Ever since the beginning of the terrorist attacks on American soil, the War on Terror has been involved in the lives of Americans and nations near us. The War on Terror’s background originated through conflicts between warring countries in the Middle East; U.S. involvement started when a terrorist guided plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The attack was suspected to be the work of the middle-eastern terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The U.S. military, under the leadership of then commander-in-chief George W. Bush, declared a “War on Terror” on the terrorist group and the fighting began. Over ten plus years human rights and civil liberties have been violated as thousands of innocent of civilians have …show more content…
According to the UN only 9,759 civilians have died in Afghanistan, but the Lansing medical journal reports that 654,965 civilian casualties occurred in Iraq from 2003 to 2006 so these reports should be taken with a grain of salt. On the pro-Saddam side of the war 76,778 Islamists fighters have died; these deaths were made of security forces, private contractors, Sons of Iraq, and most were made up of other supporters of the regime. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Armed Forces have suffered 4,487 deaths and 32,223 were wounded in action as of May 2012.
As seen by these studies the people suffering are more so the families of the innocent civilians than those who fought in the conflicts, and a lot of them were not killed by soldiers. As shown by sites like WikiLeaks many civilian deaths are caused by mines or drones. These numbers show the amount of devastation caused by the War on terror and more than ten years later these numbers are still rising. Ultimately there are still over 50,000 troops in Afghanistan and there are still plans to remain there for a while. Another consequence of the war is that in a combination of regarding the safety of the homeland and getting an edge against possible threats, civil liberties have been violated and human rights have been abused. After the 9/11 attack on Twin Towers and the Pentagon the U.S. government has called for new forms of defense against possible attacks
Where there is war, there will be consequences; the WWI and the War on Terror each engendered dire consequences that cannot be overlooked. While WWI raised the US on an economic pedestal, it drowned many European nations. After the war, Europe experienced a withering in her standard of living. Consequently, European nations also witnessed a decrease in imported goods and the international trade fell short. The peace settlements created by the Allies merely resulted in rancorous feeling among defeated nations--especially Germany. Germany, forced by armistice to accept complete responsibility of the war, were horrified and greatly embarrassed. The Allies' demands that Germany make $30 billion in reparations and demilitarize maliciously penetrated the people of Germany and fed their thirst for revenge, which indirectly led to the rise of Hitler in WWII. Since the War on Terror began, the multitudes of terrorist attacks and fatalities have soared. The war has ignited a 167% increase in terrorist
So far, the Taliban has reported that 1,500 people have been killed on the U.S. bombing raids. (Washington Post) Even though these numbers are suspected to be exaggerated, these deaths are justified because the Taliban has the potential to kill many more than 1,500 people. The September 11 attacks prove that. Also the Taliban is partly to blame for the high number of civilian deaths because they have
On September 11, 2015 the greatest act of terror known was committed at the World Trade Center, as well as the Pentagon. The terrorist group known as al-Quaeda coordinated an attack by hijacking U.S. commercial flights and sending two planes into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon. Luckily, a fourth flight was retaken by the passengers and could not reach its target, yet sadly it crashed in a Pennsylvanian valley. This event broke the hearts of American citizens and citizens worldwide, and the actions coming after wards would have a huge impact on America.
On September 11th 2001, the United States was hit with a devastating blow when four commercial airplanes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorist who deliberately crashed two of the planes into the World Trade Center complex, and a third plane into the Pentagon. The fourth plane, headed for Washington D.C., instead crashed in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on this egregious day. In response, President George W. Bush waged the controversial “Global War on Terrorism” which turned out to be a self-inflicted wound for America, bleeding still today. Bush’s highly-criticized decision was inconsistent with the strategic principles of war.
The main goal of the war in the beginning was to kill Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda that was supposedly responsible for the September 11 attacks. When this task was finally accomplished, members of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other organizations became angry and vengeful and started to resent the United States even more; new terrorist groups emerged, such as ISIS or ISIL. The “War on Terror” has therefore become an “Encouragement of Terror.” In addition, the war has exacerbated the reputation of the United States among American and Middle Eastern citizens. When the war first started, the media used propaganda techniques to influence people to support the troops and the president in the war effort. Because the war has raged on for 13 years and has caused thousands of deaths, the people of America have started to lose hope in their government, and the amount of war protests have dramatically increased since 2001. People originally supported the United States in their intention of setting up a democratic government in Afghanistan in an effort to help the people living there. This claim ended up being a propaganda technique in order to raise support for the war; even though the United States has helped improve some conditions and the lives of civilians, their original goals have not been met. This method proved
Have you heard about Korean War, which occurred in June, 25, 1950? The conflict between ideologies caused this war with tens of millions killed, millions of families separated, the country reduced to rubble, and a huge permanent scar on Korea’s culture. Then, Vietnam War, Gulf War, or Iraq war can sound familiar to you. Let’s change point to the number of dead bodies from wars themselves. Can you guess how many people got killed during all of those war periods? Only for Vietnam War, the true civilians of Vietnam War were two millions in the north, and another two millions in the south, and military causalities were 1.1 million killed and six hundreds thousand wounded during war. To finish a war, how many innocent people and soldiers have
On September 11, 2001, there was a terrorist attack against the United States. Hijackers flew a jetliner into each of New York’s World Trade Center towers. Simultaneously, a third jetliner crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia. Due to these horrific events, thousands of people were killed. In response to the attacks, the United States declared a “War on Terror.” However, the actions of the U.S. did not come without criticisms from the people of the nation.
As seen from the eyes of an American soldier, Chris Kyle, a sniper in the Iraq War, “The streets were covered with splinters and various debris… Metal shields blocked most of the storefronts…” (Source A). Just like in most wars, many towns and cities targeted in the Iraq war were destroyed as an effort to break the will of the people or the economy in that area, in hopes of a US led , coalition victory. These destructive raids on cities not only crumple infrastructure, they kill innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the war. The innocent killing of civilians has increased since WWI, the first of the modern wars where civilians were majorly targeted. Since WWI, the ratio of civilian to soldier deaths has risen dramatically. The ratio during WWI was 1 civilian per 9 soldiers, since then, the ratio has flipped to an alarming 9 civilians
Budgets for defense related agencies have grown sky high. 9/11 changed many peoples attitudes and concerns about safety. This resulted in policies like the U.S patriot act that put defense and security above civil liberties. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, homeland security was created and their budget in 2001 was 43
Our nation’s actions toward seeking justice and preventing any attacks of this scale from happening again came with quick notion, “Less than a week later (following the 9/11 attacks), Congress authorized the President to use military force ‘against those nations, organizations or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks,” (Yin). In essence, Congress gave the president the ability to use the military to seek out and detain terrorists responsible for 9/11, showing our country’s dedication to ending these attacks and those who initiated them for good. Overall, this tragic event revealed the need for stricter defense regulations against non-state actors (terrorists). For this reason, 9/11 was the catalyst for the beginning of the War on Terror and, consequently, the opening of Guantanamo Bay.
In the actual Iraqi war, the losses were not as numerous as they are today. Doctor Eva Maria states in Hasslberg, “The bombings were 90% predictable; the present situation is totally unpredictable.” (2). The confrontations between Iraqi men and United States soldiers are on the rise and there seems no end. Another reason why American soldiers are dying everyday is due to accidents. Many accidents have been reported since the end of the Iraqi War. Cooperman gives an example about a soldier, Sgt. William L. Payne, 46, in a May explosion. “A Department of Defense news release said Payne was “examing unexploded ordnance” in Haswah, Iraq, when the accident occurred.” (2).
Troops are constantly risking their lives for our protection. Each war kills thousands of soldiers, however the civil war and world war two killed more than any other wars combined. 1,084,938 American soldiers were either killed or missing in the civil war, 1,076,254 in world war two. Our own men have witnessed people dying, some in their own arms. America needs soldiers, but a captain with 6 years experience only makes $69,987.60.
On September 11 2001, an attack was made on United States. Four systematic terrorist attacks were pulled off by the group al-Qaeda simultaneously bringing down the World Trade Centre in New York and damaging the Pentagon in Washington D.C. As extensive and in depth as the cause for the attack may have been, September 11 is an event that has undoubtedly left its mark in American history. A turning point, as some would call it, of the political, social, and economic systems of the United States. Quickly following the terrorist attack on 9/11, President George W. Bush called for a “war against terrorism.” Instead, what truly occurred was an act of counter terrorism. After 9/11, the political system of America took a turn for the worst;
The world has been changed forever since the tragic attack on September 11, 2001. An observer described the atrocity by saying, "It just went 'bam,' like a bomb went off. It was like holy hell (CNN 1). " The new world will be different from what any American has known before. A new war has arisen, not against a foreign country or a major region of the world, but rather against a select group of people who have the capabilities to destroy the lives of so many. The war against terrorism which the United States is now forced to wage will not be an easily won battle. This war will not be fought solely on scattered battlefields in certain countries. It will instead permeate through every aspect of life as we
The Global War on Terror is a military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom and supported by other NATO members. It was originally against al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations with the purpose of eliminating them. This paper discusses how the Bush Administration handled the War on Terror as well as different aspects of it, including its terminology, its objectives, its military operations and criticism against it.