Terrorism: Is There an End?
By Allison Villines
12th Grade
Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary defines terror as “an overwhelming impulse of fear; extreme fright or dread.” Funk and Wagnall's also defines terrorism as “unlawful acts of violence committed in an attempt to overthrow a government”. On September 11, 2001, the United States felt terror as the country was attacked in three distinct acts of terrorism. Many questions about terrorism have arisen since that day: What exactly is terrorism? Who commits it or has committed it in the past? Can it ever be stopped? The magnitude of the events of September 11, 2001 have made these questions one of the most talked about issues today even though the United States has been a large target for terrorists throughout history.
The author of “Why Do Terrorists Attack Us?” states that the United States has gotten so used to “being hated and vilified around the world” that no one asks why anymore. The author also says many Muslims see this country as a “population of devils led by devils” and believe that the “wealth is fleeting and self-deceptive”. The Muslims believe that “Allah wants us destroyed because of how arrogantly we display our godlessness” says the author of “Why Do Terrorists Attack Us?” President George W. Bush addressed the nation saying terrorists hope that “America grows fearful [and] retreat's] from the world” and Paul Hollander of The Weekly Standard comments that terrorists maintain that their “actions are created by the evil the United States represents.”
Microsoft Encarta 1999 reported that in the latter half of the twentieth century, acts of terror multiplied, “driven by fierce nationalist and ideological motivations and facilitated by technological advances in transportation, communications, microelectronics, and explosives.” The conflict between Arab nations and Israel following the end of World War II in 1945 produced successive waves of terrorism in the Middle East. In the 1970’s and 1980’s organized terror spilled into Western Europe and other parts of the world as supporters of Palestinian resistance to Israel carried their war abroad and as domestic conflicts gave birth to terrorist organizations in countries such as West Germany, Italy, and Japan.
In the United States, terrorism has chiefly consisted of attacks by isolated individuals who violently oppose state and corporate power. The United States has an ample history of domestic terrorism. Early in the twentieth century, labor leaders such as William Dudley Haywood openly “espoused a philosophy of revolutionary violence and a commitment to the destruction of government power” stated Microsoft Encarta 1999. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, during the latter stages of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, groups such as the Weather Underground bombed buildings on university campuses throughout the country and corporation headquarters and government buildings in New York City. Between 1978 and 1995, an anarchist and terrorist known as the Unabomber planted or mailed homemade bombs that killed 3 people and wounded 23 others in 16 separate incidents throughout the United States. The Unabomber, who claimed an allegiance with radical environmentalists and others opposed to the effects of industrialization and technology, targeted university professors, corporate executives, and computer merchants. In April 1995 a truck bomb exploded in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people and injuring more than 500. Microsoft Encarta 1999 announced that Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols could be linked to “the patriot movement, a loose alliance of extremist groups advocating resistance to national laws and political institutions.”
In 1996 Former President Bill Clinton signed antiterrorism legislation to strengthen the power of the federal government to anticipate and respond to both international and domestic terrorism. The law bars fundraising by foreign terrorist groups and provides for the death penalty in cases of international terrorism and for the killing of an “officer or employee of the United States or of any agency in any branch of the United States Government while such officer or employee is engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties” states the Terrorism Research Center. The law also allows for the deportation of alien terrorists without the need to disclose classified evidence against them, and it authorizes expenditures of up to $1 billion on state and local antiterrorism efforts.
The United States Government has used all of its power to combat terrorism. The Electronic Research Collections Archive believes former President Bill Clinton has “rightly identified terrorism as one of the most important security challenges we face in the wake of the Cold War.” The Electronic Research Collections Archive identifies terrorism as a “world-wide phenomenon.” Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard states that the United States is leading the way to a “different kind of war” against terrorism and the United States is led by a “different kind of war president.” The United States has imposed strong sanctions against states that sponsor or harbor terrorists. They have intensified their counter-terrorism cooperation with other countries, allowing them to apprehend key figures in attacks like the World Trade Center bombing in 1995. Many of the terrorist acts recently have been against the peace process itself. The fight against terrorism requires balancing law enforcement against civil rights. There are legal hurdles and privacy issues at stake in attempting to enforce tough counter-terrorism measures, and those hurdles could make it difficult to prevent some terrorist acts. A working group composed of representatives from at least seven federal agencies meets regularly at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, designated the lead agency in the battle against terrorism. The group is supervised by the National Security Council’s Counterterrorist coordinator. The other agencies within the group are the CIA, the State Department, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, Health and Human Services, Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The United States’ budget proposes $3.9 billion to fully fund programs to combat terrorism, including routine force protection. The resources established by the Budget of the United States will improve the preparedness to respond to a terrorist attack that employs “weapons of mass destruction, and enable the Department of Defense to continue a comprehensive vulnerability assessment program to identify additional force protection needs.”
Four members of a militant Islamic group were convicted in 1995 on conspiracy and other charges in the bombing of the World Trade Center. In another case, ten Muslim militants were convicted in October 1995 of conspiring to bomb United Nations headquarters, the two tunnels that link New York and New Jersey, and other city landmarks in 1993. That planned terror campaign, which was not carried out, was intended to punish the United States for supporting Israel and the secular government of Egypt. Prosecutors alleged that the plot was connected to the World Trade Center attack.
The United States has always been a major target for terrorists. Many acts of terrorism have been directed towards the United States. However, terrorism may never be defined clearly enough to include all acts considered harmful to the United States. With the definition given at this point in time terrorism seems to be dealt with by the countries as best as they know how.
QUESTIONS
1. Why, in your opinion, was the United States attacked?
ANSWER: The United States was attacked to prove that the United States is not the powerhouse it claims to be. By attacking the United States, Osama bin Laden and his followers were showing the world that no country was safe from terrorist attacks.
2. Why is the first question so important to resolve and agree upon?
ANSWER: Without establishing and agreeing upon the reason for the attacks no motive can be found. Without motive one cannot determine the reasoning behind the act.
3. What action or inaction by the United States and its allies, in the author’s opinion, increased the likelihood of chemical and biological attacks?
ANSWER: When the United States and its allies backed down from Saddam Hussein’s refusal to allow inspections of suspected Iraqi weapons manufacturing facilities.
4. Why does the author believe the United States is a popular target for terrorists?
ANSWER: The United States has gotten so used to being hated and vilified around the world that it seems to have stopped thinking about why that should be so.
5. What motivates terrorists, in the author’s opinion?
ANSWER: If we find it almost impossible to comprehend how people could do something so terrible to other people, we may be unwilling to face the fact that they could also poison the Chicago water supply, release anthrax in Seattle that would cause the agonizing suffocation of hundreds of thousands, or set off a nuclear device in New York to finish what they believe they’d barely started last week.
6. What reasons does the author give for the intense hatred of the United States by people like Osama bin Laden?
ANSWER: Osama bin Laden believes that the only legitimate form of government is a caliphate led by a Muslim cleric who provides not only absolute moral authority but political authority as well. They fell it is their duty to change governments headed by non-Islamic laypeople. The United States is the most visible and powerful country on the planet, strutting our wealth in countless ways, not the least of which is by erecting mighty symbols of it, what seem to stretch toward heaven itself.
7. How does divine right preclude the reasoned debate that occurs naturally in a democracy?
ANSWER: With divine right there is no need for elections because the ruler believes God gives his right to rule to him.
8. What evidence does the author offer that the terrorism visited upon the United States on September 11, 2001 was based on religious rather than political fanaticism?
ANSWER: The leaders teach their people that we are a population of devils led by devils, that our wealth is both fleeting and self-deceptive, and that Allah wants the United States destroyed because of how arrogantly we display our godlessness.
9. What is a fatwah?
ANSWER: An explicit religious order issued by Osama bin Laden in 1998 making the holy duty of the Muslims to kill American civilians.
10. Why does the author think new attacks are likely and how does he/she
suggest we stop them?
ANSWER: The visible success of September 11th’s operation, bolstered by the glory that will be heaped on the perpetrator’s names and their families, will provide powerful motivation for those planning fresh assaults for years to come. It is critical for those in charge of our response to understand that the mindlessly obedient fanatics are not only unafraid to die, but they welcome death.
11. Why does the author claim that declaring war is futile? What two historical examples does he/she give to back up this claim?
ANSWER: A declaration of war implies a conflict of limited duration, however in this case war is not yet an option. A war cannot be waged on religious terrorists we can barely identify. Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.
12. Complete this sentence using the author’s words: A declaration war implies…
ANSWER: …a conflict of limited duration in which one side eventually surrenders or capitulates and the other side wins.
13. What does the author suggest we do?
ANSWER: We have the right to defend ourselves.
14. Explain the significance of the Coventry story.
ANSWER: To show people that just because the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon were attacked doesn’t meant that the government didn’t know about it.
15. Suppose you were a general in a combat situation. Could you “consort with evil to prevent a larger evil”? Why or why not?
ANSWER: If it meant saving hundreds of thousands of lives then I would do it. You have to fight fire with fire.
16. The author says something is un-American. What is it? Do you think the author is correct? Please write out your own definition of un-American.
ANSWER: Turning the nation’s anger on the decent adherents of the Muslim religion. Osama bin Laden and his followers are not doing the work of Allah. If they were thousands of people would not be dead. The true believers of the Muslim religion are the strongest weapons the United States has against bin Laden. They would not approve of his actions and probably want to see him punished for saying that it was the will of Allah. Anything that goes against the beliefs that this nation was established upon (to an extent) can be classified as un-American.
17. Do you agree that terrorism must be defined adequately in order to be stopped?
ANSWER: No, it is clear that the events of September 11, 2001 were acts of terrorism.
18. How important do you think it is for you to research, discuss and consider the definition of terrorism? Are you willing to spend the time it takes to give you definition your very best effort? Why or why not?
ANSWER: I believe it is relatively important, however I also believe that everyone understands the definition of terrorism. I would be willing to spend the time necessary if terrorism could be clearly defined.
19. Were you able to define terrorism in your essay without admitting that the United States has been guilty of terrorist acts?
ANSWER: Yes, I defined terrorism without incriminating the United States. However, I believe the United States has participated in acts of terrorism and I also believe terrorism committed by anyone is wrong.
20. Are you optimistic about the future? Will you pledge to do your part in pursuing mutual understanding? Why or why not?
ANSWER: I believe that the future of our country lies in the hands of those who run it today. If they can keep the country running smoothly in a time of disaster then I believe anything is possible. I will pledge to do my part to make the future bright because there will always be bad times, we just have to over look them and move on.