War on Terror in the US - Research Paper Example

? Section/# The following analysis seeks to engage the reader with two specific understandings. The firstof these is with respect to the personal and professional motivations that encouraged this author to join the Marine Corps and stand on the front lines of protecting the United States, its people, and its way of life. Likewise, the second discusses the way in which the recent War on Terror has unfolded and the manner through which this struggle continues to redefine the approach that should be utilized in seeking to ameliorate this real and existent threat. Through both of these discussions, a determination of the importance of the individual’s response to the needs and dangers of the current era can clearly be denoted. War on Terror The interest that this author had in joining the military began when as a senior at Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio. During the autumn of 1988, Eddie Johnson, a former classmate, came home from Marine Boot Camp and visited the school. Standing tall in the hallway Eddie was shaking hands with all the teachers and students commanding the space around him with ease and confidence I had not seen from him previously. It was amazing to see the Principal; standing beside him beaming proudly. Eddie had just completed 8 weeks of hell at Parris Island, SC and he was looking fit, and trim in his shiny new Marine Uniform. One glance at him it was apparent that those same qualities which Eddie displayed should be exhibited in more young men. As this author compared himself to Eddie, it became clear and apparent that if he could endure and carry on through such hardships and trials, so too could anyone determined to succeed. Shortly after that day, this author mustered up the inner courage and went and talked to the Marine Recruiter and signed up. Two weeks after that point in time, graduation from high school had taken place and the long and difficult path of becoming a Marine lay ahead. From entering boot camp a young know-it-all and emerging a hardened warrior forged by blood, sweat and tears, it became apparent that United States Marines must value the rights and desires of others above their own. In this way, the development of an appreciation for guarding and providing the frontline of defense became to be born. Yet serving one’s country is not just a decision that is right only for this author; rather, serving our country should be vitally important to every citizen. The war on terror knows no bounds and is being fought each and every day on our soil as well as abroad. The struggle between radical Islamic sectarian beliefs and the principles of free societies have been on a collision course for quite some time now. Due to the fact that so many fanatics believe so strongly that their narrow-minded interpretation of religion is the “true” and “right” way, a glut of active and willing volunteers from many of the most poverty stricken regions of the planet has come to exist. Many nations that are controlled by radical elements of fundamentalist Islam practice cultural and ideological hegemony in these countries; thereby having a low tolerance towards different religions or views being practiced of promoted. In order to gain further control, many of these radical fundamentalists have splintered off and chose to use terrorism to achieve their ideological goals. Many American have always taken the concepts introduced by the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights for granted; believing that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. This belief has often come with a level of comfort that we are safe; that everyone likes our country and most importantly that bad things do not happen to good people because we have a right to be happy. This sheltered and wholesome belief system, although admirable, was shaken to its very core within the recent past. On September 11, 2001, Americans were forced to rethink the way that they see the world. The 9/11 attacks were an introduction to the average American citizen as to what terrorism actually is and what it implies. The Merriman dictionary defines terrorism as “the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal”. For Americans, it is the reality that there are people who do not share our world views, who feel passionately enough about their views on things such as secularism, freedom, and the hegemony of global politics that the United States represents that they are willing to resort to violence to spread their beliefs and to eliminate powerful people and countries that do not share their beliefs. When you ask most Americans what happened on September 11th, they will say that a terrorist plot was devised by Al Qaeda to fly planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Some will go on to say that the brave passengers on United Airlines flight 93 were successful in thwarting an additional attack into the Pentagon by overwhelming the terrorists and crashing the plane. The destruction of a couple of buildings out of all of the buildings in the United States may sound like a small feat; yet the reality is that nearly 3,000 died on September 11th along with the belief that all Americans were somehow safe from such a threat. The terrorists who planned this attack were very well funded and had a plan that they carried out to their dying breath. Until that day, the United States did not give threats against its way of life enough credit. The attack was a sophisticated and highly coordinated; something that the intelligence services of the United States were not expecting and thought was impossible for such a cadre of misfits to pull off. Yet, these 9/11 terrorists had legal visas for the United States and had even received flying lessons and as a group went over contingencies just in case things did not go according to planned (Rohner, 2007). This was a defining moment in American history because our country came to realize that we were vulnerable and needed to protect our people. A slew of laws were introduced, as Americans began to realize that we had to sacrifice some of their personal freedoms to ensure that the government could adequately protect us and that we needed to partner with our allies to ensure our safety. This was the birth of the War on Terror. The American government realized that we needed to identify, find and destroy terrorist groups and eliminate their funding channels in order to defend US Citizens at home and abroad. Some may question the need for the War on Terror, but countless attacks have been thwarted with the new security policies in place (Nagar, 2010). 9/11 shook America to the core. The country discovered that its internal physique at that time was fragile. The post 9/11 era, was an ugly time for President Bush. Investigative reporters were quick to place blame on the government, telling everyone that the government failed to protect its people. In the era of internet, people were logging on and forming their opinions often based on incorrect data. As Americans mourned the loss of so many lives and their sense of security, we needed reassurance from our government and a reason to feel safe. The United Stated decided to go into proactive mode in an effort to preven another 9/11, essentially we went to war. Many people questioned the war on terrorism, but President Bush, in 2003, believed that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was reported to President Bush that a link between AL Qaeda, the organizers of 9/11, and Osama Bin Laden was verified. Armed with that information, that focused upon the existing knowledge and the perceived threats that the nation encountered. Now in 2012 the White House has used more covert operations and drone attacks than President Bush. The approach seems to be “work smarter not harder” so less troops more technology. The American people did not want another Vietnam which saw countless body bags being shipped home. So they replaced human war machines with mechanical ones. The ideas being put forth by President Obama and his staff are 21st century ideas (Rohde, 2012). Moving forward with cyber intelligence, the use of drones and covert teams the fight on the ground is being fought with less people and more machines. This is very important because it’s saving lives. (Banks, 2012). When one thinks of war, they often conjour up images of men fighting hand to hand combat in a foreign country somewhere. But the battlefield has changed from actual people fighting to cyber warfare. With the focus being asked to not lose so many American lives but still fight and win a war the military has been slowly adapting on different ways to hurt the enemy (Abdullah, 2012). Many attacks on U.S soil won’t see the light of day because the government chooses to interrogate and find intelligence from the enemy combatants, instead of locking everyone up and throwing away the key. Terrorists believe for many reason what they are doing is right. To them they believe what they are fighting for is Allah’s will and believe in their fight. This is an example of a religious zealot at its highest form (Jones, 2012) Foreign terrorist groups still to this day remain relevant because as individuals have been shown numerous times all it takes is one attack for them to be successful. One of the main reasons the United States fight on foreign soil, is to deter foreign fighters from coming to our country to fight their battles. It doesn’t matter if they feel their fight is religious or sense of country, the seriousness of the individual needs to be paid attention to. Religious fervor has been the crux of many a fable from the days of Christians and Muslims fighting. From decades Muslims have been fighting Christians on the idea of Allah and Jesus whom is superior and who to follow. It’s a century old fight and Christians won for the most part. Now fast forward several centuries, both sides are still fighting. One of the most ex-essential threats that continues to present itself with regards to the way in which the United States by the war on terror is with regards to the regime change that is currently taking place throughout parts of the Middle East. As a result of its commitment to promote democracy and world peace, the United States is oftentimes placed in a very difficult position. For instance, the decision to support protests and democratic movements within the Middle East that are focused upon unseating a autocratic leader, such as Hosni Mubarak or Muammar Kaddafi has seen the United States tacitly supporting radical Islamic elements within the Middle East. For instance, once Kaddafi was overthrown within Libya, a litany of different radical Islamic militias began to be evidenced. Many of these militias had initially had their weapons supplied, and originally funded by the United States and Western Europe. Now, with Kaddafi gone, the United States faces a daunting task of seeking to make Libya and other regions of the world safe from these radicals that were armed in the hopes that they could somehow bring a level of Democratic harmony and peace to Libya the head for so long been ruled by a desperate. Much the same has been evidenced within Egypt as the United States immediately begin to withdraw support for Hosni Mubarak as it became clearly evident that the people of Egypt have lost all respect for their leader and actively sought a level of representative and democratic government to replace the autocracy that it dominated politics in Egypt for so many decades. However, when the United States did in fact support the Democratic shift within the politics of Egypt, it was evidenced that the Muslim brotherhood, a group that has time and again been definitively linked to Hamas and other terrorist organizations throughout the world, came into power. Naturally, the political ramifications of such decisions are far-reaching and can have a definitive impact with regards to the way in which the war on terror continues to unfold and is small. Nevertheless, the United States continues to make decisions based upon the morality of seeking to provide a level of Democratic governance two individuals throughout the world. Ultimately, the failure within these situations is not with regards the policy decision that the United States is made; rather, it is with regards to the undemocratic elements that exist within groups that claim to support democratic change within the countries in question. In the West particularly there is no foreseeable daily threat. Our lives are mainly uninterrupted and the loss of life in war zone has not directly impacted the average American. If you have a family member, or friend who is serving in the military then the pain of war has most certainly been felt. Individuals oftentimes walk around with blinders on our eyes; however there is a real terrorist threat out there and some view the news with suspicion. With the computer age fully dawned upon us terrorism has been evolved with the times. Previously, if a terror group wanted to do fundraising of any sort it had to send actually money-men to specific cities to hold parties and collect money. Many an operational covert coup was successful because the government just followed a courier from the airport to a hotel then took pictures of who came and you were able to make a terrorist diagram. Nowadays; terrorist use the internet to collect money and websites to spread propaganda (Brust, 2012). Terrorist now use such internet features as Google earth and can monitor police banners over the internet as a means of better planning real time attacks on American soil. With so much about police tactics and counter-tactics, it is possible for these elements to teach their terrorist action squads what a real life NYPD response might be to a chemical attack or terrorist threat of some other sort. They also have begun to use our technology against their enemies in ways the United States could not have anticipated. From propaganda websites to using services such as PayPal to receive and distribute funds, terrorism has taken a decidedly new approach to integrating with its targets and potential missions. The Pentagon uses internet filters to monitor such websites but it is possible for these individuals to establish a makeshift website in a day and setup covert operations in any chat room with pseudonyms. Increasing more emphisis is being put into computers and drones to fight battles and wars without actual lives being lost. Americans are not wanting the body count but wishing to see results. This is one of the most effective ways to ensure both are done. Although the information in this particular piece may seem as somewhat alarming, it is not the desired intention of this author to be an alarmist. Rather, the individual reader must come to an appreciation for the fact that there is a very real and present threat to the continued safety and survival of the nation due to the continual work to undermine these virtues on the part of disgruntled fanatics around the globe. There is today, this instant and precise moment in time, a terrorist is learning how to make bombs, learning how to read a map and plotting out American soldier’s movements so that they may do them harm. Moreover, there are numerous actual training camps in far flung reaches of the world, such as Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, and elsewhere that individuals learn how to use all types of light and heavy weaponry for the purpose of waging Islamic Jihad on all those that they deem worthy of such an action. Terrorists are being taught American culture so if they can convincingly come off as fully America and seek to blend into this way of life. To some there is no war on terror. We do not live in a society where fear of terrorism and insurgency is an everyday occurrence. In some countries such as Israel or Iraq there is a daily fear of a bomb going off or some type of firefight that taking lives away; however, in our country that fear is not present – causing the individual to recall the phrase “out of sight, out of mind”. Almost each and every day of the year there are at least 3 Armed Service members killed on foreign soil as a direct consequence of this War on Terror. In such a way, the reader can definitively understand that freedom is not free and that is the price we pay is ultimately with American lives. As discussed above, the Merriman dictionary has terrorism defined as “the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal”. Terrorism happens when people disagree about how to go about things such as religion and political ideas and resort to violence to achieve their own personal goals. In order to understand the future, it is necessary to look at the past and the nation’s own actions as a country to figure out why terrorism even exists in the first place Taking the 9/11 attacks as a current example of recent terrorism, the reader can see what happened was a terrorist plot which was devised by Al Qaeda, a multinational collaborative engaged in fighting an Islamic Jihad, to fly planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center. This plan succeeded and only the brave passengers on United Airlines flight 93 were successful in thwarting the attack before it reached its target. However, the 9/11 attackers, or he core ideology of anti-Americanism within radical Islamic elements had not always existed. Rather, it began to come to fruition after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to the way in which the Soviet Union and the United States sought out and courted various allies around the globe in dividing up the world based upon economic concept and political ideology, many nations within the Middle East came under the direct purview of the Soviet Union. Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and a handful of others allied themselves with the Soviet Union whereas Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia aligned themselves with the United States. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a pivotal moment in the development of the way in which the United States sought to counter Soviet aggression. Seeking to stop the successful annexation of yet another nation, the United States began arming the Mujahedeen – also referenced in the press of that era as “freedom fighters”. These mujahedeen were first and foremost radical holy warriors that sought to purge their lands of the “infidel” invaders. Such an oversight directly contributed to the way in which Al Qaeda’s ideology of hate and religious intolerance came to be born. Moreover, the leftovers of Soviet – American intrigue within the Middle East fostered a degree of Islamic radicalization; which was used as a tool by the USSR to encourage an increased level of anti-Americanism. This was of course due to the fact that it was the United States that firmly supported Israel’s right to exist within the Middle East and the Soviet Union that was arrayed against the United States and its allies. The USSR ultimately had little to lose by encouraging the populace within the nations it held sway over to become more and more anti-American and more and more anti-Israel. Ultimately, upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, a power vacuum cam came to exist over the entire region; thereby encouraging radical Islamic elements to seek greater degrees of power and autonomy. Not surprisingly, after 9/11 a lot of changes on how the United States sought to counter terrorism throughout the world began to change. One of them was the media as a whole began to avoid using the word “terror” in articles and reports. Since America was already shaken to the core its internal physique at that time was fragile. People needed reassurance and comfort; not shock stories or how the government at the time failed to protect them. (Seib and Janbeck, 2012). Slowly stories started to leak from the Bush administration about how he received information and certain newspapers slowly geared up the investigative journalism. After 9/11 the government went into full damage control and as such the nation’s coverage began to frame how to garner support for the war. One of the primary reasons that we went to war againt Iraq and terrorism under President Bush in 2003, was because of the possibility, of Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There was reported to President Bush that a link between AL Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden was verified. With that information the United Stated decided to go into preventive mode and with the nation worried about another 9/11, we went to war. Along the way we have adapted America to the idea that Homeland Security is important and the Patriot Act went into effect (Ellis, 2011). This allows the government to follow and observe within the United States borders pervcieved acts of terrorism without filing all kinds of warrants and allowing access to countless private data. So as of today terrorism is still very much alive and we still need our government to protect us. Regardless of the existential threat of collusion or corruption in positions of power, the fact remains that the United States is continually faced with a very true threat of terrorism from disaffected radicals around the globe. Although the home front has been relatively quiet over the past sevearl years, with the occaisional exception of a would-be Time Square bomber, an underwear bomber, or the Tsarnaev brothers, the fact remains that the lion’s share of radical Islamic terrorism takes place against United States interests abroad. As such, those individuals who are most likely to be harmed in such attacks are necessarily those ex-patriot workers in foreign regions or the United States military on the front lines of engaging the existential threat to a civilized world. Regardless of the shape they take, the commitment of brave men and women to counter these violent extremeists must be taken with the utmost deference. As such, the more individauls within our society begin to integrate with the gravity of the terror threat and the means through which continuous vigillence on the part of our service men and women protects the nation from further harm, the more the nation will come to feel a sense of apprecaition and togetherness at the thought of our best and brightest serving on the front lines in far flung reaches of the globe; perenially vigillent towards the threats that exist to American lives and interests. References Rohner, D., & Frey, B. (2007). Blood and ink! 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(2011). Global terrorism and new media : the post-Al Qaeda generation. London New York: Routledge. Read More