Official PARTICIPANT in the second ever YOUTH MEDIA BLOG-A-THON.

This week marks the five-year anniversary of the War in Iraq. According to the Associated Press 3,990 U.S. soldiers have died since the start of the war in March 2003.

Not too long ago Pope Benedict XVI denounced the war after the body of a Catholic archbishop was found in the city of Mosul.

While a lot of our violence is being outsourced to the Middle East the beginning of a new year has marked another anniversary. In a story released by KCBS, 2008 marked the highest murder rate in San Francisco in 12 years.

On the other side of the Bay, a report filed by the Urban Strategies Council which showed a rise in homicide victims who were 18-years old and younger.

By December 26, 2007 the total number of homicides in Oakland reached 122.

We have developed a nasty habit of watching murder rates continually rise, even when it is obvious the problem is far out of hand.

I think it is pretty distressing when I can search and find almost instantly – the total number of soldiers who have died in the Middle East during the last five years but can’t get a clear number of the individuals murdered in the Bay Area – or even the United States as a whole.

It is insulting to hear George W. Bush say that our presence in the Middle East has been a success when the safety of our own country is worsening as the days go by. If there were a perquisite form for becoming President of the United States the very first thing should say: plans on focusing on the issues and social hurdles that have been negatively impacting the U.S, and will not go searching for other countries to liberate within the first 3 and a half years of office.

We can go into as many countries as we possibly can while trying to ‘fix’ them and pump ourselves up till our egos burst. But when it all comes down to it our piggy banks are empty and we’re virtually exterminating ourselves. What’s the point in protecting ourselves from “negative” outside forces if we can’t preserve what we have on the inside?
—Eming Piansay