Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

War on Terror

Powerful Essays
1793 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
War on Terror
War Against Terror

The September 11 2001 (9/11), terrorist attacks on the United States changed the perspective of the world towards terrorism especially the Al Qaeda. The world, in particular the major powers came to realize that the greatest threat they had in the 21st centaury was global terrorism and President Bush once said, “Al Qaeda is to terror what the Mafia is to crime” (George Bush, 2001,p.2). Just few days after September 11 2001, President Bush delivered a speech in which he declared that America was at war, a war to “find stop and defeat” every terror group of global reach (George Bush, 2001, p.5). On October 7 2001, the USA and UK launched a joint attack on Afghanistan, to overthrow the oppressive Taliban government and to destroy the Al Qaeda’s stronghold in the nation, and by 2011, 49 nations, including Australia had sent more than 140,000 soldiers into Afghanistan (Rogers Simon and Lisa Evans, 2009). The second phase of the ‘War on Terror” took the USA and its allies to Iraq, where they had suspected the Saddam Hussein led government was creating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and was cooperating with the Al Qaeda to launch attacks on USA and its allies. On March 20 2003, the USA, UK and their allies launched an invasion of Iraq without the consent of the UN (Ewen MacAskill, and Julian Borger, 2004). The invasion eventually led to the capture and execution of Saddam Hussein. However, no evidence was found of the Saddam regime creating WMD or collaborating with the Al Qaeda to cause damage to the West (Pincus Walter and Dana Milbank, 2004).
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have come at great costs with over 13,009 civilians loosing their lives in Afghanistan and over $ 1.7 trillion being spent by the USA alone in Afghanistan over the past decade fighting the Taliban and the Al Qaeda (Amy Bingham, 2012). In Iraq over 106,348 civilian people have lost their lives and over $ 800 billion have been spent. Further, thousands of soldiers have either been killed or fatally wounded (Amy Bingham, 2012).
Currently, all foreign troops have been withdrawn form Iraq and the same is expected to happen in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. However, the scars of war still remain in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, Iraq is a torn nation with Iraqi citizens fighting amongst each other. The Iraqi Al Qaeda, which was established after the invasion in 2003 to fight foreign armies, has grown in size and stature. Just last week the Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for bomb attacks, which swept through Bagdad, in which more than 50 people were killed (BBC, 2013). The Prime Minister of Iraq later stated that the Al Qaeda were “trying to provoke a sectarian civil war,” between Shia and Sunni Muslims to destabilize the country and establish themselves as the major force in the country (BBC, 2013). Afghanistan too is in a fragile position, the once defeated Taliban has regained its confidence and has started to gain some of the power and land it lost during the USA led invasion in 2001. Across the boarder form Afghanistan; Pakistan has become a state with great uncertainty as terrorist groups linked with the Al Qaeda have caused great social and political unrest (Sohail Ahmed, 2010).
At the 11th memorial service of 9/11, President Obama stated that “Al Qaeda’s leadership has been devastated, and Osama bin Laden will never threaten us again. (Mary Bruce, 2012) ” Yet on the same day, the Al Qaeda, attacked the American Embassy in Libya, in which four people including the US Ambassador Christopher Stevens were killed (ALAN McLEAN, SERGIO PEÇANHA, ARCHIE TSE and LISA WAANANEN, 2012). Simon Jenkins, a writer for the Guardian, in the UK states that the response to the 9/11 attacks was just what Osama Bin Laden was dreaming about, because it gave him the opportunity to show case his belief. That the West is against the Muslim world and that the USA is the “the great Satan” (Simon Jenkins, 2011). This belief is also reiterated by Inayat Bunglawala, chair of Muslims4UK, an organization based in the UK to bridge the differences between Muslims and the West. According to Bunglawala, 9/11 was an invite for the USA to open warfare. An opportunity for the Al Qaeda to showcase to the world, in particular young Muslims that the world’s biggest supporter of freedom, equality and justice were in fact the biggest perpetrators of it and there was a need for groups like the Al Qaeda to protect their people, their values and their beliefs (Bunglawala, 2011). Even the FBI has stated has reiterated this belief. In its official website the FBI states that “the war in Iraq, NATO presence in Afghanistan, and Guantanamo, serve to inflame and, perhaps, radicalize those sympathetic to al Qaeda’s ideology” (Lauren B O’Brien, 2011). However, there are many that believe that the reaction to 9/11 was the right one. Jonathan Powell, chief of staff to Tony Blair believes that 9/11 was perhaps the greatest achievement of the Al Qaeda and that the response of USA and the major powers was the right one; as the group has been unable to amount another “spectacular attack” (Jonathan Powell, 2011). Further, Arab Spring has demonstrated that people of the Arab world really do not agree with the Al Qaeda ideologies. As none of the governments that have replaced the overthrown government have anything to do with the Al Qaeda. PJ Crowley, a professor at Penn State, too believes that a decade after 9/11 the world has changed but not in the way Osama Bin Laden hoped for. He too like Powell sates that the Arab spring has demonstrated that the people of the Arab world do not want to live in the environment of Al Qaeda or Bin Laden, but in an environment where everyone can prosper and share their views (PJ Crowley, 2011).
President Bush once said that the Al Qaeda’s goal not about “making money, its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere” (George Bush, 2001,p 2). Terrorism is a born out of emotions and if the emotions are not understood and acted upon, than more often than not people tend to act in radical and dangerous ways. Yes, Al Qaeda has been decimated; its top leaders have been killed or captured. However, many innocent people have lost their lives, and Al Qaeda has been able to manipulate many young people. Today, the Al Qaeda still operates in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia and Iraq, and perhaps the leaders of the world need to change the way they deal with terrorism because by just eliminating the branch does not eliminate the roots.

Bibliography:

Ahmed, Sohail. "Pakistan 's Economy Hit Hard by War on Terror." Caii RSS. N.p., 18 June 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/pakistan/2010/06/18/feature-01>.

"Al-Qaeda in Iraq Claims Deadly Baghdad Bombings." BBC News. BBC, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21857424>.

BINGHAM, AMY. "2,000 Dead: Cost of War in Afghanistan." ABC News. ABC News Network, 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/2000-dead-cost-war-afghanistan/story?id=17367728>.

"Breitbart.com." Breitbart News Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/12/06/President-Karzai-Blames-US-For-Problems-in-Afghanistan>.

Bruce, Mary. "Obama at 9/11 Memorial: ‘No Act Of Terrorism Can Ever Change What We Stand For’." ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/obama-at-911-memorial-no-act-of-terrorism-can-ever-change-what-we-stand-for/>.

Bush, George. "Transcript of President Bush 's Address." CNN. CNN, 21 Sept. 2001. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://articles.cnn.com/2001-09-20/us/gen.bush.transcript_1_joint-session-national-anthem-citizens?_s=PM:US>.

Jenkins, Simon, Jonathan Powell, Mohammed Hanif, PJ Crowley, Orzala Ashraf Nemat, George Galloway, Aditya Chakrabortty, Inayat Bunglawala, and Carne Ross. "What Impact Did 9/11 Have on the World?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 05 Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/05/9-11-impact-world-al-qaida>.

MacAskill, Ewen, and Julian Borger. "Iraq War Was Illegal and Breached UN Charter, Says Annan." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 15 Sept. 2004. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq>.

McLEAN, ALAN, SERGIO PEÇANHA, ARCHIE TSE, and LISA WAANANEN. The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/09/20/world/africa/the-attack-on-the-american-mission-in-benghazi-libya.html?_r=0>.

O’Brien, Lauren B. "The Evolution of Terrorism Since 9/11." FBI. FBI, Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/september-2011/the-evolution-of-terrorism-since-9-11>.

Pincus, Walter, and Dana Milbank. "Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed." The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 17 June 2004. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html>.

Rogers, Simon, and Ami Sedghi. "Afghanistan Civilian Casualties: Year by Year, Month by Month." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/aug/10/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-statistics>.

Rogers, Simon, and Lisa Evans. "Afghanistan Troop Numbers Data: How Many Does Each Country Send to the Nato Mission There?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 08 Sept. 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/sep/21/afghanistan-troop-numbers-nato-data>.

"September 2011." FBI. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/september-2011>.

Shane, Scott. "Report Says 54 Countries Helped C.I.A. After 9/11." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Feb. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/us/politics/report-says-54-countries-helped-cia-with-interrogations-after-9-11.html?_r=0>.

"The War in Iraq." The Returned and Services League of Australia. The Returned and Services League of Australia, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://rslnsw.org.au/commemoration/heritage/the-war-in-iraq>.

Bibliography: Ahmed, Sohail. "Pakistan 's Economy Hit Hard by War on Terror." Caii RSS. N.p., 18 June 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/pakistan/2010/06/18/feature-01&gt;. "Al-Qaeda in Iraq Claims Deadly Baghdad Bombings." BBC News. BBC, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21857424&gt;. BINGHAM, AMY. "2,000 Dead: Cost of War in Afghanistan." ABC News. ABC News Network, 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/2000-dead-cost-war-afghanistan/story?id=17367728&gt;. "Breitbart.com." Breitbart News Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/12/06/President-Karzai-Blames-US-For-Problems-in-Afghanistan&gt;. Bush, George. "Transcript of President Bush 's Address." CNN. CNN, 21 Sept. 2001. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://articles.cnn.com/2001-09-20/us/gen.bush.transcript_1_joint-session-national-anthem-citizens?_s=PM:US&gt;. MacAskill, Ewen, and Julian Borger. "Iraq War Was Illegal and Breached UN Charter, Says Annan." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 15 Sept. 2004. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq&gt;. O’Brien, Lauren B. "The Evolution of Terrorism Since 9/11." FBI. FBI, Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/september-2011/the-evolution-of-terrorism-since-9-11&gt;. Pincus, Walter, and Dana Milbank. "Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed." The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 17 June 2004. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html&gt;. "September 2011." FBI. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/september-2011&gt;. "The War in Iraq." The Returned and Services League of Australia. The Returned and Services League of Australia, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. &lt;http://rslnsw.org.au/commemoration/heritage/the-war-in-iraq&gt;.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The United States has been at war since its creation in 1776. It has battled confrontation 222 out of 239 years, just about 93% of its continuance. Notably, one of the most crucial wars is the “War on Terror”. Beginning in March of 2003, this war initially served the purpose of getting rid of the country’s leader Saddam Hussein to prevent his use of suspected stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. While this war was strategically justified the real war between Iraq and the U.S. began long before what is officially recognized. The United States of America should not have invaded Iraq as it promoted the illegal exercise of government power and democracy, encouraged continuous genocide and violence, and empowered an extreme capitalist regime.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wounded War Veterans

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The cost-benefit analysis of unjust war is difficult to understand for some, especially when the reasoning of intent is dubious. Does the motives behind the United States government stationing troops in Afghanistan make the fact that we have way too many young people who are getting injured in combat daily a justified act of valor? It is a harsh awareness when you realize your nation is putting the lives of it’s military at risk every day for nothing other than what seems to be ulterior motives in an unjust war on terrorism.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Combat High

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This essay is based on Combat High written by Sebastian Junger first published in Newsweek Magazine in 2010. The article was adapted from the author 's book War which describes life in a platoon in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. He spent fourteen months during 2007 and 2008 embedded in the platoon. Junger points out the costs of the war in terms of the soldiers psychological aspects, explaining how being in combat can be damaging. Another cost of war is caused by lack of proper medical and psychological care to returning soldiers to help in the re-insertion to society.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    War on Terror

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages

    I, myself, before September 11, 2001 did not know what terrorism was. It is completely a new term for me, and I could never figure how terrible it is. But then, experiencing and witnessing the feeling of losing the one you loved who was a victim of that disaster, I recognized that the world is no longer as safe as before. Today, not only America but also Britain, Spain, Indonesia…became the target of terrorists. The terror tissue is the most challenged thing for all the governments to solve. Even though after September 11, 2001, US has attacked and destroyed a lot terrorists’ bases in over the world, the terrorists still survive and keep aiming to US and its allies.…

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Al Qaida History

    • 3238 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Gunaratna, R., & Oreg, A. (2010). Al qaeda 's organizational structure and its evolution. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism , 33(12), 1043-1078.…

    • 3238 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    The United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) on March 20, 2003 in Iraq in order to combat terrorism and seek weapons of mass destruction (Hampson, 2010). Since then, “over two million troops have been deployed overseas” in support of these two wars (Tuerk, Yoder, Grubaugh, Myrick, Hamner & Acierno, 2011, p.397).…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Paragraph 9/11

    • 19316 Words
    • 78 Pages

    Jump up ^ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (July 22, 2004 (first edition)). The 9/11 Commission Report. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 294. ISBN 0-393-32671-3.…

    • 19316 Words
    • 78 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Hoffman, Bruce (2002) ‘Rethinking Terrorism and Counterterrorism Since 9/11’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 25:5, 303-316.…

    • 2669 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Iraq War Cost

    • 2632 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The U.S led Iraq and Afghanistan wars have received praises and criticisms of different measures. The war was fought for almost a decade, starting back in 2003. In the case of Iraq war, the cause of the conflict was suspicion by the United States and United Kingdom that Iraq had in its possession Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) that it intended to use in case of war between nations. This was based on the past experience where Iraq had used WMD against Kurds. Despite the fact that an investigation by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) found no evidence of claims that Iraq indeed had WMD, The United States and United Kingdom went ahead and invaded Iraq on the 20th of…

    • 2632 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    September 11th, 2001 has changed and defined American foreign policy for the past two decades. Enemies of the United States are no longer only other nations, but also terrorist groups, which operate transnationally and even between continents. On the night of September 11th, in the aftermath of the deadliest terror attack the world has seen, former President George W. Bush and his War Cabinet officially declared the start of the “War on Terror”. Bush would say on September 19th, 2001,…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    "Q&A: Foreign Forces in Afghanistan." _BBC News_. BBC, 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11371138>.…

    • 907 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    On October 7, 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan in retaliation of the 9/11 attacks. Since 2001, there have been over two thousand deaths of American soldiers as a result of the war and over two hundred thousand injured. It is estimated more than twenty six hundred Afghanistan civilians have died as a result of the ongoing war. American citizens now view…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In early August 1990, the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait. On 6 August1990, the United Nations Security Council imposed comprehensiveeconomic sanctions on Iraq in response to its invasion of Kuwait fourdays earlier and a military build-up began that eventually resulted in thesix week Gulf War in early 1991. The air campaign against Iraq waslaunched 16 January 1991, with a ground force invasion of Kuwait amonth later on the 24 February 1991. A ceasefire was called after fourdays on 28 February. Military forces from a coalition of 34 countrieswere involved in the war against Iraq.The number of coalition military personnel that were killed is welldocumented14- 358 men and women died - most of whom were from theUSA and many as a result of ‘friendly fire’. However, the number ofpeople in Iraq directly killed by the war is much harder to establish andmany of the estimates appear to be little more than exercises inpropaganda.The most widely quoted figures were those produced by the US DefenceIntelligence Agency (DIA) who estimated that 100,000 Iraqis were killed(plus or minus 50,000). By contrast, Heidenrich (1993) argues that thisis a huge overestimate and that the Iraqi dead were only about 1,500.Both these estimates are based on a number of dubious assumptionsand seem to be little more than guesses. A more ‘scientific’ analysis byDaponte (1993)15, based on epidemiological and demographic techniques,concluded that 56,000 soldiers (plus or minus 7,000) and 3,500 civilianswere killed directly by the war.The indirect effect of the Gulf War and economic sanctionsThe heavy bombing of Iraq resulted in severe damage to infrastructure --bridges, roads, water, sewerage and electrical power systems. Most ofthe deaths of ‘innocent’ people in Iraq were a result of the indirect effectsof the bombing of these infrastructure facilities and an inability to repairthese facilities due to the economic sanctions.…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In turn, Bush argues that the defensive capabilities of the US need to be transformed. He argues that while the US should remain the world’s strongest military, they also need to invest resources into Homeland Security as well as their intelligence services so that they can better predict and foil terror attacks. The most important element of the Bush doctrine, however, is his belief that “the best defence is a good offense”, and that the practice of pre-emptive attacks is crucial to American success. But, given that many terrorists are stateless, this raises the question of how do you attack an intricate global network. To this, Bush’s answer is that any state that works with these groups will be deemed an enemy of the US, and a potential target of the US military. Because of the potential damage of WMDs, and a large number of unstable countries possessing these, Bush fears that it is quite plausible for a terrorist cell to obtain a WMD and use it against the US. Thus, according to Bush’s strategy, the invasion of Iraq was not only justified, but also integral to the protection of the…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The War in Iraq has sparked an abundance of criticism since its start in March of 2003. Now, four year later, the criticism has only intensified. The fact of the matter is that upon invasion of Iraq four years ago, the reasons were justifiable based on the evidence at hand. Our American troops, some 3,386 of our armed service members have given their lives for a cause that they felt was just, according to an Associated Press count that was conducted on Friday, May 11, 2007 (Associated Press, 2007). The devastating number is a cruel reminder as to how dangerous a war can be in general, but even more so when guerrilla warfare is present.…

    • 1786 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays