon as possible, because billions of dollars is being spent, and like
Timon we are building an accumulation of dept which could result in a
destitute nation. The United States faces a large military crisis. The
United States “is doomed to fail” (Bergen, 1) if it does not begin to
focus on the importance of strategic planning and following threw with
it.

If the United States continues to spend more and more money that we do
not have on The War on Terror, the country will soon find its self in
the position of Timon. The United States will have no funds,
resources, or allies to assist the countries’ stability. The United
States does not need to follow the example of Timon or Alicibiades.
Timon was wasteful and lost his hope in humanity, and Alicibiades
believed that he could get justice by invading Athen. In reality I
still think the best character to take advice from is Flavius. He was
loyal, and this proved to be true when Timon gave him gold at the end
because he also felt he was a man of loyalty, and Flavius did attempt
to warn Timon about his finances but it was Timons choice to continue
to spend unwisely. The United States must realize the imperativeness
of strategic planning. “Strategy is the planning, coordination, and
general direction of military operations to meet overall political and
military objectives” (Goodman, 1). There for, if the United States
lacks proper strategy and does not following threw with strategic
plans the military crisis will continue to grow causing more harm to
the American economy and others. Instead, the United States needs to
realize and remedial the imperativeness of military strategy, because
if our military follows wise strategic plans it can and will lead to
the success of our military and aid in the stabilization of the United
States economy.

References:

Obama Anti-Terror Plan Could be Doomed to Fail
By Peter Bergen, New America Foundation
CNN March 27, 2009

Bacevich, A., 2008. The Limits Of Power. Book.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/r48l23t752257601/

Shakespeare, W., 2000. Timon of Athens.

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/maxwell/mp10.pdf

[Hong C]

Timon or Flavius, who could solve problems for the Athens? questions
of the US military culture today

According to CBS news on November 9, 2009, the decision of deploying
40,000 more troops to Afghanistan has been made by the Whiter House
(Martin). Sending more troops to prevent insurgency in Afghanistan has
been considered as a new strategy by military generals although the
Afghanistan war has been fighting for eight years. Using military
power to solve problems has show in Shakespeare play Timon of Athens.
Timon, a noble lord of Athens, who donated money to a troop for a
purpose of destroying Athens after he was refused by his Athenian
friends."There's gold to pay soldiers: make large confusion", Timon
told the Captain of the troop. He wished to punish Athenians by the
soldiers' killing and to solve his problem by destruct the Athens. As
Bacevich stated in his book The limits of power, "the prospect implies
a rigorous integration of military action with political
purpose"(2009, p.135), despite how much the military could perform in
a foreign country. Deploying troops may seem like common sense for a
war, except the US are short with soldiers. While many illusions of
the US military, such as supposed unbeatable troop and advanced
technology leading to certain victory have been proved wrong, the
public has lost their interest to support any interventions that are
reckless, purposeless and extremely expensive (Cuomo, 2009).It is no
surprise that a bill to reinstate the military draft did not pass by
Congress ( Foxnews, 2006). Both the public and soldiers couldn't
continuing tolerate the misjudgment and lapses of the military
commanders.They need a effective military to secure their safety and
more efficient way to solve problems. In Timon of Athens, despite how
much Flavius, a Timon's steward, hated the dishonest Athenians, he
helped senators to save Athens. He insisted using negotiation to solve
problems rather than using a military power. Athens needed people who
could solve problems like Flavius did. Bacevich is right about war
involving many variables. War is unpredictable and uncontrollable, and
military isn't a universal key for solve all problems.To achieve its
goals of nation security and development, the US should adjust its
foreign policy and use its military power reasonably and wisely.

The military power should be used for the defense of a country and not
to interfere with other countries.The defense for their people is the
nature of military. The US military is supported by Americans, so it
should protect Americans' right and liberty, but a wrong illusion in
which US military future become counter-insurgency is insisted by
politicians and military generals. "Reviving public services...and
promoting good governance...all these so-called nontraditional
capabilities have moved into mainstream of military", Baceivich has
observed it. ( Bacevich, p.135). The generals believe that advanced
technologies have reduced intensity of wars and that modern soldiers
face less conflict than traditional soldiers, so modern soldiers
should perform more services, such as public security, nation building
or even military adviser in a foreign country. This illusion doesn't
comfort to reality because soldiers are not social workers who have
knowledge to interact with people. It's no doubt soldiers could easily
impress local people by their restricting military discipline and
showing a friendly attitude, but both soldiers and local people could
be confused by their difference of cultures, traditions and
religions. Those confusions could cause distrust by local public and
pressure to soldiers. Similarly in the play, Timon taught soldiers to
kill every Athenian, despite their duties were to defend their people;
also, he misguided the prostitutes in the troop to attack more Athens'
men and impair their bodies and mind. The prostitutes didn't care
what had happened to Timon and how would be the consequence from their
actions. They promised to do what Timon asked only because they wanted
more gold. They couldn't solve problems for Athens, and what they
could do would make the Athens' situation worse. Furthermore, to
complete helping other countries, it's more important to support local
force to do their job than let American soldiers wander the streets
surrounded by local people with fearful eyes. Certainly, soldiers'
efficiency can be reduced when they stay in a foreign country for long
time. According to Col. John Hort, commander of Fort Carson, some of
the soldiers who have been exposed back to war zone unfit their
duties. He has been considered that '“the 3rd Brigade Combat Team
deployed in December for the third time. The unit has been under
strength" (Foxnews, January 19). Soldiers should concentrate on their
military practice and perform their defensive duty as they are
supposed to do, and counter-insurgency or other social work should
only be their ancillary and temporary duties.

The military power should be used for prevent a war and not to provoke
a war. Wars consist of conflicts in which people suffer mentally,
physically and the cost has been numerous, avoiding war has been the
best choice for most governments. Timon's steward, Flavius acted as a
negotiator to help senators of Athens to prevent a war; though, he
grieved over Timon’s situation which had been caused by some dishonest
Athenians. He was loyalty to Timon, but he believed that Timon was
wrong to destruct the whole Athens. By a hoping of rebuilding Timon's
reputation and wealth, Flavius calmed Timon's servants and persuaded
Timon to walk out from his sorrow. He did all his best to help
Athenians. In contrast, contemporary the US government intend to
involve in wars for a purpose of imperial extension. When Bush
Administration implements foreign policy based on an idea of having a
war for preventing a war, the US military found that they have
involved in several wars.Soldiers have been deployed to all over the
world and "become an extension of the imperial presidency"( Bacevich,
2009).Military generals had promised that US only fought with clear,
concrete goals and finished the job efficiently and gets out as
quickly as possible (Bacevich 2009). Their illusions have exposed as
the Afghanistan war has become endless.War is uncontrollable and
unpredictable, and it makes more troubles of foreign relations as well
as of domestic affairs. The military power should be used for
preventing a war and not for a purposeless and reckless war.

To solve problems. military generals should carefully make the
decisions of using military power. As commanders for the military, the
generals should familiar with traditional military strategics as well
as knowing new technological weapons; also, they should have knowledge
to deal with different cultures, religions and beliefs. Understanding
the global development and keeping good communication with other
countries military leaders would help them to make right decisions on
military strategics. Unfortunately, the U.S. military leaders ignore
the studies of military culture and history. " Few military
organizations study the past with any degree of rigor", and their
ignorance has mislead them in their decisions making (Williamson,
1999). Military commanders' misjudgment has brought great cost for
both military and public. Simultaneously, the civilians arrogance and
misjudgment have caused public distrust and protesting."More U.S.
troops mean more casualties, and that reduces public support even
faster" (Cuomo,2009). Without the public support, eventually, the
military power could be limited. Recently, a shortage of soldiers has
proved the importance of public support. People have refused to join
military because they don't trust the generals' military abilities and
don't want to fight for a purposeless war. To shore up the lagging
troop numbers, the Military has extended and repealed war zone duty,
even those with medical conditions has been exposed back to war zone
(Foxnews, 2008). A bill to reinstate the military draft has been
disagreed by public and did not pass the Congress. The generals should
realized that more troops don't mean the guaranty of solving all
problems of the US, and many problems can't be solved by force. To
gain public support and peace with other countries, they should
improve their military abilities and adjust their attitudes toward the
military power.

After all, as a wealthy and powerful country in the world, the US
should have the strongest military. To properly use this power
requires not only military knowledge, but also the understanding of
military nature. A war could cause problems to the US as well as to
other countries. Preventing wars and using diplomacy to engage the
international relationship would always be the best choice for the US
government and military. As showing in Shakespeare's play Timon of
Athens, Timon has been destructed by his angry and revenge after he
gave up on his belief and against all mankind. Athens was not
destructed as he wished because many Athenians had willing to
compromise with others and exhausted to prevent the war. A strong
military power is important for the US national defense, but it
shouldn't be abused to invade other countries. Military power can not
solve all problems, so Bacevich suggested that "instead of changing
the military, why not change the policy" (p.143). Before making any
decisions, the generals should first consider public safety and any
possibilities to solve problems by negotiate, diplomacy or other
available tactics. A defensive and coordination foreign policy could
benefit Americans and many people in the world.

Reference:

Cuomo, C.; Strathmann, C. & Netter, S. 2009. Retired military leaders
debate necessity of increased troops in war- torn Afghanistan. ABC
News
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Afghanistan/afghanistan-war-anniversary-find-strategy/story?id=8768134

Bacevich, A. 2009. The limits of power. New York: Holt.
Foxnews.2004, October 06. House Opposes Military Draft Bill. Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134546,00.html
Foxnews. 2008. January 19. Injured Troops Sent Back to Iraq Amid
Soldier Shortage Saturday. Fox news

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324070,00.html

Larson, E. 1996. Casualties and Consensus: The Historical Role of
Casualties in Domestic Support for U.S. Military Operations. Rand
Institution

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB2502/index1.html


Martin, D.2009, November 9.Obama's Afghan Plan: About 40K More Troops.
CBS news
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/world/main5592551.shtml

Shakespeare, W., 2000. Timon of Athens.
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/maxwell/mp10.pdf

Williamson, M. 1999,January. Military Culture Does Matter Volume 7,
Number 2. Fpri Institution

http://www.fpri.org/fpriwire/0702.199901.murray.militaryculturedoesmatter.html


Rangel, Rep, C. 2006, February 14. H. R. 4752 2d Session. To provide
for the common defense by requiring all persons in the United States,
including women, between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform a period of
military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the
national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes. US
House of Representatives

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc109/h4752_ih.xml

[Hong C]

[NATALYA D]

Natalya Dverina

English 101
Professor O’Connel

11/21/09

Military Crisis
“Make war breed peace, make peace stint war, make each
Prescribe to other, as each other's leech,” says Timon’s epitaph
(Shakespeare 1608, p. 55). This is Timon’s legacy and four hundred
years later it is still suitable as a foreign policy of a major world
power such as the United States of America. The U.S. foreign policy
until recently, however, resembled an empire’s and not of a state that
only fights when it must. As a result, the U.S. military is suffering
from a number of problems that start with how the military is
perceived by the politicians and ordinary people as well as by lack of
capable top level military strategists who can effectively conduct
wars. In addition, as described by Shakespeare’s Alcibiades (p. 30),
our society’s recognition of the service by the military service men
and women is hardly an adequate appreciation of their true
contribution to the safety and security of the United States.
It is remarkable that after four hundred years, Shakespeare’s
thoughts as expressed in The Life of Timon of Athens are still
relevant to the current events. Shakespeare’s Timon could be viewed as
a metaphor of how the U.S. has been conducting its foreign and
domestic policy - continuous spending. As a consequence of spending, a
significant military effort was required to sustain the flow of oil
and cheap consumer goods. Since the post-World War II times, the U.S.
military was used as a tool to enforce the U.S. foreign policy
(Bacevich 2009, p. 143). Given the current political and economic
situation, it is necessary to revise the foreign policy from “empire
policing” (Bacevich 2009, p. 143) to what Timon of Athens called “…
make each prescribe to other, as each other's leech” (Shakespeare
1608, p. 55). Until the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, however, the
United States military force was perceived as the most powerful
military in the world. The campaigns in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan
showed that even though the U.S. military is the most advanced
technologically, it suffers from lack of adequate military strategists
(Bacevich 2009, p. 143-151). As a result, even though the U.S.
achieved the immediate goals in Iraq and Afghanistan, the long term
losses have exceeded any estimates and have revealed significant flaws
in the U.S. military capabilities. According to Christopher Preble
(2009), the U.S. public does not want to “… remain actively engaged in
the world without having to be in charge of it.” Moreover, with the
current economic situation in the U.S., it is not economically
feasible to maintain the same level of involvement in the world
affairs as the U.S. previously did.
To make the use of the military more efficient, the U.S. must
substitute the “imperial foreign policy” (Bacevich 2009, p. 143) with
one that reflects the current standing of the U.S. in the world and
efficiently utilizes the superior capabilities of the U.S. armed
forces. According to Bacevich (p. 11), the U.S. standing in the world
has changed from being a global superpower. The U.S. no longer can
maintain the same level of military and financial involvement into the
world affairs. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama
highlights the change of the U.S. foreign policy towards solving
“complex global problems, including working toward a world free of
nuclear weapons” (Lothian, 2009). Unlike George W. Bush’s, President
Obama’s foreign policy strategy is heavily oriented at “multilateral
diplomacy” – a direction positively recognized by the Nobel Committee
(Lothian, 2009). At her confirmation hearing, Secretary of State
Hilary Clinton first announced the strategy that she, as well as
President Obama, intends to employ as the U.S. foreign policy: “Our
security, our vitality, and our ability to lead in today's world
oblige us to recognize the overwhelming fact of our
interdependence” (Clinton, 2009). The use of the military should
therefore be restricted to situations when all other options are not
effective – an approach that Hilary Clinton called “smart
power” (Clinton, 2009). As stated by Clinton, the current foreign
policy is not new in concept, but it is the most effective in
promoting democracy and American ideals (Clinton, 2009).
In addition to a diplomacy-oriented foreign policy, the U.S. must
also work with other nations to promote peace and stability in the
world. As President Obama (2009, p. 2) said in his Nobel Prize
acceptance speech, “… we must strengthen UN and regional peacekeeping,
and not leave the task to a few countries.” Hilary Clinton also
emphasized the importance of alliances with Japan and members of the
ASEAN to more effectively address security threats (Clinton, 2009).
Another important change in the U.S. foreign policy that President
Obama stated in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech is that nations that
break rules and laws should be punished by non-violent alternatives to
military conflict – a alternatives that are “tough enough to change
behavior” (Obama, p. 3, 2009).
The U.S. military has repeatedly demonstrated superior capabilities in
defeating the enemy; however it is no longer sufficient to just defeat
the enemy (Bacevich 2009, p. 161). As Iraq and Afghanistan showed, the
U.S. soldier is becoming a “… cop and social worker” (Bacevich 2009, p.
135). Since counterinsurgency became especially important in Iraq and
Afghanistan (Bacevich, p. 151), it is extremely important than more
attention is paid to educating soldiers and officers of the
surrounding cultures to achieve better results. In addition to
adequately preparing the soldiers on the ground, the top military
leadership must be capable of adequately formulate the best possible
strategy by taking into account all possible aspects of the mission.
For example, General Tommy Franks’ “’basic grand strategy’” was not an
adequate strategy and did not take into account major aspects of the
conflict: political, recognition of the regional power balance or
culture, or the aftermath of the fight (Bacevich, p. 166-167, 2009).
Another aspect of the military crisis is the detachment between the
army and the public. According to Bacevich, since there is no
mandatory conscription the U.S. public is not as concerned with the
wars (Bacevich 2009, p. 152-156). Having a draft would put a much
higher level of accountability on the politicians before they send the
drafted troops to action (Bacevich 2009, p. 153). Even if
reinstituting the draft seems to be the appropriate course of action
in reforming the military, it is unlikely to happen due to the
significant increase in cost of maintaining the new army that would be
twice as big (Bacevich 2009, 153). In addition, the U.S. public would
heavily oppose the idea of the draft.
As Shakespeare’s Alcibiades argues with the senators that the soldier
who killed in self-defense many times fought for Athens and deserves a
better fate, it is apparent that the same issues are still present in
our society — the issues that veterans are facing are hardly
compensated by the benefits. Post-traumatic stress disorder is one of
the most common problems that veterans face upon returning to civilian
life. The recent events at Ft. Hood showed that the stress that
service men and women are experiencing even before being sent to
action could be too difficult to bear (Goode 2009). Because the public
is so detached from the veterans, it is important that the public
support is expressed with much more than putting a bumper sticker on a
car or wearing a t-shirt. According to Keane and O'Hanlon (2008),
veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are coming back from
fighting an unpopular war into an economy recovering from a recession.
In addition to the post-traumatic stress, they often struggle to find
a job that could provide for their families (Keane, J., & O'Hanlon,
2008). The Welcome Back Veterans is a non-government sponsored effort
created with the goal of helping the veterans to reintegrate into the
society (Keane, J., & O'Hanlon, 2008). The Welcome Back Veterans
movement is filling in one of many gaps that exist in the government
programs for the veterans. The U.S. government should take a much more
active role in helping the veterans reintegrate into the society and
not rely on only the private organizations to help the veterans.
The military crisis that the U.S. is experiencing is not as much a
military one as it is a crisis of foreign policy. The foreign policy
is what dictates if and how the military is used. President Obama’s
foreign policy is radically different than that of the previous
administration in its use of diplomacy as a primary tool of achieving
results. Instead of deployment of the U.S. military to accomplish
goals, President Obama’s foreign policy will be utilizing diplomacy
and international cooperation as the primary choice of conflict
resolution. Choosing the competent strategists and military commanders
has proven to be a challenge for the George W. Bush administration; it
is imperative that the current administration take into account the
all aspects of the conflict as well as its aftermath when choosing the
strategy. The society must also realize that soldiers fighting in Iraq
and Afghanistan are protecting the interests of all citizens of the
United States and deserve much more than what they are getting in the
form of benefits.


References:
Bacevich, A.J., (2009). The Limits of Power: the End of American
Exceptionalism. New York: Holt Paperbacks.
Clinton, H. (2009, January 13). Transcript Of Clinton's Confirmation
Hearing. Retrieved December 12, 2009, from
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99290981
Goode, E. (2009, November 8). When Soldiers Snap. New York Times.
Retrieved December 10, 2009 from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/weekinreview/08goode.html?scp=3&sq=ptsd%20hasan&st=cse
Keane, J., & O'Hanlon, M. E. (2009, July 6). Welcome Back, Veterans.
Retrieved December 12, 2009, from http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0706_veterans_ohanlon.aspx
Lothian, D. (2009, October 9). Obama: Nobel Peace Prize is 'call to
action'. CNN. Retrieved December 12, 2009, from
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/09/nobel.peace.prize/index.html
MSNBC (2009) Full text of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech. Retrieved
December 10, 2009, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34360743/ns/politics-white_house/
Preble, C. (2009, May 21). The New world order (part iii). Cato
Institute. Retrieved December 10, 2009 from http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10251
U.S. House.

[Anna S]

Anna Sondall
Eng101
E.3 Final Draft
His past. Our Present?

“Timon of Athens” by William Shakespeare can be seen as a metaphor for
the American people’s growing cynicism of the U.S. Military, or more
accurately the people’s dissatisfaction with the War in Iraq. The
characters of Timon and Apemantus represent the two different sides of
the argument for military and the people. Timon and the military are
the same because he wants the people to still love him and he tries to
keep up his appearance of power, Apemantus is a direct representative
of the people who are not fooled by appearances and want the truth
about when the War in Iraq will be over.
According to Andrew Bacevich in “The Limits of Power”, the military
is now operating under three distinct illusions. The first illusion is
that “the United States during the 1980s and 1990s had succeeded in
reinventing armed conflict. The Pentagon had devised a new American
Way of War, investing its forces with the capabilities unlike any the
world had ever seen” (Bacevich, pg 127). This is similar to Timon’s
illusion that things were always going to remain the same for him. The
fact that the military’s conflicts in the 90s were all successful and
technologically and strategically advanced gave the military the
illusion that it was going to always be successful if they fought
every war the same way. The relationship the people had with the
military at that time was apathetic at best. So, when the Iraq War
started it was thought that we would be there for a short time. We
would get the Evil Empire that knocked down the World Trade Center and
everything would be right with the world again. That is where the
problems started. According to Peter Beinart, in his editorial “Obama
Shrinks The War on Terrorism”, “The nation was in agony, and George W.
Bush stood before a joint session of Congress, telling Americans where
to direct their rage. “Americans are asking, 'Who attacked our
country?'" Bush declared, "The evidence we have gathered all points to
a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as Al-
Qaeda" (Beinart, Time.com).
After six years of the American Military fighting and occupying Iraq
the people of this country have a very Apemantus attitude toward the
military now. We as a country are now asking “what happened, why are
we still there?” we no longer trust our military and after what
happened with Hurricane Katrina we now know that they are stretched so
thin protecting other countries that they are not available to help at
home. This change in attitude from a trusting apathy to sarcastic
cynicism toward the military reflects Apemantus’ attitude toward Timon
during his fall. The difference between how Timon was and how he is
after his friend’s betrayal is worlds apart. Apemantus points that out
with taunting questions when he comes to see for himself Timon’s major
change in his way of life.
--What, think'st thou,
That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain,
Will put thy shirt on warm? will these moist trees
That have out-liv'd the eagle, page thy heels,
And skip when thou point'st out? will the cold brook,
Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste
To cure thy o'er-night's surfeit? Call the creatures,
Whose naked natures live in all the spight
Of wreakful heav'n, whose bare unhoused trunks,
To the conflicting elements expos'd,
Answer mere nature, bid them flatter thee.
According to the second illusion, “American civilian and military
leaders subscribed to a common set of principles for employing their
now dominant forces. Adherence to these principles promised to prevent
any recurrence of the sort of disaster that had befallen our nation in
Vietnam”(Bacevich, pg128). This second illusion makes the military kin
to Timon in that they both want to keep up appearances because they
have fallen out of favor with the public. The military wants to give
us the appearance of this war not being or turning into another
Vietnam War, the truth of the matter is that it is much worse for the
people because it doesn’t look like there is a simple way to pull out
of Iraq without undoing some of the “good” that has been done.
Meanwhile mothers, fathers, sons and daughters have to bury or take
care of a wounded loved one that has served in Iraq.
On December 10th 2009 president Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace
Prize and became “the forth active president to receive this award but
the first one to receive it during a time of war” (Parsons,
latimes.com). This goes in to the military and government’s illusion
that everything is going to work out as far as the war and that this
is not another Vietnam. Iraq is going to go down in history as being
just as bad as Vietnam or worse because we the people were fooled into
believing that the military learned from its mistakes in Vietnam.
As Timon goes through his issues Apemantus wonders why Timon is
confused, I mean didn’t he see his down fall coming? That is what the
people have to deal with now after the many lies and nearly illegal
things that the government has done to its people. Bacevich states “…
according to Weinberger and Powell, the United States would fight only
when genuinely vital interest were at stake. It would do so in pursuit
of concrete and attainable objectives. It would mobilize the necessary
resources- political and moral as well as material to win promptly and
decisively” (Bacevich, pg129). The only answer that the people of this
country can come up to the “why are we there” question is oil. Timon
is tormented with the perpetual contrast between things and
appearances, when he finds the gold,
---This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions; bless the accurs'd;
Make the hoar leprosy ador'd; place thieves,
And give them title, knee, and approbation,
With senators on the bench; this is it,
That makes the wappen'd widow wed again. (Shakespeare, pg61)
The third and final illusion that Bacevich discusses is “… the
military and the American society had successfully patched up the
differences that produced something akin to divorce during the
divisive Vietnam years.” (Bacevich, pg129). Well, if the actions of
the military caused a divorce back then, now the military’s
relationship with the people is fast approaching an annulment if our
leaders don’t figure out how to solve this problem soon. As Timon
built his tomb the military has to figure out how to either kill the
war or make the reasons for it clearer to the people of America. When
leaders inside the military say its time to go then its time to go.
According to Kelly Heyboer in her blog titled “Iraq War: Declare
Victory and Go Home”." Col. Reese, who is a U.S. Army advisor to the
Iraqi military, recently wrote a memo titled, "Declare victory and go
home." The memo wasn't intended for public circulation but a copy
found its way onto the internet. The line most quoted is Reese's
observation that "guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.
Since the signing of the 2009 Security Agreement, we are guests in
Iraq, and after six years in Iraq, we now smell bad to the Iraqi
nose." (Heyboer, blognj.com).
Timon couldn’t predict his fall. The military is falling and it needs
more than appearances to regain the trust of the people. The people
are now cynical, sarcastic, and disillusioned by the military and are
waiting to see what the war’s outcome will be. “Since his earliest
days on the stump, (Pres.) Obama has relied on rhetoric that holds up
lofty ideals but at the same time acknowledges politically pragmatic
goals” (Parsons, latimes.com). For the people’s sake, I hope one of
those goals is rebuilding trust and ending the Middle East conflicts,
soon.



Bacevich, Andrew J: The Limits Of Power- the End of American
Exceptionalism
Parsons, Christi: Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, latimes.com.
Editorial: The First Deadline, nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html,
June 29, 2009.
Heyboer, Kelly: Iraq War: Declare victory and leave, blog.nj.com,
August 08, 2009.
Beinart, Peter: Obama Shrinks the War on Terrorism, time.com/time/
nation/article

[Christine Choi]

LACC Fall 2009
English 101
Instructor Ed O’Connell
Online section #3226
Christine Choi
12/12/09

Timon is the main character in Shakespeare’s play Timon of Athens and
Alcibiades is an acquaintance of Timon, who is a captain of Athens.
Surprisingly the metaphoric lessons this two characters offer in this
play can be implied to understand a certain aspect of contemporary US
military culture, specifically on an issue of the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan. After the 9/11 attack of terrorist, US government
declared war on terrorists. The stated objectives of the war in the
US are to protect the citizens of the US and allies, to protect the
business interests of the US and allies at home and abroad, break up
terrorist cells in the US, and disrupt the activities of the
international network of terrorist organizations made up of a number
of groups under the umbrella of al-Qaeda (Anonymous, 2009). From the
play, Timon somehow looks very similar to those corporations procuring
the war and the political actions of US at the time of 9/11, meanwhile
Alcibiades reminds of the US military itself. Today’s US military
culture was also well explained in the book, The Limits of Power: The
End of American Exceptionalism, written by Andrew J. Bacevich. His
argument is focused on not only the three illusions of US military
culture and their goals, but also reveals the problems of US military
culture that was shown in recent conflict such as Iraq and
Afghanistan.
In the beginning of the play, Timon is a wealthy man, who enjoys
giving gifts to his friends and sharing his wealth. He believes that
friendship means giving to his friends without expecting something in
return. However, towards the end of the story, Timon gets abandoned
by the friends, who once praised Timon. Timon declares his hatred for
mankind and takes off to the wilderness. He encounters Alcibiades and
provides him with gold that he found under the ground and tells him to
massacre the whole Athenians. Timon’s indignation that is focused on
not just towards the people who betrayed him, but the entire mankind
somehow looks more like the US political scene right after the 9/11
attack from the terrorists. The 9/11 attacks were a series of
coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the US on September 11,
2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four
commercial passenger jet airliners and intentionally crashed two of
the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New
York City, killing everyone on board and many other working in the
buildings (Anonymous, 2009). In addition, the hijackers crashed a
third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the
fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural
Pennsylvania and there were no survivors from any of the flights
(Anonymous, 2009). According to “Wikipedia” (2009), after the 9/11,
the US government responded to the attacks by declaring a War on
Terrorism, invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had
harbored al-Qaeda terrorists. In the play, when senators came up to
Timon’s cave out in the wilderness and convince Timon to come back to
Athens to stop Alcibiades’s rebellion, the action of senators can be
interpreted as the effort of politicians who tries to look for an
ultimate political solution without having a war as a counsel of
despair. By contrast, US government soon declared war on terrorism
and invaded Iraq and Afghanistan in the name of justice, killing
thousands of people including civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the other perspective, the Timon’s role also can be implied as the
corporations which procure the war. In the play, Timon supports
Alcibiades by giving him a share of gold and tell him to massacre the
entire people in Athens. In the play Timon of Athens, Timon express
his hatred towards the Athenians by crying out to Alcibiades, “That by
killing of villains thou wast born to conquer my country… let not thy
sword skip one” (Shakespeare). From that scene, the rage and hatred of
Timon towards mankind clearly projects. If Alcibiades led his troop
and slaughtered the Athenians, Timon might have settled his old
grudge. If goes further, if Alcibiades successfully took over the
administrative power of Athens, Timon might have moved back to the
Athens and start over with people who actually honor him and true to
him. Timon also can exercise his political power since the war was
financially procured by him. In today’s military culture, those
corporations procure every part of war. They support financially,
send weapons, feeding the soldiers, providing transportation methods
and so on. The war can be the most beneficial method of making
profits in the perspective of corporations. For example, weapons
manufacturers such as “Lockheed Martin, Boeing , and Northrop Grumman,
the three largest weapons manufacturers, together received more than
$50 million from the Pentagon in 2003” (Cray, 2009). In addition,
construction and engineering giant received one of the largest
contracts worth 2.5 billion dollars to help coordinate and rebuild a
large part of Iraq’s infrastructure, and the oil industries such as
Chevron, ExxonMobile and the petroimperialists also were profited by
the war (Taibbi, 2009).
In the other hand, Alcibiades led his troop right in front of the gate
of Athens, but when senators convince him that not everyone in the
Athens are his enemy, rather killing the entire people in Athens, only
kill those who wronged Alcibiades and Timon. From this scene,
Alcibiades reminds of the US armed force, and the senators in Athens
look like the politicians presenting different methods of political
solution without having war. During the war, the prioritized military
aim is to achieve political goal by using the armed force. Since
today’s war projects the financial power right into the military
power, it is the single most important thing to remember that the
recruiting goal has to be achieved in a quick and convenient manner.
Also That military operations must be “brief and efficient in terms of
the human and economic price paid is not merely desirable, but held to
be necessary in order to maintain the support of the American
public” (Erdmann, 2009). However, the war still continues until
today, which means the military force did not achieved its goal in a
quick and convenient manner and did not fulfilled its recruiting goals
yet. Bacevich (2009) also points out that the performance of the
military especially since 9/11 has been unimpressive as measured by
results achieved. He also writes, America doesn’t need a bigger army,
but needs a new foreign policy, which can support the military
assignments more conveniently and consistently with their capabilities
(Bacevich, 2009). David Gold (2009), associate professor of
international affairs program, also points out terrorism imposes
substantial costs on target populations, but there are also
significant costs associated with policies to combat terrorism. He
also says policy responses to terrorism need to be “multi-faceted” and
flexible (Gold, 2009). For example, security policies need to be more
cost effective, in order to both achieve results and to limit the
negative economic consequences of devoting excessive resources to
security purposes (Gold, 2009).
The play, Timon of Athens by Shakespeare introduces two metaphoric
characters, Timon and Alcibiades who mirrors the current US military
culture in the recent issue of Iraq and Afghanistan. Timon left his
town and headed to the wilderness when he was betrayed by his own
friend and filled with anger and hatred towards the whole Athenians.
This character can be implied as to the US political attitude and
decision after the 9/11 attacks towards the terrorists. Also when
Timon gave Alcibiades with loads of gold to support the rebellion, it
somewhat reminds of the corporations which supports the war and
profited by it. In the other hand, Alcibiades’s character looks more
like the US military itself, whose main goal is to fulfill the needs
and complete the assignment as quickly and conveniently as possible.
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan shows the political arrogance and
misjudgment of US government, still continuing the war without
achieving the ultimate political goals. The war is still continued
without any impressive progress, meanwhile US economy crumble down
into pieces. The country is in recession, yet the military budget
still increases every year. On December 1st, President Obama said
that the deployment of 30,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan is
part of a strategy to reverse the Taliban’s momentum and stabilize the
country’s government (Chhor & Japra, 2009). Many scholars and
political analysts concern about the president Obama’s deployment
decision, considering the negative results from past several years.
Many voices suggests that maybe US does not need a large military
forces or more deployment of troops, but what we really need is a more
flexible yet systematical foreign policy, which actually can support
the military process at its fundamental levels.





References
Bacevich, A. (2009). The Limits of Power: The End of American
Exceptionalism (1 ed.). New York: Holt Paperbacks.
Chhor, A., & Japra, N. (n.d.). Obama receives NATO, U.N. backing on
Afghanistan - CNN.com. CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather,
Entertainment & Video News. Retrieved December 8, 2009, from
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/02/obama.world.reax/index.html?iref=allsearch
Cray, C. (2009, June 27). Stop the Merchants of Death.
warresisters.org. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from www.warresisters.org/smod/brazen.shtml
Erdmann, A. (2005). costless wars. America the Vulnerable : How Our
Government Is Failing to Protect Us from Terrorism (pp. 48). Bob Land:
Amazon Remainders Account. (Original work published null)
September 11 attacks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.).
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
Shakespeare, W. (2008). Timon of Athens Ed3 Arden (Arden Shakespeare:
Third) (New Ed ed.). London: Arden Shakespeare.
Taibbi, M. (2009, September 30). The Rip-off in Iraq: You Will Not
Believe How Low the War Profiteers Have Gone | World | AlterNet. Home
| AlterNet. Retrieved December 8, 2009, from http://www.alternet.org/world/60950

[Joe G]

December 12, 2009

Timon of Athens
Final Draft of Essay 3
English 101 Section 3226
Professor O’Connell

Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens provides a metaphor to what is happening
today, during this century in the United States of America and our
overwhelming relationships with other countries throughout the world.
The United States of America was known as a “Superpower” to the
world. In Andrew J. Bacevich book The Limits of Power, he writes of
our failure “to meet the standards” (p. 124) the shortcomings in
Afghanistan and Iraq to “deliver a knockout blow” (p. 125). At the
beginning of the play in Timon of Athens, is America at what appeared
to be the finest of times, and both Timon and America fail. Bacevich
warns Americans that we have a military crisis, and one of the main
dilemmas of the United States military is the obstruction and the
“lost art of strategy” (p. 165). Bacevich writes about the “three
great illusions” (p. 127), the first advanced technologies, the second
illusion (p. 129) Weinberger-Powell Doctrine “criteria for deciding
when and how to use force”. And third illusion, false hope of
Americas falling in love with our armed forces. Timon is the main
character of the play; however, Alicibiades and Flaminius are also
compatible to the behavior and actions of the United States.
Alicibiades says “For pity in virtue of the law, and none but tyrants
use it cruelly” (p. 51). Bacevich argues that America was going to
war with the wrong plan, and Rumsfeld “tied the hands of commanders
while our troops were in contact with the enemy” (p. 137). The
apparent causes of action according to the majority of Americans would
require withdrawing from these unplanned and careless wars. America
could then refocus on its internal problems, balance, adjust and focus
on our nation’s future before it spirals into a pit of destruction or
collapse. Just like the Senators in Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens,
who acted out of greed and abuse of power when they affronted Timon
and Alcibiades. And Alcibiades army stood at Athens gates to destroy
the land, the Senators with no other recourse to prevent the imminent
slaughter, admitted their wrongdoings, pleading with Alcibiades to
only seek revenge on the guilty and spare the innocent. Alcibiades
had to leave Athens and make a plan to invade Athens so he could fix
what he felt was wrong. Likewise, the United States government should
own up to its own greed and the abuse of power that were utilized
during the inception of these wars. It became imperative to remove
Americans involvement from these injustices’ and foreign states, time
to reevaluate the debilitating hardships of the war on our nation and
focus on the restoration of this country to a higher moral standard.

Bacevich is correct in his assessment that the solution for the Long
War, is not that a bigger army is required, but rather altering the
foreign policy and “…giving up on illusions of grandeur… [and]
reigning in the imperial presidents who expect the army to make good
on those illusion.” (p.169) Current United States government behavior
likens that of the character Timon, who, is overextending his wealth,
learns to late the futility of his gift-giving that made him desirable
only as long as his money held out. Just as Timon’s friends deserted
him like a bad habit because of the lack of fortune, the effects of
peacekeeping efforts of the U. S. military will dissolve once the
troops are removed. It will be argued that America has an obligation
to stay until conditions stabilize however, ultimately it will be the
responsibility of the Iraq and Afghanistan people of those states. We
can compare the behavior of Alicibiades to the United States military
as we too invaded Afghanistan and Iraq which did not ask for our
help. However, Americas agenda was to capture Osama Bin Laden, and
because this “war on terror” unnecessary and wrong fatalities to both
civilian and soldiers. The character Flavius wanted to lead Timon in
the right direction and warn him of his financial problems and to be
of service to Timon in any possible way, however, Timon chose not to
listen. Flavius was a noble and respectable man of good character who
was sincere in his efforts to help Timon. In the beginning of the
play Timon is on top of the world, a wealthy man enjoying his life
with many so called friends. Slowly, but surely Timon is pained with
incredible debt and becomes homeless. Sadly, none of Timons’ friends
were around when he needed them the most, and he just couldn’t
understand why none of his friends were willing to help him. He began
to view man through a new pair of glasses, as animalistic and felt
mankind deserved to be cursed because of a lack of morals and values.
Timon once enjoyed the gift of giving and helping others, with the
exception Apemantus. One of Timons biggest mistakes was the ignorance
of not budgeting or seeking advice on how to handle his money. If the
United States does not stop “confusing strategy with ideology” (P.
165) the United States can and will decline in its rich military
stature.

President Obama stated on February 27, 2009 at Camp Lejeune, his plan
for removing troops from Iraq, he claimed that “…by August 31, 1010
our combat mission in Iraq will end. The mission of the remaning
troops after that time will no longer be combat but rather, to support
the Iraq government to achieve”… sustained diplomacy on behalf of a
more peaceful and prosperous Iraq.” Another way Timon and the United
States relate is the wasting of money; America is in a recession with
about $200 billion a year spent on a war that appears hopeless and
aimless. America should follow the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine since
it was created to make sure another Vietnam would not happen, “the
United States would fight only when genuinely vital interests were at
stake” (p. 129). The United States should not follow the example of
Timon or Alcibiades. Alcibiades believed he could get justice by
invading Athens and Timon was wasteful and lost hope in humanity.
Flavius is the character America should follow to be loyal and attempt
to help Timon make good choices. Our government had not planned on
being 11 trillion dollars in debt, Obama’s; budgeting plan is to cut
that number to 3 trillion in the next 7 years. I believe Americans
are waking up, by no choice of their own. So as Americans wake up, by
losing jobs, increases in college fees, more homeless people of middle
class, we have to have hope and not give up.

When research that could be funded by neutral civilian agencies is
instead funded by the military. Knowledge is subtly militarized and
bent in the way a tree is bent by a prevailing wind. The public comes
to accept that basic academic research on religion and violence
“belongs to the military”, scholars who never saw themselves as doing
military research now do; maybe they wonder if their access to future
funding is best secured by not criticizing U.S. foreign policy: a
discipline whose independence from military and corporate funding
fueled the kind of critical thinking a democracy needs is now
compromised; and the priorities of the military further define the
basic terms of public and academic debate.


Reference:
1. Bacevich, A (2009). The Limits of Power. New York: Metroplitan
2. Shakespeare, W (2000). Timon of Athens. (F.E. Dolan, Ed.). New
York: Penguin Books.
3. Obama, B (2009, March 27). Remarks of President Barack Obama –
responsibility ending this war. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement

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[Joey Anne]

I didn't see anyone else post their final draft here, but here is
mine:

Joey Anne Pangilinan
English 101
Professor O’Connell

Reconstructing Moral Values

There has been ongoing debate over the morality of the war against
Iraq. Andrew Bacevich in Limits of Powers: The End of American
Exceptionalism argues that the United States has prospered in leading
the West because their intentions were not to abuse the privileges of
leadership. He argues now that the United States government has
selfishly learned to gain personal interests. In William
Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, Shakespeare metaphorically relates
comments to of the privileges of leadership through two characters,
Timon, and Alcibiades. He portrays these characters as Timon being a
wealthy man who takes pleasure in bestowing gifts among his friends,
and eventually loses all of his money. Alcibiades is portrayed as a
soldier of Athens, who decides the Athens government is corrupt with
power. When Alcibiades comes across Timon after his banishment and
declares war of Athens, as Timon happily approves and wishes death
upon everyone of Athens. This is relative to Bacevich’s idea of the
government overstepping their leadership privileges as Alcibiades
states tyrants overstep their leadership roles for self-advantage as
“they have told their money and let out their coin upon large
interest” (Act III, iv, 1425).
Charles Lewis and Mark-Reading Smith wrote an article called “False
Pretenses” also concerning the intentions of former United States
President George W. Bush and seven other top officials who have
campaigned misinformation affecting the war on Iraq. On a count of
two hundred and thirty two false statements made by President Bush
asserting that the United States military had reason to believe that
Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction or links to Al
Qaeda. Though President Bush’s intentions of charging Iraq with
weapons of mass destruction was proven false, he soon acknowledged his
own fault. Lewis and Smith provide that an increasing number of
critics and former government officials have “publicly…accused the
president and his inner circle of ignoring or distorting the available
intelligence.” As Alcibiades describes the Athens government as
tyrants, Bacevich’s claim the United States government has learned to
feed illusions to the American masses. Bacevich quotes former
President Bush involving the war on Iraq as “we are redefining war on
our terms. In this new era of warfare, we can target a regime, not a
nation.” These illusionments that both Bacevich, Lewis, and Smith
claim that the United States government has presented to the American
masses presents the idea that the military puts what they see fit and
is satisfying to them before honest and authentic truth. This same
idea is presented by Bacevich as he quotes Reinhold Niebuhr’s idea of
“the desire to gain an immediate selfish advantage always imperils
their ultimate interests.”
A good half of Americans are liberalists, some would say. But
compared to Bacevich’s idea of self-development, are their objectives,
in all actuality, for the progress and reform of a nation? Johnathan
Pearce of “The Selfish Liberation of Iraq” believes a liberalist will
sacrifice his own happiness and values for what is truly good for
Man. Pearce believes that “no truly ‘selfish’ libertarian could
possibly endorse such regrettably altruistic behavior, particularly if
it costs blood and treasure.” Pearce tactfully means that there is no
such thing as a liberalist because we are naturally selfish for self-
development. Pearce believes that citizens who believe the
intervention in Iraq is wrong, cannot claim that they are libertarians
because the liberation of Iraq is within itself selfish. Bacevich
also believes that the “ethic of self-gratification threatens the well-
being of the United States.”
For whatever reason the United States government has decided to admit
into war, it is agreed upon most critics that its purpose was purely
for self-advantage. According to Michel Chossudovsky in a chapter of
War and Globalisation, called “The Anglo-American Military Axis,” the
Bush administration did not enter war for the protection and security
of Americans against Iraq’s accused possession of weapons of mass
destruction, but rather “intended to establish United States hegemony,
while weakening Franco-German and Russian influence in the region.”
He means that the United States has engaged in war to weaken its’
opponents and prosper economically. Chossudovsky states that because
there is an ongoing clash between the Great Powers, of what is “Old
Europe” and the Anglo-American military axis, their main intentions
pertain to three advantages, “defense and military-industrial complex,
control over Oil and Gas Reserves, and money and currency system:
clash between Euro and the Dollar.” In relation to Bacevich’s idea of
self-development, Chossudovsky states that the United States is
joining teams with Germany, France, and Britain because all nations
want control over national currency systems as it is the “basis upon
which countries are colonized.” By joining teams with other
countries, the United States gains a alliances that assist in reaching
their self-obtaining goals. This idea is presented as the “Economic
Conquest”. Chossudovsky claims that not only does the United States
make decisions that primarily benefit themselves, but he claims that
other nations have also the same intentions to increase their self
development as well. Bacevich concludes his argument by predicting
that the America will slowly decrease economically and militarily,
because the Congress is now made for “self promotion and self-
preservation take precedence over serious engagement with serious
issues.”
If our intentions of engaging in war on Iraq are indeed for self-
development, then are the moral values of war completely altruistic?
Reinhold Neibuhr is quoted by Bacevich as saying, “No simple victory
of good over evil in history is possible.” By quoting Neibuhr,
Bacevich agrees that the United States government plans to be the
victors of this war and where there are victors are failures. To say
the least, it is to be expected that Iraq will fall under our
preference. Bacevich quotes former President George W. Bush stating
that “The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the
success of liberty in other lands.” This can reflect the idea Timon
says to Alcibiades when Alcibiades declares death upon Athens, “by
killing of villains, thou wast born to conquer my country.” Timon and
the Bush administration may have had the same idea as they intended on
conquering other countries for their own personal success. However as
Iraq became a stepping stool for Bush’s personal success, our current
President, Barack Obama, was able to recognize Iraq as a potential
independent country. In an article called “Stanley McChrystal’s Long
War”, General Stanley McChrystal’s was asked by President Obama to
estimate the changes that still needed to be made in order for our
success. McChrystal is quoted making a point to ask who owns the
lands in which he’s trying to save, “Is it owned by the farmers or by
landlords?” McChrystal acknowledges that the hard-workers of Iraq are
the ones who get from the bottom of the barrel. Bacevich explains
that what America needs is a smaller foreign policy that not only
assists America but also other nations. Bacevich believes that
“modesty implies giving up the illusions of grandeur to which the end
of the Cold War and then 9/11 gave rise.” With minds like Bacevich,
McChrystal, and Obama, it may be possible for nations like America and
Iraq to flourish together under the ultimate notion of what is
preeminent for individual countries.
It has been argued that humans, by nature, are selfish beings who
believe they’re entitled to their own personal advancements in the
most efficient way possible. Consequently, it is a constant battle to
be and have the best. As Bacevich describes America’s primary goal,
as stepping closer to “ensure continuity, to keep in tact the
institutions and arrangements that define present-day Washington,”
Americans are accordingly depriving other nation, like Iraq, of its’
own advancements. In the beginning, the Bush administration gave
misleading information concerning Iraq, accusing them of being in
possession of weapons of mass destruction. The government then has
argued that they were at war for the liberation of Iraq, however the
liberation of Iraq does not follow the concept of liberalism, where it
is not altruistic, as it should be. The war on Iraq has then turned
its intentions to reinforce their military, have control over global
oil and gas, as well as the currency system. The Bush administration
believed that by winning the war in Iraq, all that is America will
prosper greatly in all attributes. However, by winning against
another country, it will leave the country weakened, and thus
contradicts the initial intentions of engaging in war, and become an
illiberal act. Bacevich suggest that it is in the best interest of
everyone to learn to “share in exercising those powers… [And] preserve
and, if possible, expand it.” Although we are naturally selfish, it
will be a difficult task to teach a system of sharing global powers
evenly. Perhaps by reconstructing moral values, learning to set aside
differences, and to eliminate the infliction of fear, we would be able
to co-exist as equals of the same natural power. By taking the step
to preserve what is of good value to the whole of the people rather
than a small percentage of the worlds population, we may in fact learn
to appreciate what we have presently, rather than what we could have
through the exertion of power.




“Work Cited”
1. Bacevich, Andrew. Limits of Power: The End of American
Exceptionalism. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2009
2. Shakespeare, William. Timon of Athens. Arden Shakespeare, 1607-08
3. Lewis, Charles; Reading-Smith, Mark. “False Pretenses”. The
Center For Public Integrity. January 23, 2008. <
http://projects.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/>
4. Pearce, Johnathan. “The Selfish Liberation of Iraq”. <http://
www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/003600.html>
5. Chossudovsky, Michel. War and Globalisation. “The Anglo-American
Military Axis”. 2003
6. Filkins, Dexter. “Stanley McChrystal’s Long War” October 14, 2009.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18Afghanistan-t.html>