War and War Prevention - Term Paper Example

War and War Prevention Introduction The contemporary environment is what it is due to the international peace that the world enjoys at the time. In earlier years, this was not the case and this was mainly from the fact that countries were at logger heads and did not support each other through various issues, there were military formations made at the time that had people with different view points, the major issue between these people was with regard to social ideologies such as capitalism and communism. This led to wars and disagreements leading to formation of different teams such as the allies and the convents. The convents were known to be very brutal and it is important to go through their various roles and structure at the time of the war. The group still exists and it is important to go through their structure and the role of the first world government in maintaining them. Convent group One of the most feared terrorist groups that threaten the United States is the Convent group. The group is made up of terrorists mostly from the Middle East that is mostly Muslims with the claim that what they do is the call of Allah, their God. The group was formed around the year 1988 with Osama Bin Laden as the major founder. The group works as a network that has many armies in different countries all over the world under small subdivisions and hence it is not very easy to intercept their communications. Their first major and shocking attack that was felt throughout the world was their attack on the twin towers in the United States of America back in 2001. The attack left scores of people dead and others wounded and this is what made the United States acknowledge the importance of the department of homeland security. Characteristics that make the group stand out from the rest are its suicide attacks. The group beliefs in the utter completion of a mission failure to which, their life is of no use. The group does not believe in hell. The group is of the notion that after their death, they go to heaven and meet Allah waiting for them with the 40 virgins that they are promised. The Conventgroup believes in complete allegiance to the rules that are offered by their leaders without any questions asked. This is for the assurance of their families’ safekeeping and ensuring that they carry out their tasks to the prime of their capabilities, (Bruno 2011). Organization The organization of the group has most of the times been described as being centralized when it comes to decision making but however, the ideology changes to decentralization when it comes to the execution of the decisions made. Experts in the field have argued that the group has over the years broken down into smaller groups that are no longer affiliated with the major organization. It is after these breakdowns that the leadership of the organization is kept in question. Decisions are said to be made from a central headquarters but the implementation of the decisions most often does not happen as planned and hence their activities are not entirely carried out. Leadership Up to the month of May, 2011, the leader of the Convent was the much feared and renowned Osama Bin Laden. The rebel had been in hiding for the past ten years and it was only after a 2 year survey that the United States government was able to locate his position, went in and killed him. It was after his death that the movement acquired a new leader, the former assistant commander of the group, Ayman al-Zawahiri. To occupy his position as the second in command, he chose Saif al-Adel to be his assistant. For the running of the organization, the leader of the organization is usually advised by the Shura Council. This is a group of highly intelligent Convent operatives that is estimated to have around twenty to thirty members. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the initial leader of the Conventgroup in Iraq. However, the United States of America raided his home killing him instantaneously. It was at that juncture that Ayyub al-Masri took over. However, it was not long before he was also captured and murdered in the year 2010. Structure The structure of the Conventis such that it is very hard to crack their codes of operation and it is the reason it has been going strong ever since the year 1989. The organization has a very large number of field operatives located in different parts of the world. The operatives work under secret code names and other operation codes that ensure they stay hibernated. By the year 2009, the group was said to have over three thousand field operatives and recruits spread over 40 different countries in the world. Despite the wide ranging arrests made on the members of the Convent gang, it is hard to say that the gang has proved weak over the years as there are new recruits every time. The Convent operates two different armies of war both in Iraq and in Pakistan. The first one that is estimated to have over thirty thousand soldiers was trained and armored in the Soviet War. Mujahedeen were the main members of the organization. Many of them had gone to war in the war torn Somalia with the claim that it was a jihad that they were taking part in. The other army has about ten thousand soldiers and is well distributed in western countries. In the countries, the team is offered with military training and goes to a further extent of providing the main army and their leaders with intelligence about the plans that the western countries have come up with as a means of countering them. Financing The major source of finance of the Conventwas usually the money coming from their former leader, Osama Bin Laden. This is because the leader had acquired a lot of wealth throughout the years that he had engaged in war and had accumulated to about 300 million United States Dollars. The group used the money to acquire new recruits and also to buy the much needed necessities such as food while in hiding and also water. The high technological machines that are put to use by the Conventcome from large investments made into armory. Despite the major source of finance being their former leader, the group is also usually able to acquire a great deal of money from their illegal trades. In these trades, they carry out the sale of hardcore drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Ideology The Conventgroup and the Islamic movement came up and developed fast over the last thirty years of the last century. Some people go with the ideology that without Sayyid Qutb, an Islamic author, the Conventcould not have even come up. Sayyid claimed that due to lack of the Sharia Law, the Muslim community was losing its faith and that it had started converting back to the era when there was no faith in religion and a lot of ignorance prevailed. To bring back Islam, the author had claimed that a group of truly religious Muslims had to come together and form genuine Islamic States. These states were bound to employ the Sharia laws in all their operations. Qutb was said to be one of the most influential people in the life of Osama. One of Sayyid’s most famous ideas was that the Muslim community was not as widespread as it seemed. This was due to the fact that many of the people that claimed to be Muslims were actually not genuine Muslims. Homeland Security Policy and war One of the policies employed by the Homeland Security is the Foreign policy. The policy involves consultations with foreign nations for the achievement of peace and understanding in the world. The foreign policy aims at increasing the security of the United State’s citizens from any attacks from outside countries with the major fears being an attack from the Middle East. Without a doubt, the fears are of an attack from the Conventgroup. The policy is guided under the security strategy and national defense, (Mark, 2010). The Foreign policy usually involves a series of talks with international countries with the aim of reducing the involvement of military and related factors. The Middle East over the past few years has seen many of its countries develop highly sophisticated machinery. This has grown to be an issue of concern to the United States knowing very well that it is considered an enemy to the Muslim community who occupy most of the lands in the Middle East. It is due to this that the United States decided to have this policy that involves a series of talks with the involved countries of the Middle East on the best way to control the usage of the weapons, (Fly, 2011). As the countries continue developing the machinery, it is very risky as it might fall in the wrong hands which would lead to a global crisis. It is also expected that through the foreign policy, the United States government will be able to reach out to the countries and convince them to subsequently convince the terrorist groups, in this case the Conventto control their adverse attacks on the west. The policy hopes to make the governments reach an understanding on the way to counter the terrorist groups. As an example, the United States through the policy is at the moment having a series of talks with the Iraq government on a trade policy where it tends to try and build a business dealing with the country in an effort to increase their connection. This is with the hope of capturing the attention of the Convent to try and make them understand that the United States has no harm intentions on the group or rather on the entire Middle East. These efforts are found to be very imperative in building the relations between the west and the Middle East. To some extent, they have been found to be working. However, the policy does not leave any gap for chances and hence has an extended capacity for allowing tactical force. These forces are imperative as they provide for the increased safety of the United States against the threat of insurgents. However, it is important to note that force is not used unless provoked, so states the terms of the policy. In the event of force resulting, the policy provides for the reasoning with the people that are involved in the war so as to ensure there is minimal damage to an extent to which it might lead to a greater war. The policy provides for the negotiation with the opposing teams to reconsider the resulting war and stop it as soon as possible as it may go ahead to ruin the talks that they may have already reached at previously. In general, the Foreign policy is a policy aimed at ensuring the maintenance of peace between the United States and other countries and is aimed at doing this at a peaceful manner unless forced by circumstances. As it does this, it ensures for the provision of a safe environment with minimal injuries or even in the worst case scenario, deaths, (Aston, 2011). One of the major ways that the government has used in dealing with this matter is advocating existentialism. Existentialism Existentialism is a movement developed in the 20th century. The goal of the movement was to ensure people had freedom of determining the meaning of life instead of believing of the existence of a higher being. According to the group, this meant that there is no God and that human beings are free and accountable to their own lives. According to existentialist every action or decision made by an individual have consequences and fate of a person determined by the decisions made. The essay will focus on believes presented by Kierkegaard with regard to Existentialism and my take on the subject. Kierkegaard is known to be the father of existentialism. He is also a highly known philosopher of the 19th century. Kierkegaard developed the idea of living life in a variety of stages. Aesthetical, ethical and the religious were his divisions of life. In his work, he claimed that he went through similar experiences during his lifetime, and he used the stages to establish his own philosophy of life and of human existence. He assessed the first two stages with regard to normal set of believes and behavior. However, the last stage developed based on personal and non-rational opinion “leap of faith” (Cooper 517). The aesthetical stage was characterized by immediacy and failure, to reflect with seriousness upon the nature of a person’s life. The people in this stage were defined to like material things and fulfilling their desires as they occurred. People become slaves to their senses and they tend to want to fulfill desires propelled by their senses. People would tend to fulfill needs they consider appropriate and other people’s opinion did not count. The stage represents two types of lifestyles; reflective and non-reflective immediacy. Alcohol, sex and drugs are some illustrations of satisfying unrefined immediacy. An individual acts without thinking because the satisfaction expected does not require thinking, refined immediacy, on the other hand characterized by thoughtful planning (Cooper 518). Sometimes people think before undertaking a certain action, but the thoughts do not put into consideration moral and ethical values. Reflection of the lifestyle embarked not put into consideration. Planning made in order to gain full satisfaction of the lifestyle. According to Kierkegaard this pleasures of life will eventually vanish, and an individual will be caught in a moment of despair (Kierkegaard n. p). In the end, one will get tired of the life of luxury and satisfaction would hardly be achieved. He considered this stage significant because after the moment of despair one develops a sense of ethical understanding. The ethical stage according to Kierkegaard provides a meaningful existence. The stage involves adhering to personal morals and ethics, pleasure and emotions are not the main factors towards happiness and satisfaction. Reason and a duty to fulfill a certain feeling engulf the stage. The ethical stage represents religious development and the responsibility that follows religious believes. One becomes a commitment participant in society. Image and reputation become the virtue of a person in this stage. Connection to the family members and friends becomes very significant, and marriage is a marvelous example of commitment represented in this stage. A mature person who has undergone a stage of mistakes and errors in life represents ethical stage. The ethical stage remains in a person’s life even after moving to the next stage of life; religion. In the aesthetical stage, one lacks the will of commitment and only personal satisfaction matters. For instance, when Kierkegaard experienced this stage he liked the life of pleasure and despised commitment that is why he broke his engagement to Regina Olsen a woman from Copenhagen. After he had broken the engagement, he began searching for a reason of life. He was tired with the pleasures of life. The personal letters he wrote during this period were mainly based on his feelings and thoughts of life where he stated that his goal in life was directed not on his knowledge but rather on the actions. The final stage experienced by Kierkegaard is the religious stage. This stage was in contrast with the ethical stage, since the stage was also represented by strong faith and beliefs. A “leap of faith” occurs in this stage (Cooper 520). Two kinds of people are represented by this stage. Religiousness A and religiousness B. in order to be considered in either stage one need to accept the faith and explanation given in both stages. In Kierkegaard writing of “the knight of faith”, he provided the example of Abraham who acted purely on faith without thinking and reasoning. Abraham acts in true faith after he was asked to sacrifice his only son. In this case, Abraham acted in pure faith, and he did not ask if there was anything wrong with killing his son. Morally killing is not acceptable. Nevertheless, Abraham did not put into consideration ethical reasoning and decided he would act according to his faith. Abraham’s faith pleases God and he sends an angel to command him to stop with the sacrifice. Religiousness A and B differ greatly. However, some form of blindness is seen in both faiths, religiousness B, involves some thoughts and reasoning before one acts. Religiousness B involves possessing a unique faith, engulfed with having personal freedom to search personal feelings and insights in an effort to achieve satisfaction, “what is important is what we do about ourselves, how we choose to live, the decisions we make” (Pojman 523). Religiousness B involves a number of questions about beliefs and faith. The people in religiousness A have a strong faith in what they believe, and they do not question the type of belief they follow. The people in religious A go to church and do whatever they are asked by the priest. These people do not make their own decisions with regard to life but rather they allow the doctrines and beliefs of the church guide their lives. Kierkegaard believed in religiousness B, which provided freedom and the will to think for oneself and believe in what pleases the person the most. He believed that religion should be based on ethics and moral standards rather than acting blindly to something, we have so much questioning. He believed in the three stages of life where in each stage one gets to learn about something. Aesthetical and ethical stages of a person’s life will remain even after going through the religious stage. The religious stage will be guided by the first two stages “The only fundamental basis for understanding is that one understands only in proportion to becoming himself that which he understands” (Pojman 525). Existentialism as presented by Kierkegaard angered me. He followed a religious faith that he could not explain himself. His religious believes as presented by religiousness B has no basis and provides a lot of confusion. Religious faith is strong and so many people depend on it. The bible presents a number of religious faiths that provide facts that God exist. Abraham could have acted otherwise, but it was real that God had commanded him to test his faith. His faith eventually saved his son because he did not doubt God and believed in Him. Ethically it could have been wrong that is why God did not allow Abraham to kill his son. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a sheer proof of existence of God and people are not allowed to question his existence. The three stages presented by Kierkegaard may be true. Some people go through similar stages in life before finding peace in God and religion. God allows his people to experience that kind of life so that later in life they can get control of their lives. After becoming religious and having strong faith in God, it is difficult to turn back to the evil ways presented by stage one. Therefore, Kierkegaard belief of religion being presented by personal thoughts and beliefs are not sufficiently convincing. This is because many people will take matters in their own hands, and do things because their personal religious beliefs allow them to do so. Philosophers, to confuse people and instill a new type of belief in them, developed existentialism. Religious faith is real, and God existence is unquestionable because the philosophers still have the problem of answering the mystery of life. God is the only Supreme Being and is answerable to all the mysteries and wonders of life. People should; therefore, believe in his existence and reduce the many doubts they have towards religion and faith. References Fly, J. (2011). Why National Security Conservatives and the World May Miss In the GOP Race. Shadow Government. Retrieved on 22nd August 2011 from http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/08/19/why_national_security_conservatives _and_the_world_will_miss_pawlenty_in_the_gop_rac Aston, M. (2011).The Department of Homeland Security. Federal Register, 76(137). Pg 41993- 42467. Mark, R. (2010).The Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Enterprise: Operational Overview and Oversight Challenges for Congress. International Journal for War and Political Hot Spots, 5(3). Pg 387-446. Bruno, G. (2011). Al-Qaeda. The Backgrounder. Retrieved on 22nd August 2011 from http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations/al-qaeda-k-al-qaida-al-qaida/p9126 Read More