Is Eradicating Terrorism through Violence or War a Good Idea - Case Study Example

Running head: America at War America at War: Supporters versus Non Supporters Introduction The current war on terror conducting by America, mainly inIraq and Afghanistan has raised mixed reaction from the American public. 9/11 was definitely an unexpected and shocking incident for the Americans which revealed the futility of the safety measures taken by the US government to protect its citizen. As science and technology advances terrorists finding new ways to attack their targets and is really difficult for the security personnel to anticipate which way the attack may come. Removing terrorisms from the grass root level is definitely the right option for the safety of the public, but it is not easy because of the widespread network of terrorists. War on terror declared against the terrorists by America has not yield much results so far as expected. Iraq is not calm or peaceful even after the execution of Saddam. Many of the American soldiers are still losing their lives in Iraq even though Saddam is dethroned. Americans succeeded in putting a toy government in Iraq, but they were not yet able to administer Iraq without the support from the American military. The picture in Afghanistan is also not different. America is struggling to get the proper support from Pakistan in their fight against the Taliban and Al Qaida at the Pak Afghan frontier. Pakistan is playing a dual game in the war on terror. They are appeared to be helping the American soldiers in their fight against the terrorists, but because of the immense pressure from the dominating Muslim fundamental groups, they were forced to dilute the attack. In other words, Pakistan is helping both the Americans and the terrorists at the same time. Even at the time of writing this paper, news paper reports showed that one of the major suspects in 2008 Mumbai attack and leader of a terrorist organization, Hafiz Said have been found innocent by the Pak supreme court because of the failure of the government to submit enough evidence against him. Many people in America and all over the world have mixed reactions to the current war on terror. Some people believe that the current war on terror should be continued in its present form whereas some other believes that the current efforts were meaningless. Many Americans believe that the current war on terror have many similarities with the Vietnam and World War II. This paper briefly analyses the current war on terror in relation with the support and protests labeled against and also its similarities with the Vietnam and World War II. Statement of the Problem Many Americans believe that the recent economic crisis happened in America was the bi-product of the current war on terror. It is a fact that America is spending a huge amount every year for conducting the war on terror. Moreover many American soldiers are dying at the war front and many families in America are suffering from that. It is difficult for America to continue their war on terror in its present form for a longer period because of the loss of huge money and lives. Vietnam and World War II experiences cannot be forgotten easily by the Americans. If not found an alternate solution, current war on terror may cause further damages to the American economy and interests. Many other countries like China and India are economically progressing rapidly and many reports showed that Chinese economy may surpass the American economy in near future itself. In other words, China may become another superpower in near future and may challenge the American domination in global matters. It is difficult for America to concentrate fully on war on terror leaving the agenda of economic progress far behind. Should America rethink about their strategies against war on terror? How long America can continue the current war on terror in its present form? Literature Review Pomoni (2010) has argued that the diverse military, political and legal actions of the US government to prevent terrorist acts around the globe are not reducing the influence of extremist terrorist groups. She has also mentioned that the current efforts to counter violence through violence resulted in extremist networks recruit more and more terrorists, who are deployed against the US and instead of protection against terrorism, the War on Terrorism creates new generations of Islamic radicalism, while growing terrorism threats even more. Pomoni found one thing useful in the current war on terror that the Americans are getting educated on the threat that ruined their lives on 9/11(Pomoni 2010) Radcliffe (2010) argued that the war on terror slogan is not only worn and thin at this point but ultimately counterproductive. In his opinion, the timing of the war on terror is not correct especially in a recession period (Radcliffe 2010). Joe Messerli (2003) has argued that the current war on terror resulted killing many soldiers & innocent people. Moreover, Anti-American sentiment could grow in the world, creating new potential terrorist recruits because of the current war on terror. At the same time Messerli believes that the war on terror would send a forceful message to dictators and would-be state sponsors of terrorism (Messerli 2003) Sage (2010) has mentioned so many similarities and differences between the current war on terror and the Vietnam War. In Vietnam War, it was Capitalism vs Communism whereas in war on terror, it is Terrorism vs Peace. At the time of Vietnam War many people were afraid that communism may conquer the world by stimulating a chain reaction from communist baptism of South Vietnam. On the other hand, not a single country on earth is ruled today by overt supporters of extremist radical Muslim terrorists. Thus, there is no rational concern about the infrequent terrorist strikes outside of Iraq and Afghanistan; countries that America chose to invade (Sage 2010). “World War Two began in September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany following Germanys invasion of Poland” (World War Two – Causes, n. d). Hitler tried to conquer the world through World War 2 whereas in the current war on terror no such matters are relevant. Findings I have spoken to around 50 American people who were between the ages of 20 & 30 during WWII, 50 people who were between the ages of 20 & 30 during Vietnam and 50 people who are 20 -30 currently, to collect their feedbacks about the current war on terror. Out of the 50 people, I have surveyed, 47 of them supported WWII, 29 supported VIETNAM and only 21 the CURRENT WAR ON TERROR. I have conducted this survey in Northeast Ohio and the subjects were randomly taken. It is difficult to tackle terrorism through war on terror. Countering violence through violence will result in terrorists, who were scattered in different parts of the world at present, united under one umbrella. It is difficult for America to sustain the war on terror for a longer period considering the financial losses and loss of lives especially at a recession period. Vietnam War started by America in order to prevent the spreading of communism all over world whereas the World War 2 was started to preventing the world from the dictatorship of Hitler. The current war on terror in Iraq was for dethroning the dictator Saddam whereas in Afghanistan it is against the spreading of terrorism and fundamentalism. Discussion As found out in my simple survey, it is a fact that the support for Vietnam and World War 2 was more than that of the current war on terror. In fact more than 50 people surveyed were supported the Vietnam and World War 2 whereas only less than 50% people supported the current war on terror. In short, the causes cited and for the Vietnam War and World War 2 were more convincing than the reasons cited for the current war on terror. Vietnam War and World War 2 occurred to prevent the entire world from communism and dictatorship whereas no such global threats were evident at present from the terrorists. Even though Saddam attacked Kuwait and the Al Qaida struck the World Trade Centre, many people visualize these incidents as an occasional one without any international dimension. Violence is not at all a mean to establish peace on earth. It is contradictory to tackle a problem with respect to peace using violent means. In other words, war on terror resulted in many innocent people losing their lives. Terrorists are also doing the same thing through their activities. In short, both the terrorists and the supporters of war on terror are trying to achieve different objectives through same path. War on terror is an expensive act. Every year, America forced to spend billions in the name of war on terror and these huge spending already resulted in severe economic crisis in America. It is impossible for a country to spend huge amounts on defense sector and still able to progress steadily. The more attention paid to war on terror is creating an opportunity for China like communist countries to spread their wings through the back door. China is utilizing the current situation very well. They have not many worries about terrorism and they were able to focus more on the economic development rather than the defense sector. In short, America is forgetting the fact that the current attempts to eradicate terrorism through wars may destroy the backbone of their economy and China like communist countries may challenge America in near future itself in global matters if the politics or war on terror continues in its present form. Even though so far we have focused our attention against the war on terror, the question how to tackle terrorism without war on terror, still remains unanswered. It is difficult to tackle terrorists using the peaceful means. It is a fact that the reasons for terrorism are related to more on religious beliefs rather than politics. Muslim fundamentalists believe that killing of enemies of Islam is a sacred act which may present them salvation. Moreover, they believe that America is adopting a dual standard in its foreign policies when it comes to Israel and Muslim countries. It is difficult for the Muslim world to challenge the domination of America in global politics through a direct fight. So, they adopted indirect means to weaken America. No country seems to be free from the threats of terrorism. India is another country which constantly targeted by the Muslim terrorist groups. In fact a few terrorists challenged India’s sovereignty for a couple of days in 2008, when they successfully captured some of the vital points of India’s commercial capital Mumbai, killing more than 170 innocent people. Pakistan is another country affected by the increased terrorism. In fact, Pakistan is facing the side effects of their own acts now. It is not a secret that Pakistan has recruited and encouraged their terrorist groups to create problems in India. But the current war on terror forced Pakistan to support America in their effort to eradicate terrorism from earth which created panic among the Pak terror groups. These panics often resulted in Pak terrorists creating violence in Pakistan itself. In short, terrorism is a global phenomenon now and America cannot eradicate it without seeking help from other countries. There is no point in America acting as a savior of the world. They should concentrate on their defense rather than trying to save the entire world. Conclusion Terrorism is a global phenomenon at present and the current war on terror conducting by America is bringing more harm than the goods according to the majority of the American population. Nobody has the doubt that terrorism is one of the major threats to global peace, but trying to eradicate terrorism through violence or war may not be a good idea. The current war on terror resulted in immense financial loss and loss of lives to the Americans. The increased focus on war on terror prevented America from focusing more on the vital economic sectors and the recent recession is outcome of the increased spending on war on terror. In short, considering the increased public opinion against the war on terror, America should consider stopping of war on terror and should device more cheaper and safe option to counter the threats from terrorists. References 1. Messerli J (2003), Should We Use Military Force to Unseat Saddam Husseins Government? Retrieved on 26 May 2010 from http://www.balancedpolitics.org/iraq_war.htm 2. Pomoni C (2010), Pros and cons of the war on terrorism, Retrieved on 26 May 2010 from http://www.helium.com/items/1031388-pros-and-cons-of-the-war-on-terrorism 3. Radcliffe R (2010), Pros and cons of the war on terrorism, Retrieved on 26 May 2010 from http://www.helium.com/items/1033367-pros-and-cons-of-the-war-on-terrorism 4. Sage R C (2010), Differences between the Vietnam War and the War on Terror, Retrieved on 26 May 2010 from http://www.helium.com/items/914351-differences-between-the-vietnam-war-and-the-war-on-terror 5. World War Two – Causes, (n. d), Retrieved on 26 May 2010 from http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/causes.htm Read More