War On Terror Research Paper

Valerie Martinez
Dr. Allison
World Politics 20
October 16, 2011
War on Terror September 11, 2001, already ten years ago but the events are as vivid as the day it occurred. I was eight years old, and a third grader not knowing anything that happened in the “outside” world. As a little girl I did not realize that the event that happened would change or lives forever.
As the years progressed my fear of the terrorists grew. The so called “War on Terror” increased the fear of all Americans and propaganda grew day by day. Racism came back into the picture against all those who looked like a typical middle eastern, and accusations of terrorist attacks occurred against those who were innocent and naïve. Of course what we feared was another
I began to analyze United States official documents and learned how to spot propaganda out of the simplest text. Once I read George Orwell’s 1984 I became interested in all types of government around the world, but what amazed me the most was the way Orwell’s examples of torture were right on point to the events that occur now in the world. I had a strong belief that my country would never use any of those horrific methods towards anyone, but it wasn’t until I sickeningly watched the documentary on Guantanamo Bay and the Abu Ghraib prison. After the documentary I was in shock to find out the treatment innocent people received just because of their culture. I could not believe that our government could go down to such a low level of morality, so I began to research what the United States actually did behind its citizen’s backs. I discovered that the United States kept the mental, emotional and physical torture that was done towards hundreds of innocent people. What disgusted me the most was the torture that children had to put up with, I couldn’t imagine a child stuck in a prison where the worst of the worst were kept. Even more shocking was the approval of these acts without reason, and the way the United States hid all of this from the world. The terrorist attacks really turned our lives upside down, but once we learned that we were the
I tolerated American politics just because it was part of my country but it never interested me. Learning about the “War on Terror” was a lot more interesting and I had to see it with my own eyes to realize what the truth behind world affairs. It took me some time to fully understand the actions the United States took, which helped my interest in world politics expand to deeper levels. I wanted to learn and understand the actions all countries took to keep their governments under control. The lies, the propaganda and the deceitfulness really grew my interest and my political views shaped up into liberalism. It is extremely important to know what is going on around the world as I obviously learned after the wakeup call I received. As I did, all Americans, especially young adults, need a wakeup call to spark their interest in world affairs. It may not seem important, but all the powers in the world are connected and each problem affects us in a way or another. All over history, world affairs have broken us apart and brought us together and at the end of every day all events are important not only for our current lives but also to shape up our