Terrorism in the United States has been a stumbling block for many years. It has offered threats to the national interest and interrupted the peace within the country. These threats are observed in different forms where terrorist use various forms of attacks such as cybercrimes, suicide bombs, just to mention but a few. The policymakers have adopted many options with the aim of curbing the terrorist activities (Winkler, 137). However, of all the tools used, the only one that has been largely adopted is military force. It has brought many controversies to the people in that it leads to massive deaths of innocent civilians, casualties to the service men as well as political risks. Regardless of these issues, the most prevalent question is that does the United States bring this on to themselves? Are they helping prevent terrorism or are they encouraging violence? These are some of the issues that will be discussed in this paper.
Terrorism has been a threat to the United States and despite the measures taken to curb it; it still remains a challenge due to the fact that there is little chance that it will completely wipe out terrorist attacks or threats. Similarly, the fact that terrorism requires deep consideration of the actions to be taken has also brought about another challenge (Bapat, 317). These facts have been brought about by the countermeasures used to curb terrorism. But regardless of the actions taken military force has offered the biggest controversy (Bapat, 319). This is because it only adds on to more violence as the terrorist will surely fight back. The end result of this measure is that it brings about massive deaths of innocent civilians as well as the servicemen. According to Bapat, (321), International alliances are broken when United States launch attacks on countries that engage in terrorist activities.
In addition to this, one fact that leads to the ideology that the United States encourages terrorism is that the forearms are easily available. It is very easy to obtain firearms as they are sold without any form of verification. Gun shows sell guns and rifle to people without even asking for identification cards (Gupta, 113). This has been evidenced through the way people without proper background checks have been able to purchase firearms at gun shows (Gupta, 115). Therefore, despite all the initiatives put in place by leaders in the United States to curb terrorism, I strongly believe that it is a self-imposed venture. This scenario also brings about the fact that the United Sates is not doing enough to prevent terrorism as a matter of fact they are only encouraging violence (Gupta, 120).
The ease of access to firearms in the United States has reached out to the public where the evidence from the press indicated that over 200 people who had been associated with terrorist activities had accessed firearms through legal channels over the past few years (Spalek, 69). This clearly shows that the actions upheld by the United States anti-terrorism acts only promote violence. These activities have brought about acts of terrorism within the country where terrorist feel the need to take revenge for the activities imposed on their countries. The use of military force has largely contributed to instances of terrorism that the United States engages in measures of eradicating terrorism even in other nations (Spalek, 73). This brings about severe results that leave the residents of those countries devastated. In return these nations aim at revenging and thus they enter the United States and seek their revenge. The other fact is that there is ease of access to firearms and when they acquire them, they cause massive destruction and kill many people (Young, 99).
The United States have over the years been involved in many activities of curbing where they have attacked other nations in the name of curbing terrorism (Comras, 94). These incidents include: the air strike conducted by the United States against Libya, the missile strike against Iraq and the missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan (Comras, 99). These activities have brought about much violence in that the countries that are attacked aim of seeking revenge in order to destroy the United States the same way it destroyed their countries. Spies and suicide bombers are sent to launch the attacks on U.S soil with the aim of showing them that they are not strong and free from attacks (Comras, 102). These actions also show that the attempts to curb terrorism within the United States only bring about more violence to them.
The attacks made by the United States military force to destroy Qaddafi’s and Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organizations destroyed a lot of property and left many people dead. It also destroyed the countries and left them weak to an extent that they could not focus on more terrorist activities (Comras, 104). This was a good initiative as it helped curb potential terrorist activities. However, despite these actions the countries that were attacked have never put an end to the severe attacks as they still seek justification of the actions. This is evidenced through the many incidents recorded where Iraq immigrants have moved to the United States with the aim of destroying the stability. The terrorists have also evolved new ways of seeking revenge through cybercrimes that devastate the economy of the United States as well destroy lives (Comras, 81). Terrorists are lurking for any opportunity to bring down the United States and prove to them that despite their successive measures to curb terrorism, they still remain prone to attacks. They also aim at show them that they are also weak. Many nations that have been attacked by the United States have coordinated and formed alliances that aim at hitting the United States in the places that are very crucial. Such alliances include the Al Qaeda that involves Muslims and other cultures (Comras, 94).
The media has been one of the key issues that bring about more violence to the United States. It encourages revealing of knowledge and information about the activities that occur across the world (Silk, 56). This brings about the recognition of the objectives and effects caused by the terrorist. It also encourages the views of the people in terms of support for the actions taken by the government in curbing the terrorist movements (Silk, 41). This gives voice to the people even the terrorists who give their motives to the public. The media also portrays the incidents where the United States launches attacks on other countries as well the results where many people are killed (Silk, 67). It gives the terrorists more insight as they know where and how the military force attacks and thus plan their activities to counteract.
The military force does an impressive work in preventing and minimizing instances of terrorism but they are not keen on the important aspects such as safe -guarding the lives of other people (Silk, 78). All they do is attack and apprehend the terrorists using force. Similarly, there are measures that lead to more violence for instance: when terrorist attacks the United States the first thing they do is verifying their identity. These results to severe actions where the people associated with that identity will be harassed in order to produce more information. This has also led to hate crimes and acts of discrimination against innocent people simply because they originate from the same background as the terrorists (Silk, 79).
Many instances have been recorded where the media has contributed to the spread of violence as it gives the details of the terrorists. Most of the time the media gives the identity of the terrorists thus creating violence among the society as members discriminate and abuse the immigrants (Bapat, 318). The military force on the other hand imposes arrests and murder of innocent people who were not even associated with the attacks. This leads to more violence as the relatives or friends of those innocents killed launch attacks in a way of revenge. This has been evidenced through the way people have indicated through the media on how they will attack the nation in revenge of their relatives. Similarly, it has occurred through the way terrorists own up to the attacks (Bapat, 299).
Works Cited
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Comras, V D. Flawed diplomacy: The United Nations and the War on Terrorism. Washington, D.C: Potomac Books, 2010. Print.
Gupta, Dipak K. "Global Spread of Radical Ideologies: Causes, Consequences and Policies."India Quarterly 65.2 (2009): 109-121. Web.
Silk, P D., B. Spalek, and M. O'Rawe. Preventing Ideological Violence: Communities, Police and Case Studies of "Success". Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Print.
Spalek, B. Terror crime prevention with communities. London [u.a.: Bloomsbury, 2013. Print.
Winkler, C K., and EBSCOhost. In the Name of Terrorism: Presidents on Political Violence in the Post-World War II Era. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. Print.
Young, Joseph K; Dugan, Laura. "Veto players and terror." Journal of Peace Research48.1 (2011): 19-33. Web.
