Web Page

http://www.district196.org/evhs/academics/journalism/Besonen/

Here is my web page

My editorial Final Draft

The United States is at war; not with a nation or an army, not with a visible target, but with an idea: we are at war with Radical Islam. Osama and Al Qaeda have sworn to kill every American Infidel, and we are engaged against this threat all over the world. From Afghanistan to Iraq, from Indonesia to Detroit, we fight each other. This war isn’t like any other, with civilized rules of engagement and fail safes. This is a full out no-holds-barred brawl, with winner take all and the loser condemned to a fate worse than death. But while we have sworn to destroy Radical Islam, and are actively engaged in fighting it, we have failed to apply one of the oldest and simplest rules of warfare: cut off the head and the body dies. Every nation, military, cooperation, group, and network has a head, and Radical Islam’s resides in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are the biggest funders of Radical Islam and terrorist activities on the planet. Saudi billionaires routinely donate millions of dollars to Islamic “charities” which use the money to pay for suicide bombers and indoctrinate young men in religious institutions. Osama himself is a Saudi Millionaire who used his father’s fortune to create Al-Qaeda. The supermajority of the 9/11 hijackers came from, you guessed it, Saudi Arabia. The Wahabi faith, which is the foundation on which the radicals wage their war, was largely founded and is largely based in Saudi Arabia. The Wahabi clerics take young men into their religious institutions and indoctrinate them into hating the West and all Infidels. The House of Saud, the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, does nothing to curb terrorist financing or activities within their nation for fear of getting overthrown. President Bush stated “We will make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor and fund them”. So why does the House of Saud get a free pass you ask? Because they have oil. We are dependent on Saudi oil, which keeps our cars running and our businesses prosperous. We buy their oil; the money goes to the Saudi Royal Family, which in turn either spends the money on themselves or gives it to the clerics that train the terrorists. In short, every time you fill up at the pump, you are, in part, paying for another suicide bomber. There are those in the House of Saud that recognize the danger of Radical Islam and work with us to eradicate it. They are few, however, compared to the other members of the family who either turn a blind eye or actively support the radical clerics. The King of Saudi Arabia has the unenviable job of being both America’s friend and champion of Islam. If he missteps, he’s removed by an Islamic Revolution.
Opponents of this policy point out that the United States is dependent on Saudi Arabia; if we force them to take a tough stand on terrorism, they could respond by cutting off our oil supply and ruining our economy. While I understand these people’s fears, I think they are hiding behind the oil argument rather than being forced to recognize the truth. We cannot let other nations threaten us when they overtly or covertly fund and train our enemies. It is time to apply President Bush’s assessment to the Saudis. We must make the House of Saud recognize the cancer that Radical Islam has become and how that cancer has taken hold of their country. We must stand by them to help eradicate the tumor before it destroys the body. We cannot bury our head in the sand any longer.
We must do all that is necessary to combat terrorism everywhere, even in and especially in Saudi Arabia. If we leave it untouched, the terrorists will just regroup, rearm, and retrain to attack us again. The only way to destroy Radical Islam once and for all is to cut off the head, and the head resides in Saudi Arabia.

Op Ed Questions

Joey

1) Yes
2) Yes but Joey also provides logical analysis and compelling personal stories to back up his point
3) He kinda does but it's clear that he doesn't much care for the liberal's point of view
4) It is very interesting
5) His paragraphs are very well structured
6) Each paragraph supports his thesis
7) His writing is blunt so yes it's clear

Op Ed Questions

Editors

Eli and Joey Scott edited my paper

Saudi Arabia Editorial rough draft

The United States is at war; not with a nation or an army, not with a visible target, but with an idea: we are at war with Radical Islam. Osama and Al Qaeda have sworn to kill every American Infidel, and we are engaged against this threat all over the world. From Afghanistan to Iraq, from Indonesia to Detroit, we fight each other. This war isn’t like any other, with civilized rules of engagement and fail safes. This is a full out no-holds-barred brawl, with winner take all and the loser dying. But while we have sworn to destroy Radical Islam, and are actively engaged in fighting it, we have failed to apply one of the oldest and simplest rules of warfare: cut off the head and the body dies. Every military, cooperation, group, and network has a head, and Radical Islam’s resides in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are the biggest funders of Radical Islam and terrorist activities on the planet. Saudi billionaires routinely donate millions of dollars to Islamic “charities” which use the money to pay for suicide bombers and indoctrinate young men in religious institutions. The Wahabi faith, which is the foundation on which the radicals wage their war, was largely founded and is largely based in Saudi Arabia. The Wahabi clerics take young men into their religious institutions and indoctrinate them into hating the West and all Infidels. The House of Saud, the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, does nothing to curb terrorist financing or activities within their nation for fear of getting overthrown. President Bush stated “We will make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor and fund them”. So why does the House of Saud get a free pass you ask? Because they have oil. We are dependent on Saudi oil, which keeps our cars running and our businesses prosperous. We buy their oil; the money goes to the Saudi Royal Family, which in turn gives it to the clerics that train the terrorists. In short, every time you fill up at the pump, you’re paying for another suicide bomber. There are those in the House of Saud that recognize the danger of Radical Islam and work with us to eradicate it. They are few, however, compared to the other members of the family who either turn a blind eye or actively support the radical clerics. The King of Saudi Arabia has the unenviable job of being both America’s friend and champion of Islam. If he missteps, he’s removed by an Islamic Revolution. We must do all that is necessary to combat terrorism everywhere, even in and especially in Saudi Arabia. If we leave it untouched, the terrorists will just regroup, rearm, and retrain to attack us again. The only way to destroy Radical Islam once and for all is to cut off the head, and the head resides in Saudi Arabia.

Editorial prewriting

1) We are so concerned over our own lives and meaningless things that we don't see the big picture. We don't care what's going on nationally or around the world as long as the caribou is still open and our cars are still running.

2)I think our generation in particular should wake up and realize that there is more to life then high school and we will soon be in the position of having to come up with the solutions to the problems that our parents are passing on to us.

3)To inform other students about a subject that normally no one would hear about.

4)-Evidence
-Logic
-historical examples
- foreshadowing

5)I will show the consequences of the result if we fail to act

6)It will educate them on a subject no one really cares about