Terrorism and its Effects - Essay Example

Terrorism and its effects Introduction: In this day and age, with the presence of such modernity and hassle-free technology to think that Human life may not be secure for many would rather be considered as immensely ironic and foolish. However, this mindset altered itself on September 11th, 2001 when a conspired attack on the United States of America shook the whole world and an awareness of the notion “Terrorism’ finally barged right into people’s lives as the biggest threat to Human life. Having said that, people always tend to forget that “Terrorism’ is not a discovery dated September 11th, 2001 but the roots of it go back a long way in the Seventeenth century and terrorism one way or the other, on perhaps a bigger or a smaller scale was taking place in different parts of the world in the name of religion, sects and creed since then. ‘Terrorism’ has been referred to as ‘Extremism’ a gazillion times and perhaps that definition given to it can be considered because it defines the mindset behind it and the reasons why it is employed. Human life is of no value under the mindset of an individual who has been brainwashed with such intensity that he is convinced to relinquish his own life along with others. Carnage can never be the best vengeance or perhaps a way to prove the dignity of any religion because every religion promotes peace and conservation of Human life in the best way possible. Sometimes it’s even hard to make out what this concept holds for us in reality besides bloodshed and fear; nevertheless what’s worth looking into is the motive of these people who become a part of this horrid world (Linden, 2006). Terrorism in the most apparent manner has taken place globally in the form of Bomb blasts, which are also categorized into many forms such as suicide bombing and planted bombs with detonators which gives the terrorists an open opportunity to press the button to immense carnage bearing in mind the right time and place while having a particular target. After the horrific attacks that took place in New York, an active response was given back to ‘Terrorism’ in the form of ‘War on terrorism’ led by the United States of America and the purpose of which is to fight back with all the courage and to do whatever it takes to eradicate terrorism and related crimes. Many leading countries are now a part of the ‘War on Terrorism’ in order to face the challenges and primarily to save humanity from such ugly theories and viewpoints becoming reality (Halper & Clarke, 2004). The effects of Terrorism on the Muslim World: Terrorism, over the years has been able to affect the connection between human beings which is mostly characterized by religion, creed, political parties etc. Unfortunately, terrorism has had a history of touching the religious grounds mostly and by far Islam has been faced by a number of controversies and false accusations questioning the sanctity of the religion and how it has been nurturing the roots of terrorism. However, the aftermath of the September 11th attacks include widely the affects of terrorism on the Muslim world and how people generally behaved towards Muslims after these attacks. Consequently, Muslims living in America became an object of discrimination and their faith was questioned (Halper & Clarke, 2004). The question that has been raised since the time these attacks took place is if the Muslims living in America ever raised their voices against terrorism and publicly condemned these attacks by helping within organizations to eradicate terrorism, the answer to which is that a number of Muslims became a part of this upheaval and faced these difficult times united with Americans forgetting their national backgrounds. Muslim Organizations within America voted against these attacks and helped them through this time (Halper & Clarke, 2004). Numerous Islamic countries within the need of cooperation with the United States of America presented Legislation against terrorism and assisted in hunting down the people who were convicted of having a connection with the Al-Qaeda. A bit of disapproval that emerged in the Muslim world which also became a barrier in public demonstrations by Muslims against terrorism in America, was perhaps due to the Iraq-war and the post destruction caused by America which made perfect sense for a person in favor of Humanity regardless of any social or political background (Demant, 2006). Right after these attacks almost every Muslim country gave away speeches and statements regarding how deeply they condemn the incident and how they want to assist the United States of America in this time of distress and trauma in whatever way possible. Astonishingly, among the leaders representing the Muslim world ‘Saddam Hussein’ particularly did not show much of courtesy and no marked words of humbleness were offered from his end, but instead of which he stated that Americans are paying for all the bloodshed and pain caused which was a bit of mind-boggling for the American citizens (Demant, 2006). Furthermore, it became a determination point for the Americans who were seeking for justice which well explains the attack on Iraq. The Muslim world reacted towards this attack but knowing they didn’t have much of a say, not much changed except their own perspective which gradually emerged as Anti-Americanism. However, the Iraq war did give birth to anti-Americanism through out the Muslim world and the idea behind it was the hollow purpose of the attack resulting in nothing but bloodshed (Demant, 2006). The post 9/11 wars and obliteration has remarkably amplified Islamic fundamentalism all around the Muslim sphere where in many countries the leadership has been secured by parties that promote Islamic fundamentalism. The domestic reaction towards Muslims residing in America was mostly expressed by a biased attitude, harassment by law enforcement and on an individual basis, threats and vandalism. Muslim women who cover their heads and men with beards were also judged as people who promote terrorism just because of their attire. The salaries of Muslim and ethnically Arab men in different work fields declined by ten percent after the attacks (Crockatt, 2003). Moreover, hate crimes are still very common and most often they occur with ‘Middle easterners’ and Sikhs too because of the ‘Turbans’ they wear that has somewhat familiarization with Islam. A few Sikhs were even brutally murdered because they were mistakenly taken as Muslims. Muslim world since the attacks has been faced by a suspicion in many different ways and with many false baseless accusations that are merely an attempt of Racism after the September 11th attacks (Crockatt, 2003). The effects of Terrorism on the Western World: After being the victim of the strongest attack by the terrorists, United States of America was faced by a number of difficulties in almost every sphere. Among the biggest changes that were made after these attacks was the development of the Department of Homeland Security which was a creation based on the protection of the territory of the United States of America and to fight crime in the best and the most effective ways. There was a sudden change in the sphere of Politics and Foreign policy was considered as the major factor when it came down to making changes to prevent the country from terrorism and crime all over (Crockatt, 2003). Censorship policies were also a part of the change that were introduced to basically refrain the media from showing the images of the World Trade centre whether they were printed or broadcasted. Airport security was increased followed by an extensive interrogation for Muslims entering or leaving the country which is a true depiction of Racism and bias. U.S PATRIOT ACT was developed for the cause of domestic terrorism and other crimes. Detention centre of Guantanamo Bay was built for people involved in illegal or other suspicious activities. After the attacks the Stock market declined for about a week with having a number of fall-off which was the lowest in the history of the American Stock Market. The Export Market was affected as well and the export of commodities were not active for about a week or two because of which the export market also suffered (Linden, 2006). Among many political ideas and viewpoints that Muslims residing in the United States of America have developed over the years is that of disapproval of all this carnage that has been taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan because it has promoted nothing but a black cloud of destruction. This opinion has been lingering on for too long for Muslims living in America with no change in the situation, which resulted in a silent support for terrorism by moderate Muslims living in America and all around the globe. The human right agencies have also showed their deep concerns regarding the warfare and the loss of innocent lives along with it. The Human rights organizations who have been constantly speaking against the loss of innocent lives and all the bloodshed that has been taking place since the longest time now include the U.N and the Amnesty International. These organizations have been deliberating closely how it can affect innocent children and Women and keeping a good track of the amount of people dead with the amount of destruction. Apart from all of this the general behavior of American citizens towards Muslims has changed a bit too much just how extremism goes. The enmity has grown so much that people do not even want to stand beside a Muslim and acknowledge them according to what they’ve achieved solely because they are Muslims, just like the terrorists are. Those woeful looks are just a mere depiction of how opinionated Americans are, they base everything on the religion and how it has tried to sabotage them. Nevertheless, the Muslim world can only hope for these opinions and viewpoints to change with time because before anything at all Humanity should be the sole consideration (Linden, 2006). Conclusion: Terrorism has undoubtedly put Islam in the most difficult position where the religion itself is the answer to all those questions raised but somehow it is acknowledged as ‘the religion of extremists and people promoting fundamentalism’. Terrorist forces have taken many innocent lives who perhaps will not be able to satisfy themselves as to why their lives were taken because terrorism if looked through the eyes of Islam, can never be a part of it because according to Islam helping a human being in distress is equal to serving the whole humanity so concluding so easily that Islam has produced terrorism can never be justifiable. So instead of comparing Islam with Terrorism, it should rather be acknowledged as a school of thought that belongs to no religion which follows principles only that of hatred and bloodshed. The world altogether will have to unite and work towards the eradication of this threat standing in the way of Humanity and peace. Organizations should work on educating the people and making them well aware of what is right and what is wrong. Education can play the most gigantic role in the ‘War on terrorism’ and perhaps a constructive and long-lasting one too. Works Cited: Crockatt, R. America Embattled. Routledge, 2003. Demant, Peter. Islam vs. Islamism: The Dilemma of the Muslim World. Praeger Publishers, 2006. Halper, Stephan and Jonathan Clarke. America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order. Cambridge University Press, 2004. Linden, Edward. Focus on Terrorism. Nova Science Pub Inc, 2006. Read More