‘Instructor’s Name’
The War on Terror and the Political System
The terror attacks that happened on September 11, 2011 are without doubt a monumental tragedy and perhaps the singularly important socio-political event of the twenty first century. The human loss and the audacity of an attack on mainland America shook the nation, and the entire world watched with disbelief. But the events that followed hardly have enough justifications. In the subsequent years the USA has officially launched military war on Afghanistan and Iraq, and was involved in shadow wars in countries like Yemen, Pakistan and many other Middle Eastern countries. The result has been a huge financial and ideological loss to the country. While the war on terror did not solely cause the economic depression of 2008, it worsened the crisis significantly. On the other hand, the attack on civilians, the extreme torture methods used on captives, the Abu Gharib Saga, the Guantanamo Bay controversy and killing of thousands of innocent civilians during military attacks, have tarnished the image of the country as a champion of individual liberty, in a huge way.
The tenet of the American Dream that is most impacted by the war on terror is the one which states ‘anyone can reasonably anticipate attaining success in America’. The uncertain economic condition and the general handling of the American Muslims by the government, have dissuaded people from believing that anybody can anticipate succeeding in America. Among the questions discussed in class, the question which is most affected by the ‘war on terror’ is “Who is to be included in and who is excluded from the Dream?” This is because the State’s current policy is to ensure there are no loopholes in maintaining homeland security, and unfortunately this attitude of the Government have resulted in many Arab immigrants being questioned, detained and targeted. Thus a Muslim, pursuing his success in America, is faced with many hindrances and thus he is excluded from the dream.
The change required in the political system today, is to devote more resources on annihilating the causes of terrorism and to strengthen the security systems of the country, rather than go on an offensive against other nations and persecuting Arab immigrants just because of their ethnicity. As history has proved war never eliminates terrorism, the famous example being Israel’s continuous war on Palestine, if anything it further aggravates the problem.
