War is not good for the United States.

My opponent leads you to believe that we were forced into this war, as though a gun was held to every Americans head at the very moment 9/11 occurred. He/she states "We were forced by the events on 9/11 to engage in war. " I am having a very hard time agreeing with this. When 9/11 happened, no doubt it was a tragedy, however there was not a gun to anybody's head with someone saying that all of our heads would be blow off if we did not go to war. There is always an option for something like this, and if I remember correctly we voted to go to war, a mistake in my opinion made by every American citizen that voted yes. Next, my opponent asks, "Are we expected to sit idly doing nothing? " by saying this my opponent suggests that perhaps if we did not go out of our way to go to Iraq that we would be sitting and doing absolutely nothing within the United States to defend ourselves, in other words we would be enabling them to come back and hit us again with no consequence. Again, I never said this either. If we were to remain in the United States we would ideally prepare for something like this to happen again, so that we would be ready for this to happen again and stop it before it goes too far. Our country has been on a constant lock down since 9/11 and I highly doubt that it will ease up anytime soon. Another thing which my opponent would like for everyone to believe is that negotiation is not in any sense of the word a possibility. I never mentioned that we should be negotiating with them, however if close attention was payed around the time we bombed their country we already are negotiating, we rebuilt their land in attempts to Americanize them, a big mistake that was very costly to the United States. In my opponents argument he/she also asks "Are we supposed to stand there and let another 9/11 happen because we are doing nothing to stop these groups that reside outside our nations walls? " My answer to this, which is similar to what I have been saying is no, by all means we should fight back, I just don't feel that going to their country, to unfamiliar grounds is the way to do it. Of course there are calculated plans that we go by while we are there fighting, however, those plans can not be guaranteed to be 100% every single time, one move and entire sections of the military can be eliminated. For example, if one of our platoons walks around the wrong corner and a group of Iraqi men is waiting there we don't stand a chance, especially with the laws we have set in place. Do you realize that we are not allowed to shoot a gun at any given place unless someone has fired in the soldiers direction from that place? This is what causes us to be weakened. Not knowing the grounds just contributes to this. The next thing which my opponent believes is that "We cannot beat them here. " My opponent also states that "we have ample security here that is doing everything in it's power to stop terrorist attacks (and it has). " If we have this awesome security which I acknowledge that we do, then how would we not be able to beat them in our own court? We know this land better than anyone else, and we would have plenty of time before they were to arrive that we could map out how to do it. In the movie 300, 300 men took on an army of millions and damn near won. We are a nation of billions, there is no reason we should not be able to stand our ground if necessary, not to mention that it would be cheaper to set up for war along the borders of the united states rather than going to other countries. The next interesting thing that my opponent brought up was "We are not weak because were treading on other territory. Their hiding an we will find them; Its not like the army does not plan where it will go and what procedures it will do. " This is not true ladies and gentlemen. If we are not 100 percent sure of where we are exactly, or whats around the next corner, or whose waiting with a gun behind the next door we are in danger, we are weakened by a lack of knowledge of any significant plans set up by the Iraqi's, what you don't know is not always good for you. Also, like I said before, it doesn't matter what procedures are used, if we do not know the area we simply will not be as stable as we should be. Finally, the opponent says "War is actually necessary; In this case anyway. We were attacked, not only physically but emotionally on numerous occasions. We as a nation should not and are not going to stand by and watch terrorist grows grow stronger because were too afraid to chase them down. " I would like to start by saying that if we had remained in the United States that wouldn't mean that we were afraid to go and find them. Second, it would provide us with a more calculated plan for retaliation the next time something came up. Meaning that we would be more prepared, being as it is our own land that we would be on, we would know the areas better, meaning we could set up traps, attacks and many other things that would catch them by surprise if they were to enter our country again, this is actually what they are doing to us, setting traps and things for us to fall into, and although we are doing alright over there more men are dying than should be. Also, PTSD and other illnesses caused by trauma or other reasons are becoming a problem with returning soldiers. More of our men are suffering badly than what most people might think, and with these illnesses they are suffering some more when they get back home. If war did not exist neither would a lot of problems that we are currently facing as Americans. I would like to thank my opponent and wish him/her luck in the final round. May the best man win, and it has been a pleasure.