William B. Virginia

Dear Donald Trump

Middle East

Dear President,

I am writing to you today about a very important issue, the war in the Middle East. Since 2001 we have been at war with terrorist groups from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Syria our government has spent trillions on this war and more importantly we have lost thousands of lives and hundreds of thousands of soldiers are wounded. This is a major problem. I ask of you to find a way out of this war either by officially taking all US military out of the Middle East or putting an end to terrorism.

According to H. A. Goodman since 2001 a total of 6,845 US soldiers have died and over 900,000 soldier have been wounded in the wars in the Middle East. That may not seem like much compared to other wars, but it is. We have been fighting for 15 years now and that is 15 years too long. When we started these wars we underestimated the terrorist, but now after 15 years we know what they can do. More than two thirds of the deaths have occurred from IEDs. That is a major problem, our troops are walking around not know whether it is safe or not to walk. We need to find a way to be able to located these IEDs and remove them safely. With that technology it could save thousands of lives and even help us win the war. Another way we could help save the lives of our soldiers is bring them home. This war has gone on too long and it just needs to end. Instead of sending someone to tell a soldier's family that he or she has died send them home to their families alive and well.

This could not only keep our soldiers save which is very important, but it could also help us start putting money to more important things instead of the war.

Another major problem with the wars in the Middle East is the amount of money we have spent on it. In Afghanistan we have spent 686 billion dollars and in Iraq we have spent 815 billion dollars. So far in Syria we have spent 6.2 billion and the Pentagon has just asked for 7.2 more billion dollars to keep up with the airstrikes on ISIS. Adding all three of these amounts together gives you a total of $1,501,000,000,000 dollars. That is an immense amount of money that could have been put to better use. That money could have been put towards health care, VA, education, and to developing new tools to keep out soldiers out of harm's way. If you decide not to stop the war in the Middle East then go all out start gathering the US like in WWII and have them work to build more supplies for the war give ISIS everything you can throw at them and make sure they´ll never come back.

So Mr/Mrs president I ask of you this bring our soldiers home to their families and to their friends. End the war in the Middle East and use the money to help make our country better. I ask you these things because in two years you will be my Commander and Chief. I am not afraid of going to fight for my country, but I have seen what this war has done to families, it has torn them apart, broken them, and even gave them nothing to live for. This war has done more harm than good and it needs to end. Either with a US victory or the US leaving the war.

Sincerely,

Gus B

Work Cited

Bryanschatz. "The Stats behind Our Increasingly Expensive War on ISIS."Mother Jones. Bryan Schatz, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

Goodman, H. A. "6,845 Americans Died and 900,000 Were Injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Say 'No' to Obama's War." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

Thompson, Mark. "The True Cost of the Afghanistan War May Surprise You."Time. Time, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2016. 

James Wood High School

Concerned Colonels

Letters to the Next President by James Wood High's AP English 11 students

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