America and Terrorism in the 21st Century

Week 8 Discussion: America and Terrorism in the 21st Century
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42 unread replies.
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42 replies.

Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 32
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions
Consider a few terrorist activities since the 1980s until today. Here is a starting point:

1983: United States Embassy in Beirut and Kuwait is bombed
1988: Osama bin Laden re-organizes Al Qaeda in Pakistan to carry out attacks
1993: World Trade Center Bombing (first time)
1995: Oklahoma City Bombing
1998: United Stated Embassy bombings Nairobi and Sar Es Salaam
2001: 9/11 Bombing of the World Trade Centers
2001: Bio Terrorism begins (anthrax letters and Bill Gates’s warnings on bio terrorism)
2013: Boston Marathon Bombings
2018: Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

Then, address three (3) of the following and craft a response, as a whole, for your selections:

Explain if you think that global terrorism can be stopped.
Analyze the responsibility of the United States today to be the world’s “policeman.”
Assess if peace and stability in the Middle East are vital to U.S. economy and national security.
If the United States withdrew its troops from the Middle East tomorrow, would the terrorist threat end. Why or why not?
Assess if the use of military force is the only way to prevent terrorism. Are there other possible alternatives? Which strategy is best and why?
then reply to this student short reply..
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Johanna Nimo
Johanna Nimo
Sunday
Oct 18 at 12:38am
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Professor and Class,

“No group or nation should mistake America’s intentions: We will not rest until terrorist groups of global reach have been found, have been stopped, and have been defeated.” President George W. Bush, November 6, 2001.

“Shortly after takeoff on the morning of September 11, 2001, teams of hijackers from the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda seized control of four American airliners. Two of the airplanes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.” (Corbett et al. 2014). That morning my 3 year old daughter was watching Sesame Street while I took a shower. We lived in a 4th floor apartment in Brooklyn, with a slight view of the Statue of Liberty. When I got out of the shower, I looked at the television and thought my daughter must have changed the channel. I could not believe what I was seeing, it could not be real. I tried to change the channel but it was everywhere. The world watched as the 2nd plane hit, I was even more horrified. That was when I knew that this was no accident. I tried to call my husband, the phone lines were busy, there was no way to get through to anyone. Within hours the sky and streets were filled with papers from the Twin Towers. The horror of what had happened was unfathomable. My husband was in the New York City Police Academy at the time. He was sent to the site daily, for months to dig for remains and to guard the trucks that were filled with body parts of the victims. Living in New York during 911 was terrifying to say the least.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were acts of war against the United States of America and its allies. We have a responsibility to fight and protect our world from the terrorism that threatening our freedom and disrupting our way of life. Terrorism is not justifiable, the enemy is not one person. “The enemy is terrorism. Those who employ terrorism, regardless of their specific secular or religious objectives, strive to subvert the rule of law and effect change through violence and fear. These terrorists also share the misguided belief that killing, kidnapping, extorting, robbing, and wreaking havoc to terrorize people are legitimate forms of political action.”(National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, n.d.).

The history of the United States performing as the world’s “policemen” has invariably failed. “In not one case where the U.S. has exercised its so-called “moral obligation” to militarily intervene on behalf of the innocents in these lands have the violence or war been resolved. To the contrary, all have been worsened.”(May, E., 2016).

If the United States withdrew its troops from the Middle East tomorrow the terrorist threats would not end. “After the United States left Iraq in 2011, the state nearly collapsed, ISIS surged to prominence, and an emergency military intervention, which has now lasted nearly five years, was needed to repair the damage. If the United States disengages from Syria and Afghanistan today and the result is a significant terrorist attack, the pressure to get back into the region and take decisive military action will be strong. If America goes home from the Middle East, it will sooner or later face pressures to go big.” (Why America Can’t Quit The Middle East, n.d.).

“Just as the Cold War ended only when one side essentially gave up on a bankrupt ideology, the battle against Islamist terrorism will be won when the ideology that underpins it loses its appeal. The Cold War ended not with U.S. forces occupying the Kremlin but when the occupant of the Kremlin abandoned the fight; the people he governed had stopped believing in the ideology they were supposed to be fighting for.”(Gordon, P.H, 2016). The United States and its allies are far more likely to win this war than al Qaeda. Freedom is ultimately more appealing than an extremist interpretation of Islam but also because they learn from mistakes. Victory in the war on terror does not mean terrorism will end. Terrorism of some kind has been around for many years and will be for years to come. (2016).