The War against Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The War against Terrorism - Essay Example United States has primarily used its military in the fight against terrorism. Military is the final frontier of fight for every nation when every other alternative has been used and exhausted. The use of military in the fight against a faceless enemy was not justified. The fight against terrorism requires much more than brute force which the military is capable of delivering the war on terror should have been fought by USA with the help of intelligence agencies and backchannel diplomacy and not by parading the US military strength in nation after nation. This paper will analyze the above thesis statement and try to prove its validity. THE NATURE OF WAR The first important thing to note about this was on terror is that this war is unlike any other which has been fought in the human history. It is not a war against a nation or a political regime; it is certainly not a war against a particular religion. The enemy in this war is terrorism – premeditated violence against innocent citizens who do not have the ability to fight back when they are attacked. People engaging in terrorism want to effect change through violence and fear; they want to subvert the rule of law and the idea of freedom. As there is no one enemy in this war; the war cannot be won by United States only on the basis of military might. The war is to be fought using every instrument of national power – diplomatic, economic, intelligence and military.... As there is no one enemy in this war; the war cannot be won by United States only on the basis of military might. The war is to be fought using every instrument of national power – diplomatic, economic, intelligence and military. This war is against a faceless enemy (Mukasey). The biggest danger in this war is that using too much military might may create much more enemies then it will destroy; so it is a war in which diplomacy has and will play a very important role ; military alone cannot win the war. STRUCTURE OF TERRORITS ORGANISATIONS AND ROLE OF MILITARY. As is the case in any war, the key to success is to know your enemy. Once the enemy is known to us, we can decide on the methods to be used in fighting him. Terrorist organizations did not start with Al Qaeda nor will the end with it. Although terrorist organizations are different in the way they operate and the reasons for which they have undertaken terrorist activities they still follow a basic model which allows them to succeed. At the bottom of the terrorist structure are the underlying conditions. These are the basic reasons why people are ready to blow themselves up as suicide bombers. These underlying reasons may be political, poverty, lack of education and proper knowledge or anger against the state or a particular group. Without these underlying conditions there will be no terrorists. People who are aggrieved or wronged in the past are most likely to become terrorists. Poverty also propels some people to terrorism. However people who are in terrorism for the sake of money usually provide the logistics such as safe houses and money transfers. The foot soldiers of