The Militarization of U.S. Policy after 9/11 and Its Effects on National Security
Americans will live to remember September 11, 2009. The events that took place left a scar in the lives of many individuals who lost loved ones. The bombings revealed how vulnerable the United States was to attacks. This prompted the government to impose measures that would assist in enhancing security in the country. George Bush hinted this in a speech he gave. He said that the country concluded to face every threat posed by any source meant to bring sudden suffering and terror to America. He also stated that America would use all resources at its disposal to wage war on and defeat the international terror network. One of the policies was the U.S militarization policy. Militarization refers to the process through which a community prepares itself for violence and armed conflict. Founded on the premise that using force is necessary to manage a population effectively, militarization comes at the expense of democracy, human rights and rule of law structure.
The United States government expanded its military operations, political pressure and economic measures on organizations it considered terrorists and countries and governments accused of harboring them. The first instance of US initiating military action in such a country was the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. The move aimed at capturing the al-Qaeda forces and phasing out the Taliban regime. The government also focused on domestic security soon after the attacks. The Patriot Act was passed in 2001. It allowed law enforcers surveillance and sweeping search powers over United States citizens. The military increased security assistance and military spending to over $700 billion.
Militarization has resulted in adverse effects to the citizens of the United States. It puts the leaders and their followers above the law. This results in the increased number of people above the law and hence the laws are eventually ignored. The laws in existence become misinterpreted and used to suppress or punish dissent. At this point, the law no longer protects the individual citizens. This leads to judicial corruption, which relates to the undermining of the separation of powers and increases with the use of anti terrorism and emergency laws. The judiciary is rendered powerless in the fight against the executive’s wrong doings.
Civilian police departments are in most cases asked to assist the military in militarized communities. Civilian policing becomes undermined since they work under the law as opposed to military activities, which take place with impunity. Military operations use heavily armed personnel who threaten to shoot a person who fails to surrender. Individuals loose importance as seen by prevalent kidnappings. This shows how militarization leads in the breakdown of social structures. Militarized environments are zones in which dehumanization is the order of the day as male dominion feels the atmosphere. This is the case for women who are more often than not dehumanized behavior and vulgar language at check points. Lengthy periods of militarization result in the destruction of standard and profound norms, and damage to the society’s language and memory.
There are several examples of U.S militarization post 9/11. Policing agencies have been increasingly militarized over the year. The influx of decommissioned military weapons and equipment in local police forces and the increase in the rate in which SWAT teams are used are enough evidence. The US Defense Department disbursed equipment worth 142.6 million to local law enforcement agencies which included vehicles, boats, aircraft, weapons and other items all in the name of militarization. Police officers in Jasper, Florida all received m-16 military grade machine guns in 2002.
The United States foreign policy militarization has been seen in recent years by its involvement in a number of wars such as the Iraqi invasion in March 2003. The military provides aid via many channels such as the inclusion of an item known as the foreign military financing. A total of 4.5 billion US Dollars was spent in 2001, which was shared among Egypt, Israel and Columbia. Pakistan received roughly 11.5 billion US Dollars since 9/11 in direct military aid. The US had over 700 bases in 130 different countries as of 2004. The US has overthrown democratically established governments such as Guatemala and Iran so as to justify interventions made by the military. Poland agreed to a deal with the United States to establish a missile defense structure in Poland’s territory. The missiles tracking system would be situated in the Czech Republic. This was done against the will of the Czech and Polish people whose majority opposed the plot.
Works Cited
Teemu Tallberg. “Bonds of burden and bliss: The management of social relations in peacekeeping organization.Critical perspectives on international business 3.1 (2007): 63 – 82. Print
Stokes Doug and Sam Raphael. Global Energy Security and American Hegemony. JHU press: Maryland, 2010. Print.
