The Importance of Military Ethics in War Essay -- War, Army, marine, I

Military Ethics War has always been, and will always be, a necessary action perpetrated by the human race. There are many different reasons for war: rage, passion, greed, defense, and religion to name a few. When differences cannot be solved or compromised through mediation with an opposing party and anger burns with a fiery passion, war is the last remaining option. Obviously, the purpose of any war is to win. How are wars won? Perhaps if we were to ask a member of the Defense Department during the early stages of the war in Iraq, his answer might be, â€Å"To win this war we must force the enemy into submission by means of ethical warfare.† If we were to ask a marine in the Second World War what he was told by his commanding officer he would reply, â€Å"To close with the enemy and destroy him.† (Fussell, 763). The member of the Defense Department and the marine have a common goal; to win the war. But there is a difference in their mindsets. The politician, safe behind his desk, has never experienced the fear and terror of being in battle. He has not seen the blood or heard the screams of suffering soldiers. He has not watched his best friend die in his arms after being hit my enemy fire. He is an onlooker, free to analyze and critique every aspect of the war from the safety of his office. He is free and safe to talk of ethics and proper war etiquette. The marine, immersed in battle, fighting for his life, can think of only one thing. Kill or be killed. When bullets are flying past his face and mortar shells are exploding all around him, he is not mindful of fighting ethically. Nor is he even mindful of fighting for his country. He is fighting for his life. To stay alive, he must kill the enemy, destroy the enemy. ... ...Ultimately, the way in which every war is won is by killing the enemy. That will never change. But the way in which an army goes about killing the enemy will constantly change due to ethics, new technology, new levels of hatred, and so on. There are always protesters to every war: â€Å"Stop the war! No more killing! Peace on earth!† Who doesn’t want these things? Do they think that the soldiers fighting for our country want to experience the horrors of war? Of course not, but if we do learn anything from history, it is that the human race will never stop waging wars on each other. People will inevitably die at the hands of war and the best that we can do is protect our troops at all costs, destroy the enemy, and spare as many civilian casualties as possible. I agree with General W.T. Sherman who said, â€Å"War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it.† (Fussell, 774.)

Write a Brief Description of the Fiscal Policy of the United States.

2–3 paragraphs Details: During recent political campaigns, taxes and budget policy were key issues. White House budget packages are often designed to stimulate economic growth. From the library or from www. whitehouse. gov, obtain a current summary of government spending and tax legislation signed by the president. †¢Write a brief description of the fiscal policy of the United States. †¢Would you describe it as â€Å"expansionary† or â€Å"contractionary†? †¢How can American consumers influence decision makers on fiscal policies? Explain and discuss if and how this has changed over the past 5 years For the last several years, the U. S. government has been primarily in an expansionary mode of fiscal policy. President George W. Bush signed a $152 billion stimulus bill to help fight off a recession. This bill primarily resulted in the mailing of $600 rebate checks to millions of Americans to encourage consumer spending. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed the much larger American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided tax cuts, loans and contracts, and new or expanded entitlements. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the legislation would increase the U. S. budget deficit over a 10 year period by $787 billion. According to www. whitehouse. gov, this legislation created or maintained almost 700,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2010. The main way consumers influence fiscal policy is by their spending habits. When citizens become anxious about the economy, they tend to save more and spend less. This leads to decreased production, lay-offs, and unemployment, which in turn causes even lower spending rates. The Federal reserve usually tries to modulate the effects of these situations by manipulating key interest rates. For example, right now the federal funds rate is at a 60-year low, making borrowing for investments cheaper than it has been in memory. Until recently, consumer spending saw long-term increases due to the availability of personal credit, but since 2008, as consumer credit markets have tightened, it has dropped.

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