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Terrorism Violence Criminal
Terrorism has been used since the beginnings of time. Depending on the point of view, it can be described as both a crime and holy duty. Terrorism is usually practiced effectively by a weaker side in the conflict. Sometimes, terrorism is mistaken for criminal activity. Even in the United States, every agency is responsible for a different task concerning the current war of terrorism apply different definitions.
Technically, the word terrorism is defined as “the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.” (Dictionary.com) However, terrorists use many different ways to affect societies and governments, which still can be applied to terrorism.
In the book Cocaine Politics, the authors discuss narco-terrorism as the new threat of the 1990s. Narco-terrorism, by definition, means terrorism financed by profits from illegal drug trafficking. (Merriam-Webster.com) Before the United States entered the war with Iraq, the nation viewed drug abuse as “the most important problem facing this country”.
You can get expert help with your essays right now. Find out more...After reading Cocaine Politics by Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, in my opinion the war against terrorism took a wrong turn. “Ninety percent of the cocaine Americans consume comes from Colombia; the FARC controls the primary coca cultivation and processing regions in that country, and they have controlled it for the past two decades… The State Department estimates that the FARC receives $300 million a year from drug sales to finance its terrorist activities…” (Roleff) Event though terrorist groups receive their funding from drug sales, war on terrorism with terrorism is the wrong answer. Two wrongs do not make a right.
“We should remember that when President [Ronald] Reagan sent jets to bomb Muammar Qaddafi's tent in April 1986, a raid that killed one of Qaddafi's kids, it spurred its own act of revenge. A Libyan agent was convicted of the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. Prosecutors said the agent was out to settle the score.” (Egendorf) The war on terrorism creates more terrorism. The United States is fighting terrorism with terrorism. The agencies will not admit to using terrorism because they apply different definitions.
“Bush's Iraq folly has made the United States less safe in at least three ways: It has bred the very terrorism it ostensibly set out to vanquish, it has diverted resources from the fight against Al Qaeda [terrorists], and it has alienated people and countries that were providing crucial help in that fight.” (Woodward) The Bush Administration claims that the Iraq operation is not an illegal war, but a defense of the United State. Since Saddam Hussein, the alleged threat, has been overthrown, the United States is now threatened by the terrorists that poured into Iraq.
However, we would still be creating terrorists in Iraq, even if foreign terrorists did not pour into Iraq. “With Iraqi citizens suffering more in material ways now than they did before the war, with the U.S. military's often heavy-handed treatment of Iraqi civilians, and with the failure of the U.S. military to provide adequate safety in places like Baghdad and Najaf, it can hardly be a surprise that some in Iraq view the United States as an illegitimate occupying force.” (Woodward) A portion of the Iraqi population is now susceptible to a nationalistic uprising or a jihad against the United States. We are creating terrorists faster than we are killing them.
“‘Every American needs to believe this: that if we fail here in this environment, the next battlefield will be the streets of America,’ said General Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. commander in Iraq. Paul Bremer, de facto king of Iraq, has said virtually the same thing. As has Bush, who told the American Legion, ‘Our military is confronting terrorists in Iraq ... so our people will not have to confront terrorist violence in New York, or St. Louis, or Los Angeles’.”(Woodward) So far, between 82,987 and 90,521 Iraqi civilians have died from violence, according to Iraqbodycount.net.
The United States ability to gather the Al Qaeda terrorist group is greatly depended on the cooperation of the Muslim people, except they are in not mood to cooperate, since Bush the turned the unprecedented sympathy and support into unprecedented hostility. Moreover, it is not just the people, but the countries as well. “Bush, in his speech to the nation, wrapped his Iraq campaign in the shroud of September 11. Bush has fueled a mass misconception. While there is no credible evidence connecting Saddam Hussein to September 11, 69 percent of Americans still believe he was involved in the attacks, according to a recent Washington Post poll.” (Woodward)
Find out how our expert essay writers can help you with your work...In my opinion, if the war on terror was initiated by the United States in response to the September 11 attacks, then the United States should have been prepared better for an attack. “On February 29, 1993, a bombing in the parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City resulted in the deaths of five people and thousands of injuries. The bomb left a crater 200 by 100 feet wide and five stories deep. The World Trade Center is the second largest building in the world and houses 100,000 workers and visitors each day.” (NSI.org)
In addition, without any evidence, the President inflated the threat based on a deceitful plan to persuade the American people that Saddam's capability to supply nuclear weapons to Al Qaeda is reasonable for immediate war, even though there was no linkage. “America went to war in Iraq because President Bush insisted that nuclear weapons in the hands of Saddam Hussein and his ties to Al Qaeda were too dangerous to ignore. Congress never would have voted to authorize the war if we had known the facts.” (Nakaya)
From all this there is only one conclusion. “What happened was not merely a failure of intelligence, but the result of manipulation and distortion of the intelligence and selective use of unreliable intelligence to justify a decision to go to war.” (Nakaya) The Administration already made up their mind and would not allow anything to change their decision.
In my opinion, the future does not look good.
Having read _Cocaine Politics_, how do you now feel about the war against terrorism? What are the prospects for the future, peace and diplomacy?
Work Cited
"terrorism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 23 Apr. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism>.
"Narco-Terrorism." Merriam-Webster. 23 Apr. 2008 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/narco-terrorism>.
"Illegal Drug Use Supports Terrorism."Opposing Viewpoints: The War on Drugs. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004.Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Oneonta Community College - SUNY. 19 Apr. 2008
"War Is the Wrong Response to Terrorism."Opposing Viewpoints: Terrorism. Laura K. Egendorf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004.Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Oneonta Community College - SUNY. 19 Apr. 2008
"The War on Terror Is Creating More Terrorists."Current Controversies: War. John Woodward. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006.Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Oneonta Community College - SUNY. 19 Apr. 2008
"The War Against Iraq Was Unjustified."Current Controversies: America's Battle Against Terrorism. Andrea C. Nakaya. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005.Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Oneonta Community College - SUNY. 19 Apr. 2008
"BACKGROUNDER: TERRORISM." NSI. 20 Apr. 2008 <http://nsi.org/Library/Terrorism/facterr.html>.
"Cocaine Politics." Third World Traveler. 20 Apr. 2008 <http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Drug_War/Cocaine_Politics.html>.
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