The Effects of Military Drawdown on Terrorism - Research Proposal Example

The Effects of Military Drawdown on Terrorism Introduction The term military drawback is the act of reducing the sizeor the presence ofmilitary force or activities within a given country. This paper will analyze the military drawback of the United States military from Iraq and Afghanistan. In most cases, the act of a military drawback has been the result of the need to reduce the amount of funds used in sponsoring the military activities in various countries. The term terrorism can be explained to be the use of violence in order to create fear such as psychic fear or terror for various reasons such as religious, political and ideological reasons. The term ideologies is defined to as the systems of belief formulated from the society that a frame political and social conditions. A group of people that compose a terrorist organization always conducts the act of terrorism. A terrorist organization is an illegal surreptitious organization that consists of trainers, plan­ners and actual bombers. A terrorist organization also include various struc­tures, such as an identifiable hierarchy of command.This helps in planning and executing of terrorism activities. In most cases, terror is always aimed at the noncombatant targets such as iconic symbols or civilians where the aim of the terror is to achieve publicity for the terrorist group. An act of terrorism is different from various acts of arson, murder, assault and demolition of property. This is because the act of terrorism affects more numbers than the intended target victims. Terrorism is always targeted at a larger spectrum of the community. This makes it possible for the act of terrorism to be different from regular crime activities. This is because terrorism has powerful objectives. The focal principle of this research is to identify the various factors leading to the military drawdown, mainly in Iraq Afghanistan, and the consequences they have on terrorism. This research seeks to create a netter understanding of the connection between the various factors that have led to the military drawdown and the resultant consequences, especially with regards to terrorism1. The research question guiding this research is “What factors of the military drawdown might affect terrorism?” This research aims to prove the hypothesis that a quick and untimely military drawdown will result in an increase in terrorism. Cost reduction in military support is a major factor affecting military drawdown and therefore the independent variable considered in this research is this cost reduction in military funding to support war activities while the dependent variable is the increase in terrorism. Literature Review Many analysts, State that the US war in Iraq and Afghanistan affected the American economy. At the basic levels, the US economist states that the war affected Iraq and Afghanistan more than it affected the US economy since these two countries received massive loss from the war. The military force posted in Iraq and Afghanistan cause a greater loss to the two countries than the war cause2. Some of the citizens of the two countries suffered socially, economically and also psychologically. Most of the Middle East women were raped with the military force and other killed in the name of looking for terrorists. The young children till this day have psychological effects. Since, the children saw people killed, and other slaughtered. The US military force did not cause terror but also the forces also brought aid to the two countries .the aid includes medicine and free education. The citizen of these two countries faced more losses than the benefits the American soldiers brought. The military claimed the wanted to remove dictators from the countries. Many reporters claim the United States had other agendas but not yet proved. About half of the populations were treated from war injuries, and other taught the American cultures. But the rest of the population received severe treatment from the American soldiers. According to the 9/11 terror on the American soil, the US sent new military forces on many occasion. The cost of this military expedition caused the United States a lot of money. In September 2002 the economy advisor of the white house, Lindsey estimated a total of 100 billion dollars to 200 dollars which affected the American budget. 50 billion to 60 billion was added to the expense sometimes later. Not only that United States of America was affected, Iraq was also affected since its development was diminished with the war. Other countries that invested to the war also incurred a number of losses. According to the statistics made, the CBO reported that the US government had spent more than 368 billion dollars on the war. About 45 billion dollars was spending on the military training and 200 billion dollars on the military equipments. Although the Iraq and other Middle East leader did not use mass destruction equipment on the war, a lot of distractions was still made with the minor weapons such as c4s and grenades. Some of the economic gaps that face Iraq include: the oil market in Iraq faced a lot of losses since it was the backbone of the country’s economy. The results of the war were devastating. One that wins and losses doesn’t matter but the one that cannot recover from the losses brought up by the war. Iraq and Afghanistan were the losers since this lead to an economic crisis. Many people working in oil station lost their job and had no skills to pay the bill. Statics shows that about 500,000 Iraq and Afghanistan lost their job and their families were affected. The Middle East governments also spent a lot in acquiring ammunition for their defense3. Among other issues is the humanitarian crisis in the war. Many Iraq and Afghanistan were displaced with the war. About 4 million people were displacing outside Iraq. The number of people killed each day was about 100 people were killed, and this made the Iraq and Afghanistan citizen to be displaced out of their mother county. Immorality also increased in the county causing communal violence and the weak in the society were mistreated. The government was not in authority since the American soldiers had taken over the country4. Women were mistreated not only with the foreign but also with the country men since there were not rules to govern the state. Many children dropped out of school in the fear of being attacked or bombed from the air. Hospitals were filled with the injured and other hospital overtaken for government medical aid. It was hell on earth since the country was mined every place. There were cases of children stepping on mines while playing outside. Many under age people joined the military since there was a need for manpower other dropped school to join the military. Elder people were left out of care since everybody was on this own. Hospitals lacked medical supplies5. The supplies brought were raided on the way. Many injured people died of lacking medical supplies. Shortage of food also affected the people that did not manage to flee the county. Other died of starvation, and many moved on for day without food. There were no farms since all of them were bombed. Other joined the forced in order to get food supplies to keep them move on. The war also caused global warming since oilfields were bombed, and the nuclear weapons released in the air. It was very bloody, and no one came to the aid of the country. The leader never surrendered this made the situation more harsh that before. The Iraq and Afghanistan culture was also affected since people started adopting the western culture. The American influenced a lot schools and institutions to adapt the western culture. Many Islam’s were converted to Christian, and this caused the destruction of the culture since many believe in the Islamic rules. Research Methodology To answer the research question, the research methodology used will involve an analysis of data from two main countries, Iraq and Afghanistan, following the military drawdown in these two countries and its effect on terrorism. This entails a secondary research involvingqualitative research method that will analyze three academic sources that detail some of the effects that have occurred and eventual consequences that would arise following the military drawdown in these two countries and the effect it has had on terrorism within these two countries. Findings and analysis The first source reviewed was “Iraqs Long-Term Impact on Jihadist Terrorism” by Byman Daniel. This article discusses the various problems that faced Iraq after the United States invasion in the country and the effects that they have on the wider war on terror. The author argues that the withdrawal of U.S troops from the country would only serve to deter a few youth from undertaking terrorist activities against the United States and would rather increase the operational freedom of the Muslim militant groups in the country and the wider Middle East region6. The second source was “After the Surge: the case for U.S. military disengagement from Iraq by Simon Steven. The author states that the Iraq war has served to reawaken the jihadist movement and been a major reason used by jihadi recruiters to recruit new members, as well as influence self-recruitment. He also states that a quick and unplanned withdrawal would result in increased violence in the country and provide the Al-Qaeda with a new operational base especially in the isolated northern parts of the country7. The third source reviewed was “A war gone badly wrong – the war on terror ten years on” by Rogers Paul. The author states that the main reasons behind the military invasion in Iraq were to end the Saddam regime while that in Afghanistan was to end the Taliban regime in the country and destroy the Al-Qaeda movement. He further states that the outcomes of these invasions were opposite to the expected outcomes of the invasion, with the emergence of new paramilitary and insurgent groups that carried and various terrorist acts8. It is quite clear from these sources that military invasions in these countries and subsequent withdrawal and drawdown have only served to increase the terrorism threat in the region. It is, therefore, significant to tackle the issue of military funding and cost reductions and the resultant military drawdown as they are counterproductive with regards to the fight on terrorism. Conclusions The increase of terrorism in society has made it possible for many countries to counter the attacks and terror caused by the terrorism. Most of the countries opt to counter-terrorism activities by involving their military forces. In the case of the united states of America fight against terrorism, the country indulges into deploying armed forces in regions affected by terrorism .This has lead to various impacts towards the country and the population of the regions affected by terrorism. The main reasons of the main reasons behind the military invasion in Iraq were to end the Saddam regime while that in Afghanistan was to end the Taliban regime in the country and destroy the Al-Qaeda movement. Unfortunately, after some time the country withdrawn its army from the region, which affects the growth of the region whether negatively or positively. Many analysts, state that the US war in Iraq and Afghanistan affected the American economy. This has made it possible for military drawbacks. However, the drawback of the war left the global warming in the two countries since oilfields were bombed, and the nuclear weapons released in the air. It was very bloody, and no one came to the aid of the country. The leader never surrendered this made the situation more harsh that before. The Iraq and Afghanistan culture was also affected since people started adopting the western culture. It is quite clear from the research that military invasions in these countries and subsequent withdrawal and drawdown have only served to increase the terrorism threat in the region. The analysis carried out has It is, therefore, important to address the issue of military funding and cost reductions and the resultant military drawdown as they are counterproductive with regards to the fight on terrorism. Bibliography Boyle, Francis. The criminality of nuclear deterrence. Gardenia, CA: Clarity Press. CRC Press. 2003. Brown, Seyom. The illusion of control: Force and foreign policy. Washington DC: Brookings. 2003. Byman Daniel “Iraqs Long-Term Impact on Jihadist Terrorism”. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science vol. 618 no. 1 (2008) pp55-68 Cassara, John. Hide and seek: Intelligence, law enforcement, and the stalled war on terrorist finance. Dulles, VA: Potomac Books. 2006. Cateau, Jeff and Michael Levin. The complete idiots guide to the pentagon. Indianapolis: Alpha Books. 2003. Primakov, Yevgeny. A world challenged: Fighting terrorism in the 21st century. Washington DC: Brookings. 2004. Rogers Paul “A war gone badly wrong – the war on terror ten years on” International Security Monthly Briefing. London: OxfordResearchGroup 2011 Simon Steven “After the Surge: the case for U.S. military disengagement from Iraq” CSR NO. 23. New York: Council on Foreign Relations. 2007. Read More