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Daron Arakelian (a ninth
grade student) wrote the following as part of his Zine project in Mrs.
Grady’s 8th
grade English class in June 2011. He had to write a research paper
about a topic that was important to him. The following explains in
Daron’s own words why he picked this topic.
Perspective of a Soldier's Son
 Preface
The most tragic day that
will always be ingrained into my memory is the morning of 9/11. I was 4
at the time of the attacks and was at my daycare. The reason this event
is so tragic is not because I lost a loved one, thankfully none of my
relatives in New York were harmed, but because my father was in the
military and George W. Bush had declared war on terror. My father has
seen many tours of duty to the Middle East, the longest one lasting 8
months. Whenever my dad leaves to go overseas it feels like a part of me
is missing. He tries to call as often as he could, but usually ended up
calling once or twice a week. Whenever my dad leaves for war, I always
have a nag in the back of my mind that he won’t come home this time.
Thankfully, God has smiled upon the Arakelian family he always returns
in one piece.
Daron’s Zine on 9/11 and
Operation Enduring Freedom
The war in
Afghanistan, commonly known as Operation Enduring Freedom was launched
after the September 11th attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Center, the
Pentagon, and a crash landing in Shanksville, Pennsylvania (wheeler
17-22). The man who orchestrated these attacks was known by the name of
Osama bin Laden, who came to terror after the Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan in 1979 (guidetorussia.com). The war is costing America
billions each month and has met heavy criticism by the world and the
country (washingtonpost.com). Even with the heavy costs, the war serves
a purpose of liberating Afghanistan from the Taliban and turning the
thirty third poorest country in the world into a more stable country
than what is so commonly associated with the Middle East (www.cia.gov).
On a clear, sunny morning New York City was bustling with
workers getting to their jobs, no one thought anything bad was going to
happen, but they were quite wrong. The day is going on as normal, but at
8:45
A.M. Flight 11, which was a Boeing 767, smashes into the North Tower.
The plane had over 20,000 gallons of jet fuel in it, which started a
roaring fire, weakening the steels fire-proofing and ultimately causing
the tower to collapse at 10:28
A.M. Another Boeing 767 plane crashed into the South Tower at 903, this
was Flight 175, carrying a good deal of jet fuel, about as much as
Flight 11. Both towers had finally collapsed at 10:28
A.M. The Pentagon was struck by Flight 77 at 9:43,but
the building only suffered minimal damage, and very few were killed at
the Pentagon compared to the Twin Towers. 9/11 was the cause of over
3,000 innocent civilians killed, and many more children, husbands and
wives left without a loved one in their life. The man responsible for
these attacks had a deep rooted hatred of America which goes all the way
back to the Reagan and Clinton administrations. (Wheeler 17-22)
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When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 under the Premier
Leonid Brezhnev, they inadvertently formed the Taliban, and
subsequently, al-Queda. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan did not lead
to Operation Enduring Freedom, but it was a major influence. When the
Soviets invaded, they caused a group of rag-tag freedom fighters know as
the Mujahideen to try to repel the Soviet occupation. The Mujahideen
were outnumbered, out gunned, and out trained by the Soviet Spetnaz,
KGB, and the rest of the 40th Army. The Soviet Union began its
occupation by covertly infiltrating Afghan government institutions such
as the communications hub, and the presidential palace. When the Soviets
began their full on military campaign, the U.S.A. decided to secretly
intervene. The Soviets main advantage over the Mujahideen was the fact
that they had helicopters. The United States did not want the Soviet
communist regime to spread so they equipped the Mujahideen with American
made Stinger Ground-to-Air portable rocket launchers. The Afghan rebels
were now able to efficiently shoot down Soviet helicopters, nullifying
the Soviets air advantage. One prominent freedom fighter was Osama bin
Laden, the former leader of al-Queda and mastermind behind the 9/11
plot. He came from a wealthy Saudi family and joined the Mujahideen in
Pakistan to help provide funding and arms for the jihadi. The USA
provided funding and aid through the Pakistani ISI, their equivalent of
our CIA, and this funding came back to bite us in the behind when bin
Laden formed al-Queda and waged jihad against America. The Soviets
withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 under Mikhail Gorbachev due to them
suffering heavy losses and cost. After the withdrawal from Afghanistan,
the Soviet Union started to fall apart, and it had experienced
“America’s Vietnam” (guidetorussia.com).
The military campaign Operation Enduring Freedom is an extensive
struggle to rid Afghanistan from Taliban clutches and build the 3rd
poorest country in the world into a country capable of defending its
borders and ensuring no terrorist organization is every harbored within
the country, least another 9/11 happens. OEF (Operation Enduring
Freedom) was launched in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the
Taliban’s refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden on October 7th and has
lasted for well over 9 years, a war longer than Vietnam, once thought of
as America’s longest war. This war was launched by the NATO coalition
consisting of countries such as Britain, Canada, France, Germany, etc.
The opening weeks of OEF were mainly focused on disrupting terrorist
training camps, raiding known Taliban strongholds, such as air strikes
on Tora Bora and other provinces. The CIA was the first combat units on
the ground in Afghanistan and was soon joined by units from USSOCOM
(United States Special Operations Command). After the US backed Northern
Alliance took the city of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, the rest of
the cities and provinces fell like dominoes to the American coalition.
The Taliban were soon ousted from power and Afghanistan started to see
an actual form of government when they voted for a parliament and a
president. However, OEF has started to lose its steam because of
increased terrorist attacks, corruption within the Afghan government and
the fact that the United States is not able to efficiently train an
Afghan Army and police force. The total number of troops in Afghanistan
as of now is over 130,000 militants just from the US and other NATO
countries. Afghanistan has provided over 260,000 militants in both the
police force and the national army. With great determination, and an
increase in Afghan and Pakistan cooperation, America can hopefully see
this mission as a success and withdraw most if not all of our troops
from the Afghan region (Woodward 5-300).
OEFs intentions were good; to avenge 9/11 and help Afghanistan
but this war is still meeting some harsh criticism from the media. One
of the most major issues addressed by the media is the treatment of
suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, a detention facility owned and
operated by the US military and the CIA on a strip of land in Cuba.
These detainees have been allegedly tortured and treated harshly by the
US government. The media claims that these terrorists have been subject
to cruel and unusual punishments such as water boarding. Water boarding
is where the detainee is restrained to something, usually while he or
she is on his or her back, and gets water poured over him or her to
simulate drowning. Detainees have also been reported to have been
deprived of water and food for more than 24 hours at a time while in
uncomfortable positions. President Obama has made plans to close down
Guantanamo Bay, but it still remains open as of now. Others criticize
the war for being too costly. At an average monthly cost of over 10
billion dollars and with the national debt over 10 trillion dollars,
most Americans do not wish to be spending this excess money on foreign
affairs, regardless of the reason. Many people even think 9/11 was done
by the government; however this is not true because many people saw the
planes hit the WTC and the Pentagon, debris was found everywhere and the
buildings collapsed (washingtonpost.com).
OEF has met harsh criticism at the hands of the nation and the
media. It has lasted over 9 years, becoming America’s new Vietnam, while
plunging the nation into even more debt. It occurred because of 9/11,
arguably the worst day in our great nation’s history, shocked the nation
in awe. The mad men who thought of the sickening idea to end thousands
of people’s lives could very well have been our nations doing when the
Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Yet, this war has brought the people of
America closer and has brought justice amongst the wrong doers that
knocked down our buildings. As George W. Bush once said "Terrorist
attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they
cannot touch the foundation of America" (George W. Bush).
Reprinted on the tenth
Anniversary of the attack on America |
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