War on Terrorism: What Is the Future of America and Will Terrorism ever Be Defeated - Term Paper Example

War on Terrorism - What Is The Future Of America & Will Terrorism Ever Be Defeated Introduction Terrorism can be defined as an act of violence, murder and mass destruction against people and their properties. It is basically done to terrify or bully the government to bring change in the political environment of the country. The characteristics of terrorism are basically that it is an act of violence and destruction by an individual or a group, the violence is created to solve the injustice that is being done and lastly it is an act, which directly or indirectly targets the current government. The word terrorism is widely used as a force on the basis that whether a speaker agrees with the objective or goal of violence. Therefore this expression " one man's terrorist is another man's freedom" is widely used. Terrorism can be defined into three different types. They are as follows: - 1. Revolutionary Terrorism: revolutionary terrorism basically is considered to be the most common kind of terrorism. Groups or individual's who are considered as revolutionary terrorist try completely to finish the political system and create new structures. 2. Sub-revolutionary Terrorism: sub-revolutionary terrorism is not very common. Here it doesn't mean that the terrorist will finish or over throw the existing political system but they want to modify the system. Sub-revolutionary terrorists are very hard to identify. 3. Establishment Terrorism: where as in establishment terrorism the government creates such establishments. Such establishments are sometimes called the state sponsored terrorism. This type of terrorism is very common but it is difficult to find and identify. These groups are created to safeguard against foreign governments and groups etc. Origins Of Terrorism Lets look at the origins of terrorism, from where it all began. Terrorism started a very long time ago, it goes back to somewhere in between the 1st - 14th Century A.D. the time of the Romans. History shows that the earliest organizations that showed some characteristics of a present day terrorist groups were Zealots of Judea, these people were know to the Romans as dagger-men. This group of terrorists used to kill Roman occupation forces and as well as any Jews who used to help the Romans. The group's motive for such kind of act was that they believed that they could not remain faithful to their belief of Judaism. The word " terrorism" and "terrorist" came from the time of The French Revolution. But the use of the word terrorism started in 1795,with the reference of the Reign of Terror, which was started by the Revolutionary government in France. Anarchists were considered to be the largest groups of terrorist in the 19th Century. They had the terrorist characteristics of both nationalism and political movements. The Anarchist group attack in Russia led to the murders of the Russian Tsars and it also led to the assassinations of American Presidents. And from thereon-forward terrorism spread like fire. In the 21st Century the most known act of terrorism took place on 11th September 2001, when America was attacked. That day 19 terrorist from the al-Qaida hijacked 4 US commercial passenger planes and crashed 2 of them into the World Trade Centre (WTC) in New York. The third one crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C and the fourth one was crashed into a field when the crew of the plane tried to take back the control form the terrorists. That day approximately 3000 people died. From that day onwards "War on Terror" began. Who Are Terrorists A terrorist can be defined as an individual who works as an agent for the sub national group who uses violence as a weapon against innocent people and destroys people's properties. In simple words a terrorist can be defined as a person who engages in terrorism or violence. And individuals who are terrorist are very hard to identify and they do not use the word terrorist they use specific terms according to the situations they are in like for example freedom fighters, revolutionists, rebels and other similar words. The word extremist and terrorist are consider being the same and are used inter-changeably according to the situation. But there is a vast difference between them. As we know that terrorists are people who use violence and where as extremist are consider being individual who have extremely strong opinions, practices or doctrines about his/her beliefs. Threats Against America Since the attack on the 11th September America faces a lot of terrorist's threats. There are 2 types of threats which America faces: Islamic terrorism and Christian identity (supremacists and patriotic movement). But the biggest threat that is being faced by the US is a terrorist group called Al-Qaida. That is Al-Qaida is a group, which was formed from an extremist group called Afghan Alumni. Al-Qaida basically means the base in Arabic. The terrorist group is lead by a person called Osama Bin Laden. The purpose or the objective of this group is to take out the Americans from all the Islamic countries so that he can create an Islamic world. Therefore the threat is that this group has promised to attack America and the citizens of America until or unless all the American influence is finished. Some of the challenges that are being faced by the Americans are that to encourage other countries to some how put a stop to all the terrorist fund raising and money transfers, encouraging all the countries of the world to declare a war against terror. Terrorist Groups Looking To Accomplish What are the terrorist groups looking to accomplish that is the question being asked these days Basically what the terrorist groups want to accomplish is that to create a constant fear in the hearts of the people all over the world. These groups want worldwide, nation-wide and even local area recognition for their causes and beliefs by gaining the attention of the media everywhere. As you that where ever there is an attack the media is there to cover the footage or the story. These groups try to make the government and the security forces of a country look bad and try to embarrass them as well, so that it would look that the country security forces are weak and the government is dictatorial and that there is not democracy in the country. These groups create violence within a country so that their vengeance is served or that they can free criminals or prisoners who were a part of their group. What these terrorist gain from such violent acts is that they get to destroy the property of the government and communication lines so that they can play havoc with people's mind and they create doubts that the government is not able to protect the people of the country. And last but not least these people make sure that due to their violent activities no foreign investment is done within the country and it discourages any kind of tourism. They make sure that the country's economy doest get a boost. And these groups of people steal money and rob innocent people so that they can buy arms and ammunitions for themselves. Acts of Terrorism Now we are going to talk about the different acts of terrorism, which are being conducted by the terrorists. Due to the acts of terrorism it leaves behind fear in the hearts and the minds of the people. The factors that contribute to the act of terrorism would include unemployment in the country, increasing population in a country, extremism of beliefs, poverty in the country, religious and ethnical conflicts among the people and political insecurities with in the country and lastly if the economy of the country is not boosting and maybe based on revenge as well. Psychological: psychological impact and fear leave a long impression in the minds of the general public. Political terrorism is considered to be a form of psychological impact on which the means are accomplished on the expense of people's emotions and attitudes. When a violent act is being conducted it is kept in mind that the attack should be done in such a way that it increases the length of the attack and leaves a very strong psychological impact on the people. Every act of terrorism is considered as a performance by the terrorists and it leaves a major impact on a huge audience that is the general public. Another way of leaving a psychological impact on the people of the country is when the terrorists attack national symbols just to show that they have the power to do anything they want with out any consequences. The thing about psychological impact of terrorism is that it creates fear and worry in the minds of the people even if the actual damage was minor. Physical: one of the physical impacts of the act of terrorism is that it leaves behind mass destruction and mass causalities. The terrorism acts, which leave behind physical impact, would be a terrorist who is a suicide bomber. Suicide bombing these days plays a major role in terrorism attacks around the world. This kind of terrorism is done on a low cost budget plus it creates mass destruction and a lot of causalities. The suicide bombers have no worries like for example that they will not be caught and interrogated and after the attack huge media coverage in done regarding the terrorism act. Another physical impact that is of mass destruction that is left by the terrorism act, this kind of act is done through arms and ammunitions. The effects of the chemical and nuclear weapons can destroy a whole country; leaving behind so much of destruction that the country would not be able to recover from it and it would be very difficult to rebuild the whole nation. Bio-terrorism: bio-terrorism is an act of terrorism. Where bio means the scientific study of human life. Now you must be wondering that what is bio-terrorism. Bio-terrorism basically means that a group of terrorists intentionally release viruses or bacteria, which will cause death or illness in humans, animals and plants as well. Different types of bio-terrorism would include smallpox, anthrax, glanders, salmonella (food poisoning) and melioidosis (Whitmore's disease) etc. Bio-weapons are comparatively safer for a terrorist but the effect of bio-weapons is extremely harmful. Plus making a bio-weapon is easier and transporting the weapon is also easy rather than transporting a nuclear weapon. Combating Terrorism Combating terrorism basically means that how a country is going to deal with terrorist activities. The term "War on Terror" is being used globally. This term is used for various political and military actions started by the US government after the attacks that took place in New York 2001. Dealing with terrorism is one of the main problems that are being faced by the world. As you all know that the Islamic terrorism is the biggest threat that America faces. And since the training camps of these terrorists are all outside the US therefore counter strikes are being used against then in combating terrorism. A lawyer and a political scientist Robert Gerstein says that to curb terrorism the US government should apply the same standards that are being used by the government of US for all other criminal activities. The government should be one step ahead of the threats and they should think like a terrorist and figure it out that how these terrorists act or what clicks them into such activities. And the citizens of the country should take care and if they see an unknown person in there community they should immediately report it to the authorities so that an action should be taken against them. Another way of combating with terrorism cannot be done through violence as we know that terrorism is a long term problem and violence cannot help solve it rather it would create more problems; but this problem can be solved by educating people and changing their attitudes. And now it has become important that there should be peace among all the religious and that people should help to create and maintain a peaceful society and they should teach their children the culture of peace and as well as tolerance and patience. 'Bush' Administration The bush administration has defined these following points against terrorism. These objectives are as follows: - To beat the terrorists at their own game, and to destroy all such organizations. To identify, locate and destroy all terrorist organizations anywhere in the world. Another objective is to deny any sort of sponsorship, or any kind of sanctuary and support to such organizations. So that it would all the state terrorism from the country and to maintain an international stability and to maintain accountability in regard to the combating terror and to make the country stronger against any terrorist attacks. Help the weak and the reluctant states as well as those states that are not willing. And last but not least diminish all kinds of terrorist safety areas and havens where they go hide themselves after an attack. Then another objective is to finish all kinds of conditions that these terrorist organizations want to seek and exploit. The United States government should seek help and establish partnerships with countries that are willing to help destroy all kinds of terrorist organizations. And ask the other international countries to help make the weak states into stronger states so that they can hold against any kind of terrorist activity. And the last objective of Bush Administration is that to help secure the US citizens all over the world and at home as well and to increase safety and security for the US citizens within the country and as well as abroad and to ensure an integrated management capability. Solutions to Terrorism Some solutions to terrorism are that the citizens of the country should take care and if they see an unknown person in there community they should immediately report it to the authorities so that an action should be taken against them. A way of combating with terrorism cannot be done through violence but educating people and changing their attitudes can solve this problem. And now it has become important that there should be peace among all the religious and that people should help to create and maintain a peaceful society and they should teach their children the culture of peace and as well as tolerance and patience. Another solution would that there should be more jobs available for the people of the country so that it there are more jobs people will be happy and they would think of joining a terrorist organization. Because such organizations recruit such people who are very gullible and are poor and have no money, food, clothes or even shelter. The government should be one step ahead of the threats and they should think like a terrorist and figure it out that how these terrorists act or what clicks them into such activities. Another way of finishing terrorism from the country is that people should have freedom of speech. And there should be no kind of political interference in any field of life. When there is a political influence than people who are deserving of things do not get them and then these people feel that the have been cheated so therefore to get revenge with the society such people join such kind of organization who are offering them everything. Conclusion Terrorism can be defined as an act of violence, murder and mass destruction against people and their properties. It is basically done to terrify or bully the government to bring change in the political environment of the country. The characteristics of terrorism are basically that it is an act of violence and destruction by an individual or a group, the violence is created to solve the injustice that is being done and lastly it is an act, which directly or indirectly targets the current government. Terrorism can be defined into three different types. They are as follows Revolutionary Terrorism, Sub-revolutionary Terrorism and Establishment Terrorism. Terrorism started a very long time ago, it goes back to somewhere in between the 1st - 14th Century A.D. the time of the Romans. History shows that the earliest organizations that showed some characteristics of a present day terrorist groups were Zealots of Judea, these people were know to the Romans as dagger-men. This group of terrorists used to kill Roman occupation forces and as well as any Jews who used to help the Romans. The group's motive for such kind of act was that they believed that they could not remain faithful to their belief of Judaism. The word " terrorism" and "terrorist" came from the time of The French Revolution. Combating terrorism basically means that how a country is going to deal with terrorist activities. The term "War on Terror" is being used globally. This term is used for various political and military actions started by the US government after the attacks that took place in New York 2001. Dealing with terrorism is one of the main problems that are being faced by the world. As you all know that the Islamic terrorism is the biggest threat that America faces. And since the training camps of these terrorists are all outside the US therefore counter strikes are being used against then in combating terrorism. Some solutions to terrorism are that the citizens of the country should take care and if they see an unknown person in there community they should immediately report it to the authorities so that an action should be taken against them. A way of combating with terrorism cannot be done through violence but educating people and changing their attitudes can solve this problem. And now it has become important that there should be peace among all the religious and that people should help to create and maintain a peaceful society and they should teach their children the culture of peace and as well as tolerance and patience. Sources - War on terror Web definitions for terrorism www.globalsecurity.org Early history of Terrorism www.terrorism-research.com Terrorist Threats Against America, Ambassador Francis X. Taylor, Coordinator for Counter terrorism Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Washington, DC September 25, 2001 www.state.gov Terrorist goals and motivations www.terrorism-research.com Dealing With Terrorism -article from the national catholic weekly By Anthony Egan, S.J., | OCTOBER1, 2001 www.americamagazine.org Read More