The Afghanistan War is the result of problems with the Middle East and acts of terrorism. The United States has been stationed in many African and Middle East countries such as Bahrain, Diego Garcia Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The combat zone for the past 11 years has been centralized in Afghanistan. Due to election season, different political parties are voicing their opinion on the war and how they would go about solving the issue.
“I feel like troops should have been home a long time ago because it’s been way too long,” junior Terrence Tolliver said. “We’ve been in this war 11 or 12 years and we have made little progress. I know that we are trying to ensure that our citizens are safe, but we need to let Afghanistan deal with their own problems.” 
President Barack Obama has stated that he believes many of the goals that were set with the planting of troops in Afghanistan have been achieved and the removal of the troops by 2014 is a practical action to take. The Republican Party does not agree with Obama’s view. Republican candidate Newt Gingrich believes he was in the wrong for interfering with Libya and said he would not have used European or American forces. The other Republican candidates, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul agree that the troops need to be removed from all Middle East stations and should be home as soon as possible.
“I think when 2014 comes around the troops will still be stationed, and whoever is president will still want the troops there no matter what,” Tolliver said. “It is just going to be a reoccurring thing and it is never going to stop.”
Another conflict of the war is the Taliban. This is a small Islamic militant group that has ruled most of the capital of Kabul and only had diplomatic recognition from the three states; Pakistan, Saudi Arabian and the United Arab Emirates. The man responsible for taking the lead of the Taliban is Mohammed Omar. The problem with the Taliban is that it is currently in Afghanistan. They provide a safe place for Al-Qaeda and are a ruthless group that has taken away many rights of women in surrounding countries. There are many stations in Afghanistan that are considered essential in many Americans’ eyes.
“I know stationing the troops in Afghanistan is necessary because of the Taliban situation and that we kind of have to be over there, but I do not like it in general,” junior Christina Bindner said.
Earlier this year, the Taliban gave a sign that they were ready to begin peace talks. They are asking for their people who are imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay to be released with the agreement that they will set up the office in Qatar. The current president Karzai was a bit reluctant to agree with the office in Qatar, but it would be beneficial to a medium of communication with the Western Hemisphere.
“If I were president I guess I would try to make sure that no terrorists were planning anything against us and try to keep the United States as safe as possible,” Bindner said.
The ultimate goal for the United States is to be a safe, comfortable country and for the troops be home with their families. The issue with Afghanistan and terrorism can be settled with conferences and compromises. The event that struck the United States was Sept. 11, 2001 when Al Qaeda crashed two American planes into the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. Many lives were lost and the terrorist act set off the mission to stop Al Qaeda. One of the FBI’s most wanted people; Osama Bin Laden was killed May 2, 2011.
“This seems like a very hard topic to discuss,” junior Tre’Von Boles said. “It is complicated to say just bring the troops home or just take over their government and make sure they have a democratic view. This will take years to end and compromise.”
