If the War on Terror is able to be won, there would be no more terrorism. The world would be a much safer place because there would be no attacks on civilians and wars would be fought conventionally.
I know that this is pessimistic, but I do not think that the War on Terror can ever be won. I think that it is a noble goal but there is no way to completely eradicate terror from the world. For one thing, the War on Terror is a war on a concept. Because there is no concrete enemy, there is no way to evaluate when the war has been won. Certain terrorist groups can be removed but terrorism as a concept will always be present.
I am planning on having a career that involves counterterrorism and national security. It might seem weird that someone who wants to spend her life protecting her nation from future terrorist attacks doesn’t believe that the terrorist attacks will ever stop. I do think that it is possible to prevent terrorism, however, it will never truly be eliminated.
I agree completely with this, Allie, and especially like your point that while terrorists can be killed, the concept of terrorism cannot. It will persist, and because of that, it cannot be defeated completely or even subdued as much as what we'd like.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the War on Terror is undefeatable; however, there are ways to limit the threat of terrorist acts. I watched an interview with King Abdullah of Jordan (I blogged about it, so it is posted on my blog if you'd like to see it) and he was asked about the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. First and foremost a peace agreement between these two states is necessary. He mentions that conflicts in the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are interconnected. If the U.S. improved its foreign policy with Middle Eastern countries and changed its policies towards Israel then these extremist groups would be less motivated to commit acts of terrorism—what policies would terrorists try to alter then? The likelihood of these things happening is very little. Like you said, it is indeed a very pessimistic view; however, a consensus must be reached, and until then terrorism would continue to pose a major threat home and abroad.
ReplyDeleteAllie,
ReplyDeleteTerrorism has been around since the Middle Ages with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It is an old age practice that may fade in one area, but then rise in another. Take for example the KKK back in the 1940s and 1950s. That was considered to be a form of terrorism because of the atrocious hate crimes that were against African Americans. It has faded out today, but now there is a new form of terror on the rise. Not to point the finger, but everyone knows that extremist Muslims are 100 % behind this one.
It doesn't even have to be people of different religions or races that cause terror. It can be political sadly enough. Jerry Adams and Sinn Fein caused widespread terror in North Ireland during the late 80s early 90s. The citizens of Derry and Belfast were constantly in fear during this time period.