Terrorism Troubles the World in Many Ways, but Is It Possible to Overcome?

Terrorism Troubles The World In Many Ways, But Is It Possible To Overcome?

Two and a half years into the 'war on terror', the US is running a $500 billion budget deficit, its highest ever and the country is struggling to cover war costs. It is very upsetting to turn on the news and hear about another terrorist bombing or hear that they still can not find Osama Bin Laden. The scariest part about terrorism is that it isn't something that isn't happening. We do turn on the news and hear that so many people were killed in something or other. We are at war with Iraq. Terrorism is a vast subject and it is all around us and it is everywhere we go. Terrorism, its victims and perpetrators, is today's most frightening and elusive societal problem.

Terrorism is combined with war and deals mainly with weaponry.

War causes many casualties that are not always the targets. "Up to 30 million people - 90 percent civilians - have been killed in 170 wars since the end of World War II." (Zinn 78). "Warfare after 1937 has increasingly eliminated the distinction between combatants and others... traumatizing more and more civilians and entire nations." (78). Part of the reason that so many death are being caused is because nuclear weapons and their problems. Al Qaeda says that they have a nuclear weapon, but intelligence officials are doubtful on whether or not that is a fact (Kaplan 3-4). "Notebooks found in al Qaeda houses in Kabul, Afghanistan, contain data on building an atomic bomb." (3) Hutchinson stresses the fact that there should be a tighter count of missiles, because they are easy to use and take down planes. (Leaders 7). 'The emphasis came on a day after two men in Nicaragua were convicted on terrorism charges for possessing a Soviet-made anti-aircraft C2M missile - also known as MANPAD." (8). Nuclear weapons are not the only kind of used by terrorist groups. "... in 1987, in Goiania, Brazil, a theft of cesium-137 from an abandoned clinic spread the radioactive metal across an entire neighborhood, killing 4, contaminating 249, and forcing the destruction of 85 homes." (Kaplan 2). 19 vials of radioactive cesium-137 were stolen from a hospital in Greensboro, N.C. (1). Officials don't think al Qaeda has an atomic bomb but plans for using radioactive weapons found in many places around the globe (5-9).

Terrorism is expertly devised and concentrated. Terrorism attacks are skillfully planned. According to Simon, terrorism is an art that can be carried out many different ways, and is easy to execute (24). When the leaders are arrested or killed, others rise-up and take the lead. They keep going through the ranks so the terrorist groups still thrive (24). "As long as there is one person left access to some sort of weapon and any type of grievance, there will always be terrorism." (24). Terrorism groups are organized. Bin Laden wants nuclear weapons and has gotten help from the Russian and Pakistani nuclear scientists (Kaplan 3). Terrorists use travel to follow through with their evil plans.

"Terrorists travel for many reasons, Including training, communicating with other terrorists, collecting funds, escaping capture and interrogation, engage in surveillance of potential targets, and commit terrorist attacks." (9/11 3). "The 9/11 hijackers submitted 23 visa applications during the course of the plot, and 22 of these applications were approved." (9/11 11)

The U.S. government is having trouble keeping terror in check. The president is having problems. "I believe the Bush administration in the first eight months considered terrorism an important issue, but not an urgent issue,' Richard Clarke told a commission investigating the September 11 attacks." (Clarke 1). "Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, asked Congress Wednesday to approve the Bush administration's request for $5.8 billion to fight terrorism..." (Rice 1). "In Iraq', Rice said, the United States want to spend $360 million next year for economic assistance 'targeted toward helping the Iraqi government to create a functioning democracy and a justice system; among other services and improvements." (3). "The report, released in April and touted by administration officials as a sign of the success of the war on terrorism, was based on faulty data,' said State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher." (State 1). "Secretary of State, Colin Powell, denied the errors were the result of an effort to make the administration look good." (3-4). There needs to be a better fight on terrorism. The true report on the war on terrorism is that it has gotten worse in the lat year. (2). "Nobody has suggested that the war on terrorism has been won,' responded Powell. 'The President has made it clear that it is a war that continues and that we have to redouble our efforts." (8).

Some terrorist groups are not only a problem but also part of the solution.

"One month after Israel warned its citizens to stay out of Egypt, citing a 'concrete' terrorism threat with the Sinai Peninsula as a possible target, suicide bombers last week shredded a five-star Sinai hotel and another resort which were packed with Israelis at the end of a Jewish holiday." (Macleod 1). The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (EMB) denied the charges of helping in the attacks of the hotel bombing. (1). The EMB is working for us to try and figure out who is behind these attacks. The Egyptian President doesn't believe that EMB was involved in the Sinai attacks. (1). "Israeli Chief of Army Intelligence Aharon Zeevi-Farkash reportedly told Israel's Cabinet that the most likely suspect was al Qaeda." (1). Just five days before the Sinai attacks, a tape was found with al Qaeda's second in command telling the group to support the Palestinian war on Israel. (2). "Such synchronized attacks are a common al Qaeda tactic,' Israeli sources point out." (2).

Terrorism is often started by different religious beliefs and publications f the media. "Thousands of people marched in Rome on Saturday to demand the release of a kidnapped Italian