Iraq War

This picture shows a boy being burnt in the Iraq War. I guessed we can only describe the war in one word, cruel. The war was carried out as president of USA, George Bush claimed that Iraq possessed and was actively developing weapons of mass destruction, thus posing an imminent threat to US. However, I strongly believed that this war should not take place in the first place though Iraq might have possessed weapons of mass destructions. Instead talks for peace should be in place of the war as no casualties would be done. Many lives, the Iraqis as well as the Americans, were lost during this war. Yes, indeed death is inevitable in war. However what matters the most are innocent lives of the Iraqis who knew nothing about this war beforhand that were taken away in the war. Even a boy was not spared of his limbs in this war. How could we not condemn such inhumane acts? Besides the lives that were lost, the financial cost of this war is simply tremendous said to be around one trillion US dollars. This war would also trigger other terrorist events such as September 11 at the World Trade Centre. Thus I think that this Iraq War should not have taken place at all.

iraq war

War, is it necessary??? Is it a wonderful thing to see many dying (more than 600,000) during the war just because of some groundless statement made? It has been proven that Iraq is not developing any WMDs so why should there even be a war started based on this issue? Furthermore, the reasons of starting the war has been changing ever since it begins. There seems to be tons of reasons given to continue the war and i believe that there will be many more to come. But many believes that oil is the real reason behind it. Most of the surveys conducted by organisations have been narrowed down to one conclusion - US troops out of Iraq. It might just do everyone good with US troops out of Iraq's land. The amount of people dying is on the rise every single day. The amount of money spent is soon goin to reach an astronomical value. The lifes of Iraqi is affected deeply as long as the troops are still in their land. Therefore, why should US even bother to continue if ending it would benefits all. Lastly, why must war be seen as a solution to this particular issue when there are simply many more ways to solve it.

louis ang

Opinions on the Iraq War

The Iraq war, an ongoing battle led by the United States , started on the 20th of March 2003. Among the countries involved are Iraq, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Poland and other nations. Its main reason and purpose, as given by the United States, is to stop the development of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as well as to put an end to terrorism.

I personally do not support wars, and in this case, the Iraq war. In general, yes, war produces more instant results and is a more effective method to stop conflicts, disagreements and other unhappiness between countries. War also reflects a country’s military strength, hence its outcome determines a country’s superiority among the others. However, it has with it so many disadvantages that it makes the advantages look miserably insignificant. I find that wars are not necessary as not only does it not solve the main problems, instead it creates even more unhappiness, conflicts or even misunderstandings. In other words, wars destroy peace and make peaceful solutions even harder to reach.

The disadvantages of the Iraq war are numerous, from deaths of mostly innocent people to economic disruption. One main downside is the number of deaths it caused. Since deadly, more powerful and advanced weapons are used today, the death of soldiers during a war is unavoidable. Till now, there had been an estimated of about 3920 deaths of U.S. soldiers alone with another 29395 wounded during the Iraq war. These are two huge figures and is enough to let one realize the extensiveness of the effect of the Iraq war. Furthermore there are also deaths of the innocent locals in Iraq as well as media reporters, who risked their life to give viewers the best first-hand information of the events happening during the war. One example of such death is CBS cameraman, Paul Douglas, and soundman, James Brolen, who were killed in Iraq in 2006. All these just add on to the death toll and the number of people left grieving over their loved-ones.

Apart from deaths, the Iraq war also resulted in the destruction of infrastructure as well as affecting the lives of the locals in Iraq. Take the photo above (from

http://media.commercialappeal.com/mca/content/img/photos/2007/08/23/g24end.jpeg) as an example. It shows a huge ball of flame in front of a group of army tanks. This photo only reflects what happened in a certain small part of the ‘war zone’. Imagine this level of destruction being repeated hundreds of times and one can realize the amount of damage that is left behind as the attacking troops marched past. Attacks from the opposition had destroyed homes, farms, irrigation systems, pipes carrying clean water to homes, power lines, transport infrastructure, sewerage pipes etc. Most of these are important and necessary for the locals and is also vital to the country’s economy. Without these supporting facilities, Iraq is unable to improve and grow towards success. Its resources will also be diverted for the repairing or rebuilding of these damaged facilities, sacrificing all other needs of the nation. In the end, the final effect is still felt by the locals as they continue to live in poverty and hardship.

These disadvantages which I talked about are just a small portion of a larger group. Hence with all these disadvantages, I find that wars are simply not worth it, in terms of the number of lives sacrificed and the amount of money and resources spent ‘cleaning up’ the mess the war had created. Yet despite all these, the United States alone had pumped in about $845 billion into the Iraq war while more than $4.5 billion were from the United Kingdom. Just think about it, did these countries made the right ‘investments’?

Justin aka J.T.

Opinions on Iraq War

From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tais/24762390/
The Iraq war, also known as the Second Gulf War which was initiated by United States led invasion, have resulted in many criticisms and opinions by many people from all over the world. Everyone is questioning about whether the choice made by the United States - to invade Iraq, was right or wrong. The main rationale given by the United States President George W. Bush at that time, was that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction which posed as a immediate threat to all the countries.

Using this ''convenient'' excuse, Iraq was taken over by the U.S led forces and a combination of other country's troops , which resulted in massive deaths from both sides. However, many of these deaths were from innocent civilians which were killed unknowingly by stray bullets and bombs, causing an uproar in Iraq itself by its people. This caused many insurgents to seek revenge by going on a killing spree, killing U.S soldiers and un-armed civilians nonchalantly, pushing the death tolls to a greater height every single day.

Most surprisingly of all, the so called 'weapons of mass destruction'' which in the first place caused this war to happen, did not exist at all after weapon inspectors were sent in to investigate. However, instead of pulling out the troops immediately, United States President George W. Bush increased the number of troops to be sent in as reinforcement, and also spent a huge amount of money on reconstruction, etc.

Clearly, United States President George W. Bush did not consider those soldier's feelings at all, as sending the troops there meant great risks which could cause one's life.Furthermore, the amount of money spent in Iraq itself, could have been used for greater purposes such as donating to the charity and perhaps building more schools in poor and needy countries.

To sum it all up, i feel that the choice to invade Iraq was a wrong one, and it caused serious consequences, disrupting many people's way of life, resulting in deaths of many innocent people, and caused Iraq to be terrorised by insurgents and that the people there could no longer enjoy the peace that they had before.

-Edmund
sry for the low quality pic post.

what i feel about this picture

looking at this picture just makes me sympathize with the people that are involved in the war. in america, most of the soldiers are being forced into the war, while people in iraq are being blinded by their religion into the belief that they are fighting a holy war and would be greatly rewarded with 50 virgins if they died for it. while america has modern weapons, iraq has loyal people that are willing to put their lives for the war. blind faith, as many would call it, contributes to many of the worthless killing involved. at the end of the day only one question remains. "is it worth it?"

kenneth lo

Is winning the most important thing in sports?

Winning is definitely important in sports. It is one of the factor that pushes one to his or her limits. Winning is what most atheletes have in their mindset that spurs them to achieve greater heights. With these encouragements, only can atheletes constantly improve. Sports competitions are held almost everywhere on Earth and at least once in a year. Such competitions include global ones-Olympics Games, SEA Games, Youth Olympics,Fifa World Cup which is held once every four years as well as smaller scale competitions which are held in individual countries. The definition of competition is a situation in which people try to be more successful than other people. In other words competition is a situation in which people try to win others. Thus with all these sports competitions that are organised frequently, how is it possible to say that winning is not important in sports?

One other key essense in sports is sportsmanship. To have sportsmanship means to have a behavior that is fair, honest, and polite in a sports competition or games. Playing fair and treating one's teammates and opponents politely is important in a competition. This is because one is actually competing his true skills or talents against his opponent in sports competition. Therefore there is no point to take drugs such as steroids, resort to using undermeans methods like adding laxative to one's opponent's drink, making him unfit to enter a competition and also injure someone in a game so severely that he has to be taken out from a competiton to win. If one wants to win in a competition, he should win it with glory based on his true capabilities. Next, no matter who win in a competition, one must always treat his teammates and opponents politely. One will surely feel bad if he were to lose in a competition, however that is not an excuse to put blame on others and shouting at his opponents. He should instead learn from his failure and try harder next time.

Though winning and having good sportsmanship are important in sports, however in my opinion, i would say that the most important thing in sports is having good sportsmanship. Like what I always hear from my teacher in my science practical, '' The results are not as important, what is most important is the process.''. Similarly, what is important in sports is the process to see your true abilities, at the same time to most atheletes, to pursue their interests.


Kerby =x (ShanGui)

is winning impt in sports?

Is winning important in sports? Many people have been pondering over this question for a long time. Is winning the primary goal in all competitons? Is winning the only thing that matters in these competitions? I doubt so. In my opinion, winning seconds to sportsmanship and moral values.Some thinks that winning is everything in a competition, but have they really thought about sportmanship? Sportsmanship is actually the behaviour that is fair and honest in a game or competition. If winning is that important eould everyone still care to even play fairly. They would rather use despicable means to obtain their victory, but is that really what sport is about? Would a sportman feel contented to achieve success by sheating his way through? Winning is meaningless if underhand means are utilised. Failure does not mean that it has come to an end. Failure marks the beginning of another road to success, with the knowledge of what not to do and to do to succeed - that is cheating. Does failure mean that everything is gone? Accepting failure and picking yourself up from failure is the mindset that everyone should have. It is far more important than winning. A person who fails continually but picks himself up each time he falls is far better than one who has won a thousand times but is unable to even afford accepting a single failure. If Einstein had not been able to accpet failure, we would still be living in the dark. If every scientist had not learn to take failure in his stride and persevere, we would still be communicating with letters, using raw fire to cook food and catastrophe would become disastrous as we would be in the absence of advance technology. This emphasizes that accpeting failure is an important lifeskills everyone should inculcate. Without it, success would never occur. Winning is indeed a wonderful achievement. Winning allows you to realise how high you are standing among your counterparts. Winning brings fame and glory. Winning feels great. However, in sports, there is more to it than simply winning. Skills, perseverance, sportsmanship, integrity and many more accounts for more than winning. To win without these qualities is self-denial. Therefore I conclude that winning, in sports, is not important relative to moral values.

-louis ang(to save ur eyes, copy and paste on microsoft word to read)

is winning important in sports?

Sports were activities engaged by The Chinese and Egyptians from as early as 4000BC. From then to now, there had been great changes to it. One very obvious transformation is the commercialization of sports and ever since, winning had become a very important factor.

Everywhere, people had long fused winning and sports together, from a casual game in school to a famous global sporting event. The ‘want to win’ mindset had begun ever since sports were created. In schools, even though there is no trophies or other rewards for winning, students engaging in sports will naturally have their mind set on victory. On the global stage, winning and losing could determine one’s future. It is just that important.

We see reports of winning in competitions in the Sports Section of our newspapers almost every day. However, is winning really that important? I personally feel that winning is important in sports, most often in competitions. However, apart from that, winning is just not necessary!

Winning is important as it brings with it plenty of advantages. One of which is that one is able to gain world recognition and become famous. He or she is also able to build up his or her sporting reputation. With fame, one will attract the attention of media, sponsors and most importantly, sport teams. Famous teams will begin offering and persuading him or her to join them and one very simple method is to provide attractive remuneration or other incentives. In other words, the now famous athlete will begin to live a wealthy life. He or she will also be approached by sports companies such as Nike or Adidas, to appear in their advertisement to boost sales. This will provide a secondary source of income.

One athlete who had gained from such advantage is Lewis Hamilton; a rookie driver who started his Formula 1 career in 2007 and had since already won 5 grand prix. With this incredible result, he became well known and had media buzzing around him. He has also attracted the attention of various sponsors.

Money is the other rational advantage. With the commercialization of sports, the prize money for competitions had increased tremendously. Therefore the income of the athletes will be greatly increased. Take Tiger Woods as an example. For every event he wins, he takes home at least US$100m, and according to the Straits Times report, a financial analyst forecast that ‘Woods will be sport’s second billionaire before 2010’.

However, winning is not only about the prize. Apart from all the monetary benefits, winning can be used as a target. With the target in place, the athlete can work towards it by improving his or her skills and putting in his or her best efforts. Winning can also be used as a motivation or encouragement to continue to participate in the sport and also to increase the enjoyment the sports brings. For tournaments such as soccer, it is even more crucial to clinch the final overall win especially if one is very close to success. Otherwise all efforts, hard work and time spent on organization and preparation will go to waste and will pose as a discouragement. Hence, winning competitions is important.

However, there are times when it is not important to win, especially those playing sports for personal recreation or to improve their health. Most people regard sports as a form of exercise. There are others who love a particular sport and play it with passion and have no winning objective in mind. These people engage in sports simply to have fun. Thus, for the above scenarios, winning is just not necessary and neither is it important.

At times, being over-competitive and over-obsessed with winning can also spark off angers and arguments, thus threatening friendships. This contradicts the fact that sports is for leisure and fun.

I feel that people have to be wary of the different situations – at times, they have to strive for the win while other time, they just have to take a breather.

justin

Is Winning important in Sports?

There is no doubt that Winning is paramount in sports. Be it national players playing in a tournament, friends competing against each others or simply people playing recreationally, these people play their game and sub-consciously, they aim to win. There is hardly anyone who plays a game and does not aim to excel or win in their game. Simply put, the glory and perhaps reward for winning is too great a temptation for all of us to resist.

Take the example of the Olympic Games. These people scattered from all over the world, spent most of their lifetime just to practice in their own sport, aiming to do their best and constantly improving their skills, in order to have a chance to participate in this competition which is recognised worldwide. What accounts for their reason to participate in this competition that takes place every four years, instead of just being satisfied by joining perhaps minor competitions held in their own country itself? The reason apparantly, is that by winning the Olympic Games, these people gain glory, fame and also the cash reward, which some of us by working a lifetime, could not even get that amount of money. Therefore, these players participate in these competitions, with the sole mentality to excel, and to win. Now, some people may argue that a handful of participants do not participate just to win in these games, instead, it is just to gain the experience of playing against other players. However, to gain experience in this case, is simply to have a better chance to improve themselves, and to participate in the competition next time round to win it. Otherwise, there is no use in gaining experience if one does not aim to improve, and to strive to win in what they are doing.

Also, if winning is not important, there would not be people who uses drugs in competitions to enhance their performance just to win in it. These people, risk their lives, their future, just to make sure that they manage to win in what they are doing, in which they would gain glory and fame. However if they were to be discovered, they would be shamed and punished. Despite being aware of this fact, these people still put their future on the risk, and continued in doing so. This thus supports the statement which i have made earlier on - ''Simply put, the glory and perhaps reward for winning is too great a temptation for all of us to resist.''

To take on another example, Chelsea which is a football club that participates in soccer tournament, spent millions of dollars just to recruit professional football players into their team, in order to assist the team to victory. If winning is not important in Sports, there would not be these football clubs, spending a huge fortune just to get a hold of good players that might increase their chance of winning, and instead,these money could be put to better use, such as donating to charity which could help millions of unfortunate people. Also, if winning is not important in Sports, the football clubs would as well be satisfied in their original first formed team and continued playing the sport without any change of players. But the fact remains that there are hardly any football clubs which are formed and does not aim to win.

However, there is always an exception in life. There are a minority of people, who participate in sport games not just to win, but to broaden their view and make new friends, as well as enjoying what they are doing. These people may have the mentality to excel in what they are doing, and constantly improving their skills, but they do not just aim to win. These people enjoy the process of what they are doing, without any pressure or expectations to win, and can be called real sportsman/sportswoman.

All in all, the question ''Is Winning important in Sports?'' truly depends on every individual. Each and everyone of us would have differing views and opinions on this question which is frequently asked by people. In my opinion however, i truly agree that Winning is very important in Sports.

- Edmund

is winning the most important thing in sports?

Blinded by the hard and cold facts of life, it would seem that winning, not just in sports, is everything. The pessimists of the world would only look at all the hard work and training gone down the drain, the disappointment of not being the first, the title of a loser and not a winner even if you came in second. The quote of Damon Hill in the Sunday times also seems to wrap it all up with a rather convincing reason.

“Winning is everything. The only ones who remember you when you come second are your wife and your dog.”

Thus, the greedy and self centered people in this world would only think that winning is the most important thing in sports. However, these people fail to grasp the true essence of sports itself.

If winning was everything in sports, it would mean that every sportsmen and women started training themselves from young and devoting their lives to a certain sport just to win. That does not seem to be the case right? A true sportsman loves and enjoys the game he is playing, which is why he is willing to devote his entire life to that sport. This brings us to one of the true essence of sports. To have a passion for it, and most of all, enjoy it. One will not feel happy in doing something they do not enjoy, so even if their win lands them millions of dollars, it would come to naught as it can’t buy them happiness that every one thirsts for.

If winning was everything in sports, why would the top players of the world compete against each other? Why doesn’t Brazil fight against teams like Singapore in football then? Wouldn’t it be a confirmed victory for Brazil? If winning was everything in sports, everyone would want to play against Singapore and there would be no excitement at all watching the match. What sportsmen want is a challenge, a real test of their skills. Therefore its not the outcome of the sport that is important, but rather how the game is played. The score, after all, is just a figure.

If winning was everything in sports, people would not care for a fair match. Sportsmen could take all the steroids they want, and win, and people would still accept their victory. However in such a case, to whom does the glory go to? It goes to the pack of steroids in your bloodstream. Sportsmen push themselves to the limit, constantly training their body so that the victory they earn would be for them alone and not owed to some underhand means. Knowing that you did your best that you could have done nothing more to clinch that title is what counts, and by then you would gladly salute your victor for being able to do more than what you can. Losing is a priceless lesson on how you can improve yourself.

Sportsmanship is the most important of all in sports. You can be the victor, but if u become arrogant, you lose the respect from your spectators. After all, one must remember that the game would be nothing if you did not have an opponent. Therefore thanking your opponent after a victory is vital, as they have put your skills to the test, and have indirectly given you the gold. And if you lose, you have already lost, so you can either decide to sulk about it or instead feel happy for your opponent.

Sure, winning would be important as well, or most sportsmen would not have to aim for anything in a game. winning will drive people to do their best, so i guess that sports and winning would go hand in hand as well. however i feel that winning should not be the most important or the top most pirority, or we would end up losing our self respect in the attempt to win.

overall, i feel that winning is the most important for the greedy sportsman, but playing the game well is the most important for the true sportsman.

"you cant screw me now"- kenneth lo

language is not a barrier