Thursday, November 11, 2010

Essay #2 Draft

The Vietnam War has long become of the most historic battles in the history of the United States but very few know how it all began. The United States began calling this war "the fight against communism" and gave the men of the United Sates the idea that this war was to protect capitalism and save the Vietnamese from the wrongs of communism.  Patriotism, along with pride, encouraged the men of the United States to join the cause to kill the "gooks". Men were trained to believe that the Vietnamese were worthless, disgusting creatures that need the U.S. to become civilized. With these ideologies in mind the soldiers proudly went to war, killing Vietnamese as if their lives were invaluable. Men, women, the elderly, and children were mercilessly killed.

Since the United States was quickly gaining power in the world it needed to obliterate communism to keep capitalistic ideologies. For the policy makers in the U.S. this was more than just fighting communism but about protecting and reinforcing the image of the United States. It needed to maintain that image of a powerful army.

The training the men in the military received caused them to become heartless killing machines. In Hearts and Minds directed by Peter Davis there was a scene where a church leader spoke to the troops. He described the war as a football game that had to be won. He clearly states that “the other team” isn’t going to win because the U.S. is more advanced and has the advantage.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Power Analysis Essay # 2

India, the second most populated country with about 1,189,750,000 people, seems  unimportant and too far to even matter. On the other hand the United States of America, the third most populated country with about 310,629,000 people and the forth largest country in the world, is at the top of the food chain.  Very much like the wild, countries are categorized into levels of power by the amount of things they have. India, in this case has a large amount of farmable land and a growing economy. On the other hand, the U.S. has far more than India can offer, farmable land, well educated people, huge businesses, and the one thing that makes the world go 'round, MONEY.

Since 2004 India has become center of attention to the U.S. for two reasons, their growing and promising economy and their nuclear weapons.  Not only was the U.S. looking into stopping their nuclear testing but government officials we looking into participating in its economy. India who has always been a very independent country wasn't too excited about this alliance with the U.S. Indian officials knew that this unity with the U.S. could bring them trouble and on the other hand they could finally get the military help they so desperately needed in oder to keep peace with their neighboring country, Pakistan.