Non- Fiction Reading Response

Going To War: Who Decides?

Going to war: who decides, by Patricia Smith. “While a U.S. attack is on Syria is on hold, the debate over who gets to send american troops harm’s way continues” (Smith, Patricia). This article has shown me that the White House has planned to take immediate action against the Syrian government because of their use of military chemical weapons against their own people. According to the International treaty, the use of chemical weapons are banned. However, the choice of leading the troops into battle is unclear, until “he surprised many by asking congress to authorize an attack” (Upfront magazines, pg 6). Because of the Syrian government’s use of illegal weaponry toward citizens of Syria, we are looking toward another war.

Most people were able to take favorable sides on the actions that should be taken toward the Syrian government. “President Obama announced that he favored launching air strikes against the Syrian government for it’s use of chemical weapons” (Upfront Magazines, pg 6). This proves that some actions are being considered to use against Syria and their progress in planning for the attack. In addition, “A congressional vote was postponed while the U.S. and Russia brokered a deal to get Syria to relinquish it’s chemical weapons . The U.S. says that it may still launch strikes if Syria does not comply with the agreement” (Upfront magazines, pg 6) This proves that the U.S. and the Russian president tried to reason with Syria at first because they feel that this problem can be resolved.

In my opinion there shouldn’t be a war, any problem can be resolved. War can lead to death and sadness, that’s why I’m against it. According to the article A Summary of U.S. case against Syrian government “On the morning of Aug. 21, at 2:30 a.m. local time, multiple streams of intelligence including satellite images show a barrage of rocket and artillery fire was launched from regime-controlled territory into the Damascus suburbs where the chemical weapons attacks reportedly occurred, approximately 90 minutes before reports of the attack started appearing in social media from affected areas” (Dozier, Kimberly http://bigstory.ap.org). More than 100,000 Syrians have been killed due to the use of chemical weaponry. It’s sad when parents weep over the body of their that were killed in the attack. Innocent children died for something they didn’t do now their parents have to live with it forever, it’s torture.

In conclusion, the article Going to War: Who decides by patricia Smith has changed the way I now think about war and had made me aware of how war can affect many people and families. In addition, this article makes me wonder, what situations are other countries facing? And how is it being resolved without violence.