I wanted to express my disgust with the growing number of people in this country who are already becoming impatient with the conflict in Afghanistan. While listening to the news the last few days I’ve heard mention of people who believe the conflict is not meeting its objectives. Do these people have enough inside knowledge to make such remarks?

With the small amount of information that’s being released, how are we to know if the objectives are being met or not?

And while on the subject of disclosing information, I would like to say that I agree with the government’s decision to keep such crucial material from the public.

As a nation we have become spoiled to the point where we believe it is our right to know all the workings of our government, with no regard for our national security.

And since the Gulf War, Americans have adopted a kick-butt-and-take-names attitude towards any conflict involving the American military. Granted, America’s military is far superior to any other military on Earth. But have we forgotten the wars of the past? Not every victory has come as easy as it did in the Persian Gulf.

Between the world wars, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Gulf War, these conflicts lasted an average of about five and a half years. This doesn’t include the Cold War, which lasted nearly half a century.

And only in one of these cases did America enter a conflict in response to a direct attack on our soil. This of course was the attack on Pearl Harbor, which killed roughly 2,400 Americans. This large number of deaths is less than half of those that resulted from the Sept. 11 attacks.

So I ask you, as Americans, to be patient.

There is no miracle cure that will stop terrorism. There are many smart people working on this problem, and all they ask for is our support. This is the least we can give.

Garrett Pedersen

Junior

Community and regional planning