Op-Ed Draft

Looking Into the Future

The economy is down, the War on Terrorism seems to have no end in sight; the majority of the world seems to hate the United States for what it has become. If this is our situation now, where are we hoping to be in a few years?
Everyone in the world seems to be looking onto the U.S. 2008 Presidential Elections for answers to not only the problems of the United States, but of the world as well. They look onto Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama as if they have all the answers to world’s problems. However, when looking at both candidates, neither one really seems to have a great solution to solve the great majority of any of these problems. Senator McCain seems to have the views of fellow Republican, George W. Bush, on many issues. Of course, we all know where President Bush has gotten us over the last several years. As bad as Senator McCain’s stands on issues may be, it is better to have an opinion period. Senator Obama seems to be indecisive on the issues that just seem to come up. For example, lately, a big issue on the media and the American people are worried over the decline in the United States economy, but there are many issues that he has not stated his stand on. He has been very indecisive during the presidential campaign even though in the fight for the Democratic nomination, his position seemed to be clear for everyone to see. Neither one of these candidates seems to have prepared themselves for the difficult decisions that they would have to make even before they would be in office. Even when both of these candidates make a decision, it really never builds it from its root. The root to the majority of our problems seems to be due to our international relations.
The United States relationship with other countries doesn’t seem to affect the way things are, but by looking at it very closely it is the root to many problems. The war that we are currently involved in is a big part of our problems. We are not at war with a country in particular, but we are at war with a group in a several countries. It seems as if this cannot possibly hurt us in any way, but it does.
Trillions of dollars have gone to the troops for supplies to fight the war annually since the war began. All of this money has put the country in debt for nearly 11 trillion dollars. So much debt has finally hit the U.S. economy hard and put it in a vulnerable position. The reason for so much debt is that we have not only supplied our troops, but we have also helped supply our allies. Even though a lot of those “allies” have turned their backs and decided not to help fight our cause even though we provide aide to many of these countries for one reason or another. The aide that the United States has supplied countries and stationing in many others has caused hatred by others to grow. It has even pushed some countries like China, Cuba, and Venezuela to ally and plan to take oil from the gulf coast, since oil has become one of the biggest commodities needed in many prospering countries and large energy consumers like the U.S.
Relationships with countries are the beginning of most major issues in U.S. Presidential Elections. However, neither party seems to provide any solution that would take care of any of these problems. They want solve the problems diplomatically when it looks as if that is not going to be possible to accomplish. The U.S. Government has as well as the people have forgotten that not everyone in the world thinks like the people here. Others do not believe in fighting fairly, using reasonable tactics, nor in the rights of others. If the United States hopes to end the war soon, bring back the economy from its decline, or keep the respect of the great power it once had, it has to play the same game as others or it will never happen.
Where do we expect to be in a few years? If things continue the way they are now, the United States will no longer exist. Like Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said ‘“The American Empire" is nearing collapse. "American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road.”’ Nobody knows if he is right or not, but only the future will tell.


The opinions expressed on this blog do not represent those Texas Christian University or of its administration.