The article argues that the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are harming the US economy during a recession and are not economically feasible or beneficial. It claims the wars have unclear outcomes and the US should withdraw to focus on solving domestic economic issues. While presenting facts and statistics to make its point, the article only considers the US perspective and fails to address how withdrawal would impact Iraq and Afghanistan. It warns the current President may repeat Lyndon Johnson's mistakes of escalating wars without clear plans.

1. Wars, Endless Wars

2. Wars, Endless Wars
In the article entitled Wars, Endless Wars, Bob Herbert discusses how the continuing American
war policies in both Iraq and Afghanistan will continue to harm the economy in this period of
recession. The arguments brought up by this article are not new or controversial rather they re-
iterate what many Americans already know about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan in order to
justify the writer’s main point of view. The main thesis of the article is that the wars in these
countries are not economically feasible nor are they in any way beneficial to the United States
and that we are continuing to fight them without having a clear picture of the outcome. Thus, we
should abandon these wars for our own good.
The writer discusses the points in this article in chronological order while keeping a compound
sentence structure. He also gives quotations to establish the conclusions he has made in light of
the evidence presented. The writer never uses humor as it might distract from the issues he is
trying to convey. He has further made his point by presenting relevant medical statistics to shed
light on how continuing these policies will affect U.S. soldiers.
It must be noted however that the arguments given in this article are clearly one sided in favor of
the United States. The article’s even tone and emotionally evocative manner is meant to
convince its readers that withdrawal from both countries in favor of solving the economic crisis
in the United States is the better option. But it fails to acknowledge how such a withdrawal will
affect the countries in question. This is especially noticeable after the author mentions the
ineptitude of Afghani president Hamid Karzai.

3. At the end of the article the writer draws comparisons to the current situation with that of
Lyndon Johnsons Presidency as a warning to the current President to not make the same
mistakes he did.

4. References
Herbert, B. (2009, March 2). Wars, Endless Wars. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from The New York
Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/opinion/03herbert.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=war
%20endless%20wars%20by%20Bob%20Herbert&st=cse