Before the September 11 attacks many Americans believed the United States, a country founded upon its bravery and freedom, was untouchable. On that dreadful day, America was knocked off its pedestal and forced into the war on terror. Inadvertently to many Americans, they fail to realize why this war was unique and not like any other conflict the United States has come across before. America now faced a new type of enemy the Taliban, an organization known for its ruthless behavior and severe attacks and driven by the true nation of Islam. Many Americans wondered why such a violent organization would attack the United States, as well as, what would drive an organization to revert to such evil tactics.
Upon research to answers to these questions all too often religion came into play. The nation of Islam seems to be the driving force into the war on terrorism. Religion has always been a controversial subject. Many had suffered and loss their lives because of their personal beliefs. Strangely, what’s even more revealing is that the nation of Islam has an integral role in the war on terror. The nation of Islam has ties to some of the most dangerous and violent groups of people. Within the nation of Islam there are a couple of groups that are notorious for their terrorist behavior. The Taliban, Hamas, and the Hezbollah are the most lethal and violent.
For example, the Taliban was founded in 1994, which is pretty young for organization that is notoriously known for violence. The Taliban began as a small group of students that studied Islam from Afghan refugee camps (Berman 4). The Taliban members were poor and started off originally with good intentions. They sought to provide services, both spiritual and tangible to local residents...
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...fer about the idea of religion having its role on terrorist organizations. As stated by Professor John Esposito of Georgetown University, he says” So, is it religion that causes terrorism? Does Islam in particular have a terrorism problem?” The question is simple but the answer is difficult to define. Of course religion has its role on terrorist organizations but the concept of terrorists groups having just radical members is absurd. Many of the members of these organizations are moderate and believe that such attacks like the September 11 attacks are justifiable (Esposito 1). The point that many fail to realize is that radicals simply wield religion instrumentally (Esposito 1). Members of these organizations used religion to make the things they do justifiable. Comparably many of the members of the Taliban and other organizations are considered to be fanatics.
Many terrorists believe that their religion is the only true religion, and they use it to justify violence (“Islamic Terrorism”). Most Muslim terrorists follow Jihad. Jihad is an Islamic perception that the way to integrate their religion is by massive force (“Of True Muslims and Terrorists”). Jihad is considered the “sixth pillar” of faith in Islam because it is the constant fight towards good. It is the idea of focusing on God and turning away from those that oppose God (David E. Long, 91). The terrorists believe that their religion is what everyone should follow, so they would naturally require personnel in power in Muslim states to either convert to their religion or resign from their terms. They will first threaten a leader that if they do not change, the terrorists will use violence. Sometimes, violent acts come about without any warning or previous threats (“Of True Muslims and Terrorists”). Islam is a proselytizing religion, which means it uses violence to convert people to its faith. This is because, in the ...
On September 11, 2001, our country was hit with enormous devastation, just after eight o’clock a.m. the first of the twin towers was struck by a suicide pilot, the second was struck slightly later. The towers fell just after ten o’clock a.m., devastating the entire country, and ruining the lives of many. A plane also hit the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and another in rural Pennsylvania causing just as much grief. The U.S. is still in mourning, but standing tall, more Americans showed their American pride in the following months than ever before. In the months to come the only thing that was on the minds of millions was: Should we go to war? War is necessary for the survival of our country. Going to war with Iraq is a fight against terrorism. Many people believed that going to war with Iraq is unjust. Some believe that there are other ways in looking at the situation.
Events that capture the entire world’s attention are few and far between. Fighting wars normally occurs between acknowledged enemies. In the war against terrorism, most notably, the war against Al-Qaeda, the enemy is unknown. One is not the enemy of the United States of America by virtue of one’s ethnic heritage. A Muslim is not a hidden enemy simply because he is Muslim. A Muslim does however become the enemy when he targets the world as a member of Al-Qaeda, the vision of one man. He was an intelligent and educated man who came from wealth and high esteem, who, guided by his faith, through radicalization, exile from homeland, and anti-western sentiments, built the terrorist organization known as Al- Qaeda. His name was Osama bin Laden.
The September 11th attacks did leave a mark on the United States. The world watched the media account of the tragic events as they were captured by digital and print media. The author in this article explores different aspects of the tragedy to analyze the both Australian and American thoughts and understanding of the events. She has broken it down into categories: the aftermath of the attacks, interpretations of the attacks, and challenges that impeded existing structures of representation. Questions of how the attack was viewed, and how the terrorist evoked terror and mass terrorism are reviewed. In essence Western civilization was forever changed after September 11th 2001. The events of September 11 did leave something other than destruction and loss of lives. More than structures were demolished, a nation was forever changed. The attacks were so blind siding that, according to McMillian (2004) “…no retaliatory acts action was commenced during this 72-hour period against the suspected terrorist or the group to which they were linked, namely Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan” (p. 2). How can this be explained? Did the United States really knowingly harbor terrorist, or was the United States blind-sided. Either way it is not an easy pill to swallow. According to the reports the pilots were trained in America. A war was created against terrorism, the target Afghanistan. Starting in early January 2000, the “planes operation” formation would begin in California. Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mildhar would arrive arrived in Los Angeles under the order of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM). He was the organizer of the “planes operation”, and he instructed those under him what to and not to do to draw any unnecessary attentio...
On September 11, 2001, the most disastrous terrorist attack in U.S. history left a countless number of innocent Americans both dead and missing. The Taliban’s assault on the Pentagon and annihilation of New York’s World Trade Center caused the entire country to wonder what was going on in the rest of the world to cause so much animosity toward our great nation. Little did many American citizens know that this shocking catastrophe was the result of years of unrest and chaos in the Middle East. The tragic events of September 11th occurred as a result of the recent, political history of Afghanistan, the development of the radical Islamic group, the Taliban, and the monetary and military support that the Taliban has received.
Host: On September the 11th 2001, the notorious terror organisation known as Al-Qaeda struck at the very heart of the United States. The death count was approximately 3,000; a nation was left in panic. To this day, counterterrorism experts and historians alike regard the event surrounding 9/11 as a turning point in US foreign relations. Outraged and fearful of radical terrorism from the middle-east, President Bush declared that in 2001 that it was a matter of freedoms; that “our very freedom has come under attack”. In his eyes, America was simply targeted because of its democratic and western values (CNN News, 2001). In the 14 years following this pivotal declaration, an aggressive, pre-emptive approach to terrorism replaced the traditional
On september 11, 2001 there was an attack on America. Four airplanes were hijacked, two were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the third crashed into the Pentagon in D.C. and the fourth got stopped by a passenger. It was the first terrorist attack on the U.S. soil. Thousands of lives were lost that day. This attach was the most devastating act of belligerence on U.S territory since the Civil War (Terrorism, 2011). This even had an enormous influence on America and its history. It led to numerous short and long term effects. On September 20, 2001, former president George W. Bush announced publicly that he declares “War on Terror”. After this announcement, our country has altered. To determine if an effect was positive or negative, determines on the view point of the person. Some of those effects include; USA Patriot Act, creation of TSA, the War, and issues soldiers have after combat and health problems of Ground Zero. However, if the effects were positive or negative, it still made a massive mark in our country.
The War on Terror is a military campaign enacted by George W. Bush to fight terrorism following the attack on 9/11 conducted by al-Qaeda according to thebalance.com. The War on Terror also included the Iraq War. The Iraq War was a long time coming with the hostility and aggression of the country. Iraq continued to resist attempts at peace made by both the United States and the United Nations. The twelve years of diplomacy employed by Iraqi officials was just a facade, a tactic to stall for more time according to the source document President George W. Bush’s announcement of US invasion of Iraq. The repeated attempts of the world to try and peacefully disarm Iraq of its catastrophic weapons were unsuccessful and met with enmity. The United
The horrific tragedies on September 11, 2001 changed the course of American national security for decades to come. It took a while for Americans to recover from the sadness, loss and confusion of the attacks. The American government knew that Al Qaeda–the terrorist organization that orchestrated the attacks–was still posing a huge threat to our nation’s security.
Muslim extremist groups are seen as an outcast from society. This group of extremist’s has Islamic militant terrorism which has extremely violent tendencies. Muslim extremist are known for their attack on America with the most notable and devastating September 11, 2001. A Islamic terrorist group attacked America by high jacking four planes carrying passengers and taking down the country largest infrastructure. Their political motivation for these attacks has all been in the name of Islam which is their religious planes are beliefs and principles. “By using these levers and appealing to deeply ingrained religious beliefs, the radical leaders succeed in motivating the Islamist terrorist, creating a social environment that provides approbation
“To emphasize the terrorists rational qualities and views the terrorist as a cool, logical planning individual whose rewards are idealogical and political rather than financial” (Johansen 117,121,131). Most terrorists are often very well educated and skilled for political analysis. A terrorist is labeled a “fanatic”, which is a generally extreme held belief that more than likely ends iin self harm or selfdestruction. They view this world at only their perspective, to an absolute extreme. Commonly in almost all terrorists they are willing to commit the ultimate sacrifice, to kill themself in order to avoid capture. Most Muslims believe that Jihad means nothing more than a daily struggle, but for radicals it is safe to say they think “ Jihad authorizes defensive war against those who would oppress Muslims or oppose Islam” (Johansen 117,121,131). “On February 28, 1998, a FATWA was issued by Osama Bin Laden and four other leaders of extreme Islamist groups, that called for every Muslim to engage in Jihad to kill the Americans and plunder their money” (Johansen 117,121,131). Many Muslims did not listen to Bin Laden because they know Allahs will, But some fanatics did. Which would later result in the September 11,2001 terrorist attacks on the United
Rather, this terrorism was a product that was pushed and accelerated through significant historical events using the religion of Islam as a tool to “perpetuate power” . These historical events that accelerated terrorism, include that of the United States intervention in the 1980’s, and propagandist ideologies like that of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabism. Thus, before attempting to analyze and understand the influences behind these events, one must first understand how this religion was used to perpetuate power, by approaching to understand religion in a more philosophical manner.
Terrorism is used around the world to create fear and influence the public on political views (Siegel, 489). There are four views of terrorism including the psychological view, socialization view, ideological view, and the alienation view. A religious terrorist would most likely fit under the ideological view. In this view the terrorist feels the need to change a wrong opinion and believes that, because they are sacrificing themselves for something they believe so strongly in, it justifies the damage and harm done to innocent people (Siegel, 490). They use terror to create fear in anyone who opposes them and attract followers to their religion. In short, terrorism is widely used for political reasons but religion has been linked to the violence as well.
Political violence is the leading cause of wars today. Personal agendas have led to many of the political objectives that cause violence today this has caused many problems throughout the world and will continue to do so until a solution to this issue is found. Political objectives have been advanced involuntarily dependent upon the kind of government a nation exercises. For instance, in a democratic nation political groups must worry about convincing the majority in order to advance ethically. Those who try to influence the majority through acts of violence are considered today as “terror” organizations. Though perhaps if it were not because of the recent 9/11 terror attacks that maybe such warrants would not be seen as terror attacks, but instead the result of partisan advancement. Acts of terrorism have been around throughout the evolution of mankind. Terror attacks have even been traced back as far as the religious roots of an ancient middle east (Ross, Will Terrorism End?, 2006). However as man evolved, so did terrorism. Today’s extremism involves some of the main characteristics of ancient terrorism, but much more developed. Political advancement is no longer the root cause of terrorism acts. Instead influxes of “holy” wars have been appended the prior definition of terrorism. Mistakably modern terrorism has been confused for Political violence with political objectives, but research will establish that the nature of terrorism is fundamentally different from other forms of political violence.
On September 11, 2001, the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon changed the mindset and the opinion of nearly every American on the one of the most vital issues in the 21st century: terrorism (Hoffman 2). Before one can begin to analyze how the United States should combat such a perverse method of political change, one must first begin to understand what terrorism is, where it is derived from, and why there is terrorism. These issues are essential in America’s analysis of this phenomenon that has revolutionized its foreign policy and changed America’s stance in the world.