NRA (No Rifles Automatic)

In response to "The NRA Takes its Safety Off" authored by Shannon, I have to disagree with most of the statements made therein. Although, I do agree with the Constitutional right to bear arms, i don't believe it should include assault rifles. There is no justifiable reason for Americans to own an SKS or an Uzi. These weapons are designed for war, not protection or hunting. By allowing these weapons to be bought and sold we are not only endangering American and Mexican civilians we are contributing to the companies who build and distribute these weapons and who benefit from war profiteering and gang violence. President Eisenhower, upon leaving office, warned against the dangers of the military-industrial complex. Americans have not heeded this warning. As a result gangs, feuding tribes, and warlords have run amok causing millions of deaths and immeasurable civil strife.  

The United States consumes most of the drugs made and transported by the Mexican drug cartels. Because we are the recipients of these drugs and the nation that has declared a war on drugs we bear a great responsibility for the curtailing of their manufacture and distribution. Mexico needs our help. They have been under much pressure by American agencies to deal with this problem. However, they have received little in the way of help. The drug-related violence along the U.S./Mexico border is a huge problem and cannot be corrected by building a wall or increasing border patrol. The systemic issues must be addressed, including the distribution of assault rifles. Also the virtues of drug awareness must be instilled in children and adults on both sides of the border. This can be done by utilizing the resources of schools, public offices, and the media. Education is the ticket to real success for potential drug abusers, gun runners, gang members, and anyone tempted to get involved with the illegal drug trade. The U.S. has the means to fix this problem and we should act in accord with Mexico to alleviate the epidemic of violence on the basis of our common principles.  

In conclusion, America has much to gain from gun control, including safer schools, public buildings, streets, and neighborhoods as well as safer borders. A safer society should be paramount to the U.S. citizenry and its' borders should be no exception. Besides, what's the benefit of having a citizenry armed to the teeth, especially when our children, brothers and sisters and our Mexican brethren are suffering the consequences?

U.S. Airstrikes Kill Afghani Citizens

As many as 147 Afghani villagers were killed in an aerial assault by American forces on Monday and Tuesday. The air strike was directed at Taliban militants who were previously fighting the Afghan Army at a police check-point near the villages of Granai and Shiwan in western Afghanistan. Many women and children were counted among the dead. The Taliban had already left the area when the bombs fell; no militants are known to have been killed by the air strike.
In Farah province protesters took to the streets and merchants closed their stores vowing not to reopen until the bombing had been investigated and the protesters demands were met. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates suggested that the villagers may have been killed by Taliban grenades. However, this notion has been all but disproven. Obviously, U.S./Afghani relations are stressed. Afghani civilians are angry at the U.S. and many are demanding that foreign troops leave Afghanistan. Can you blame them?
This air strike was a heavy-handed misfire resulting in the deaths of innocent people. The U.S. military has made many of these mistakes using heavy artillery from Iraq to Vietnam. There is a pattern of indifference towards civilian casualties in foreign wars in the U.S.; they're regarded only as collateral damage. Why do innocent people have to die? One would think that with the advances in military technology and the billions of dollars spent on weaponry in the U.S. every year that these types of atrocities could be avoided. Maybe they can be. The U.S. military commanders are either apathetic or incompetent. Whatever the case may be, we need to change our policy on air strikes and realize the devastation that can occur as a result. A more conservative employment of bombers and a zero tolerance for civilian death would be a good start. The United States should be setting the standard for humanitarian principles on the battlefield, not disregarding them. Americans would not tolerate their fellow citizens being blown up, nor should they tolerate this treatment of Afghanis or any other civilian population.