Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Peer Critique

Kareem's blog on failed states hits many strong points on both the American side, as well as the foreign side of the war on terror. The situation these failed states are in are described in detail giving the reader a definite, and good understanding of their situation. He points out that the problem is with how we handle the situation and offers an appropriate solution. He mentions the American agenda which is a nice touch because it shows why the course of action has been taken while it may seem unorthodox or ineffective to a poorly informed individual without understanding the agenda. Kareem talks about the opportunities that many people in the world are not privileged enough to have; then those same people are criticized for not having the drive or resolve to do things they aspire to do. Kareem says "Helping other countries through aid is just not an American ideal, whether it be monetary, education or nutritional." which I find a little vague and allows the reader to infer or assume too much. He then discusses America's love for war and the "tough guy" image which is completely accurate. Patriots in particular are head over heels for those ideals, and when our government frames war reports glorifying our army it creates a strong sense of pride for patriotic citizens. Kareem also uses a historical example to further strengthen his argument and transitions his criticism of violence to a need for compassion and cooperation at the expense of a little pride. The picture Kareem chose compliments his argument very well, because it shows a group of people in a war-torn country surrounding a man that seems to be dying and are not really phased by this travesty.

Overall I am impressed with Kareem's blog and agree with it on virtually all points. There was only one short coming I could find which as I stated earlier was how vague of one of his sentences were.

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