The Average Joe

After more than 8 years, the Iraq War is finally over. Just last week, President Obama announced that the remaining 40,000 troops, which are non-combat troops, will all be returning home by this coming holiday season. All objectives that were laid out prior to the 2003 invasion, with the exception of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction…which was false, were met.    This war has cost the United States the lives of 4,400 troops with another 33,000 injured. As the United States prepares to leave, the US Embassy and two Consulates are just about complete and will be the only United States presence on the ground after all troops have left Iraq. The reason for this is due to the fact that Iraq will not give US troop’s immunity from their democratic laws, and rightfully so. They are now a sovereign nation with a democratic government in place.  Therefore, all must fall under Iraqi law if they are in Iraq.  Isn’t d...

Occupy Wall Street…It’s About Time Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to pass through the Occupy Wall Street protests on my way home. Since its inception, it has grown to thousands of people here in NYC and other major cities around the United States. All I can say is that it is about time, but they need a unified voice and leadership.  Although this protest has many demands, such as raising taxes on the rich and corporations, ending corporate welfare, lowering the cost of higher education, protecting Medicare and Social Security in their traditional forms; the common theme is corruption within the American government and the influence of corporations on U.S. laws and policymakers. However, this protest is still segmented.      It is the duty of every American to protest when injustices like these occur. Yet, it is also imperative for there to be leadership and unity amongst the protesters. Although the protesters appear to be...