Justification for Resorting to Violence to Achieve Peace

When the United States was attacked by terrorists in 2001 the entire world was horrified, shocked and in total disbelief. (Barnard et al 2)   How can individuals have so much hatred against the United States that they are willing to take the lives the innocent civilians just so they could sow terror and inflict fear?  In 2008, terrorists also attacked Mumbai India and killed more than a hundred innocent civilians. (“Mumbai Terror Attacks: India Summons Pakistan Envoy, Wants ‘Strong Action’” 2)    Indeed, the world is at war against terrorists, organized crime and even common criminals. 

The normal reaction of an ordinary Joe is to hope that the persons responsible will be captured and punished as violently as possible.  An ordinary Joe would want that the attackers and terrorists will suffer the same amount of violence they have inflicted against the innocent civilians they have killed.  After much reflection however, the question still lingers.  Is the resort to violence ever justifiable? Or are there instances when resort to violence can be justified?

The non-violence philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King have always been very inspirational for me.  I have always believed that peace is always a desired goal and that everybody should strive to achieve peace.  Peace however does not happen by itself.  Sometimes violence must be resorted to in order to achieve peace.  I also believe that sometimes there are sacrifices to be made in order to achieve the common good. In specific terms, I believe that there are situations when it is necessary to resort to violence in order to achieve peace. 

The common good has always been preferred over the interests of interests of the minority.  For instance, our laws recognize deprivation of life, liberty and property in order to promote general welfare.  Thus, when a person is convicted of violating a law, the offender is sentenced behind bars.  When a person is convicted of committing a serious crime, there are states which mandate the punishment of death by lethal injection. (Donald K. Pickens 1)  In some countries, a person’s hand is cut off when he is found to have stolen properties.  

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Violence is part of our society.  It has been legitimized by the state by the enactment of laws.  If we can impose capital punishment or death sentence against offenders who have violated criminal laws, there is all the more reason to impose capital punishment against those who have committed acts of terrorism which are graver and considered crimes against humanity.  For this reason, use of violence against terrorists who sow fear and terror against ordinary citizens should be allowed.

There have been reported cases of terrorists complaining about the violation of rights apparently committed by the United States government. (“Amnesty: 'USA violates human rights'" 2 ) They say that the United States government violated their freedom of liberty when it detained them without any basis.  They also say that the United States government is looking into their bank accounts, phone records and electronic mails and complain about the invasions on their privacy. (Lara Jordan 2)  I say, when a person commits a crime or gets involved with known terrorists, they have violated the rights of other people.  Thus, they cannot use the same rights as protection when the government starts to monitor their activities to find evidence against them.  They have stripped themselves of their rights. 

I say, extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures.  In certain situations, the government needs to act swiftly and decisively.  When the attack was made against the United States territory, the government was blamed for its failure to defend our country.  Now it is still being blamed for responding to terrorism so that what happened in the past will no longer happen again in the future.  When our country is at a war it is but natural that the democratic process may be curtailed especially against those who have connections with known terrorists so that everyone will be able to enjoy the blessings of democracy.  Everyone who expects to regain the rights must make sacrifices so that the integrity of this country may be protected.  Random checking of bank accounts, or electronic mails or phone records are but minor inconveniences which we have to bear if we want to protect our country.  

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Impact of the Killing of Anwar a-Awlaki in the War on Terror

In our earlier posts, we have already discussed the issue of the legality of the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki.  

President Obama described the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki as a “major blow against Al Qaeda’s most active operational affiliate.”

What exactly is the impact of the death of Awlaki for the ordinary Joes and Janes in the United States?

In the news article entitled “How Does al-Awlaki's Death Impact War on Terror?” KT McFarland explained the impact of Awlaki’s death to Al Qaeda.  She said that compared to Bin Laden, Awlaki is considered as the future of the International Jihad Movement.  The former is already old while Awlaki is in his prime.  While Bin Laden is the symbolic leader, Awlaki is in charge of the actual terrorist operations.  

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With the death of Bin Laden, Awlaki played a very important role in Al Qaeda.  It should be stressed that the government considers Awlaki as the key player in Al Qaeda’s terror operations.  He was also involved in terror attacks not only September 11 but also in other major terror attacks in the United States.

Operationally, Awlaki and the other men killed in the attack will definitely affect Al Qaeda’s operations.  This means that recruitment will be complicated and future attacks will be more difficult for them.  

There will be other people who will take their place.  However, it will take a long time before the Al Qaeda will be able to regroup and plan other attacks against the United States.

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Is the Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki Justified

Are you looking for an essay on terrorism? Are you looking for justification in the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki?

Recently, Anwar al-Awlaki an operative affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and three other terrorists, were killed after a drone attack fired a missile against them.  Pres. Obama has issued a statement saying that it was a “major blow against Al-Qaeda’s most active operational affiliate.” 

However, unlike bin Laden and other terrorists who have been previously killed in the war against terror, Awlaki was an American citizen.  Though there are allegations against him and his connections with other known terrorists there was no charges in court.  There is no pending case or court order against him. 

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The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights group question the attack against a fellow American citizen.  So how does the government justify the attack against an American citizen?

The government has not issued a statement formally justifying the attack.  However, several lawmakers have already spoken on the issue and affirmed its legality saying that the United States is at war with terror.  After the terrorist group, Congress authorized the use military force against Al-Qaeda.  The killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki is an implementation of this law.  

Considering the attack can the president simply issue an order for the killing of any person connected with terrorism?

For now, this is still a gray area.  However, it appears that the law constitutes a sufficient authorization to order the attack against known Al-Qaeda members.

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Essay on Solutions to Terrorism

Some analysts say that education and poverty are not the solution to terrorism.  They cite as example, the fact that the individuals who fund terrorists are wealthy and the educated.  They explain that terrorism has continued to flourish even in the 21^st Century not because of forces external to the United States.  It is not the poverty and illiteracy in Third World countries but the foreign policy of the United States that is the problem.  These policies have alienated the Muslims and the Arab countries.  They view these foreign policies as threats to the Muslims and to the Muslim countries.  For them, this is the reason why Muslims hate the United States.  

The conflict between Christians and Muslims started several centuries ago (Peter Partner, 1998).  Though hostility and violence ceased for few decades, feelings of animosity and suspicions between these two religions never stopped.  This conflict between Christianity and Islam once again reached its peak after the 9/11 attack.  Muslims were identified to be the persons responsible in the World Trade Center attack and the Pentagon attack.  It cannot be denied that religion played a significant factor in the attack (David Gartenstein-Ross, 2005). 

There are two possible reasons for this conflict.  The first is competition.  The adherents and believers of each religion think that the other religion is competing against them.  Muslims are suspicious of Christians thinking that the latter are doing ways to expand the influence of their religion.  Christians are also suspicious of Muslims thinking that the Muslims doing ways to expand the influence of Islam. 

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The second is the negative perception both religions have against another.  According to Khan, a Muslim Scholar, the actions of Christians in the West, particularly Americans, are perceived to be repressive of Muslims search for democracy.  He cites as examples the cases of Algeria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and Kuwait were the United States supported these countries to repress Islamic movements (David Smock, 2002).  These events are the reasons why Muslims have developed anti-American sentiment (Smock p.2).  On the other hand, the Christians perceive every Muslim to be a threat to the peace and security of their country in view of the small number of Muslim Extremists who advocate violence in the name of Islam. 

According to the Fred Rhodes (2004), American involvement in the Middle East, its unquestioning support for Israel despite its illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and occupation of Iraq has led the Muslims to resent the United States.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (2005) calls this the sphere of influence in which one religion which is dominant within a particular geographical area attempts to expand itself outside of its own geographical area while attempting to prevent the other from encroaching upon its own geographical area.  It bears stressing that Christianity is now the world’s largest faith while Islam is regarded as the world’s fastest growing religions.  It is recognized that these two religions are now the major competitors in our world today (Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, 2005).   

In order to settle these violent and terrorist attacks, Muslim scholars and leaders expressed their fear that if there will not be peace between Christianity and Islam then the survival of the world will be at stake in letter addressed to Pope Benedict the XVI (Riazat Butt and John Hooper, 2007).   In the search for peace, it is essential that the commonalities between these two religions must be established because it is only after finding a common ground then talks about peace may follow.  Thus, taking this into account, the United States should therefore take a second look at its foreign policy.  While the intention of the United States may be good in its foreign policies as it wants to protect its interest and the interest of other nations, perhaps a lesser aggressive foreign policy may ease the tension between the Christians and the Muslims.

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Essay on Understanding the Causes of Terrorism

Understanding the Root Causes of Terrorism

Addressing the problem of terrorist threat in American soil requires understanding of the different causes why it happens.  It is a reality that no matter how the government guards the US territory, it cannot protect itself all the time from a determined, well-funded and well-organized terrorist group.  Even if the FBI investigates and subjects to surveillance every person coming from Arab countries, the reality is that terrorist attack cannot be prevented all the time.  It may be launched by any person.  Indeed, a well-planned terrorist attack is difficult to stop.  It can therefore be said that preventing terrorism by attempting to stop the people who are more likely to commit it is not a feasible and doable solution.  In the same manner, stopping terrorism by concentrating exclusively on military solutions is not also an effective and proactive solution to this problem. 

This view of the ineffectiveness of military solution is supported by different world leaders.  According to Asian and European leaders who met at Copenhagen for the fourth Asia-Europe Meeting, “Since Sept 11, global efforts to fight terrorism have been purely concentrated on military means which have been singularly espoused by the United States, but some countries such as Malaysia have been voicing their determination to include reasons why people resort to terrorist activities in combating terrorism” (“Identifying root causes of terrorism: Our efforts paying off”, 2002)

Taking into consideration the impossibility of preventing persons from committing terrorism and the inadequacy of military solutions to this problem, the solution to terrorism can therefore be found by addressing the causes that give rise to terrorism.  Stopping terrorism means understanding why persons join terrorist groups.  Stopping terrorism means understanding why people are drawn to the ideals of terrorist groups.  Stopping terrorism means convincing others that terrorism is not the solution to the problems of global poverty.    

While terrorism is such a complex issue that cannot simply be attributed to a single factor or cause, it is wise to understand all these factors first before we can prevent terrorism.  It is therefore necessary that solutions to the problem of terrorism must involve solutions to addressing the causes of terrorism.  According to Walter Reich, former director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, some of the underlying causes of terrorism are: Poverty and political despair in Arab and Muslim society; U.S. allegiances disliked by Islamic regimes; and U.S. support of Israel (Alexia Harris, 2007, p.1).

The Asian and European leaders have declared that military action is not the only solution to the problem of terrorism.   While the United Nations and the individuals nations should not back down from terrorist threat.  It must be stressed that engaging in direct fighting against terrorist does not solve this problem.  Terrorism continues to thrive in the midst of the United States society not because of its leaders and members.  Killing every terrorist leader and member will not therefore stop this problem as the ideology will remain.  Until the ideology is stopped from spreading then recruitment of terrorists will not stop and funding will continue. 

Tim Garden, a former director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, proposed a very simple yet a very good solution to the problem of terrorism.  He said that “people don't like to hear this, but here goes: The military may be needed to help, but most of all it's about education and economics" (Tod Richissin, 2007)

Lack of Education as the Root Cause to Terrorism

One of the reasons why there is not much progress in the fight against terrorism is that the public wants immediate results.  The public sentiment is that terrorism will be stopped only by detaining, arresting and killing all of its leaders.  This is however not the case as terrorism cannot be stopped by detaining, arresting or even killing its leaders.  A new breed of terrorists will be born who are younger and more violent than their predecessors so long as the problem is not addressed at its cause. 

One of the long term solutions to terrorism is an educated citizenry.  Presently, however, the connection between education and terrorism is still unpopular.  There is however some who support the importance of education in the fight against terrorism.  According to Governor Tom Ridge, “If you want to respond to terrorism and you want to fight back, then you create an educated citizenry” (Michael Rubinkam, 2001).

Highlighting the role of education in maintaining peace was stressed by Bassem Awadallah, Minister of Finance, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Committee on Senate Foreign Relations.  At present, the Middle East is faced with a serious challenge on unemployment.  It is estimated that there will be 146 million workers who will seek employment by 2010 and around 185 million by 2020.  Complicating the unemployment problem are the problems of hatred, bigotry and violence.  These are in turn compounded and made more complicated by lack of opportunity.  It must be stressed that education is central in allowing people to get better opportunities in their life.   Thus, Bassem Awadallah stressed that the true solution to terrorism is to modernize the educational system, to encourage creative thinking, problem solving and to trust students to make the right judgment. 

Education is not only important in terms of giving better opportunities to people living in

poverty and in Third World countries.  Education may likewise serve as a defense against Islamic groups who take advantage of the people’s lack of education and ignorance.  Terrorist groups recruit young individuals who were not able to finish their education.  Because they are ignorant and they lack opportunity, these circumstances can easily be manipulated by terrorist groups so as to convince the young people to join their groups.  According to Al-Aly Nizar (2003), extremist groups are constantly looking for recruits among the illiterate and the ignorant.  “We need the authorities to understand how dangerous illiteracy is. Every illiterate youth is vulnerable to some kind of deviation and drift."

The lack of educational opportunities is a serious problem in the Middle East.  Statistics shows that 27% of men in Arab states are illiterate.  The statistics is worse for women as only 50% of women can read and write (Capitol Hill Press Releases, 2005).   In Pakistan, only 39% of women are literate while only 63% of male are literate (Capitol Hill Press Releases, 2005).  Taking into account the literacy problem in Muslim countries and the fact that extremist and terrorist groups take advantage of their condition, it becomes not only the duty of the United States but even its moral obligation to make educational assistance programs a government priority.  Thus, instead of spending millions of dollars for guns and ammunition and military spending, it is suggested that part of this funds should be channeled to education assistance programs in these countries.  The dollars which the United States has been spending for weapons, ammunition, and warfare can be utilized to fund the outdated and poorly-funded education systems in Eastern and South Asian countries.  In focusing on helping Third World nations rise from lack of education and opportunity we do not only stop terrorism but we also make this world a better place.  A strong educational system is there one of the most effective solutions to countering terrorism. 

Poverty as the Root Cause of Terrorism

When individuals do not have opportunity because they did not have adequate education, the most likely thing to happen is that they will remain in poverty.  Just like their parents, they will continue to suffer from poverty only that their situation will be worse than their parents and the generations before them.  According to the United Nations, poverty is a global problem that threatens world security, jeopardizes international efforts to end violent conflict, instability and terrorism.  According to Thalif Deen (2005) quoting from Jeffrey Sachs, "When people lack access to food, medical care, safe drinking water, and a chance at a better future, their societies are likely to experience instability, and the unrest spills over to the rest of the world."

Thalif  Deen (2005) added that presently, there are more than one billion people worldwide who live on less than one (1) dollar a day.  Another 2.7 billion struggle to survive on less than two (2) dollars a day, while 11 million children die each year from preventable causes like malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia (Thalife Deed, 2005). 

According to Bangladesh Foreign Affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury (2007) the war on terror is a war against poverty.  Iftekhar stressed that poverty, hunger, injustice, disaster, and displacement are the root causes of menace and fighting terrorism means combating these disorders.  It is this vicious cycle of poverty that drives people to commit crimes and become desperate terrorists and suicide bombers. 

Taking into account the present problem of global poverty and the fact that these people are often recruited by extremist groups, breaking the bondage and chain of poverty should therefore be a matter of extreme urgency.  Efforts should therefore be made by the family of nations to help alleviate poverty in Third World countries by helping create employment opportunities. 

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