The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11th, 2001 and still goes on. That terrible morning, 19 evil men, the shock troops of a hateful ideology, gave America and the civilized world a glimpse of their ambitions. They imagined, in the words of one terrorist, that September the 11th would be the beginning of the end of America. By seeking to turn our cities into killing fields, terrorists and their allies believed that they could destroy this nation's resolve and force our retreat from the world. They have failed .
Over twenty-eight months after President Bush roared those words to the world, the United States still has approximately 138,000 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq , catastrophic havoc caused by Hurricane Katrina plagues the Gulf Coast , an undeniably inadequate government emergency response ensued and President George Bush's approval ratings are at their lowest point in his presidency . Despite the announced end to "combat operations" in Iraq and the declaration that the suicide terrorists have "failed", since the election of the new Iraqi government, there have been daily suicide bombing in Iraq against U.S. Forces . Two single days in September 2005 have been the bloodiest, with nearly 200 Iraqis killed by the hands of suicide terrorists . As a result, many Americans are questioning the administration's current policy toward Iraq, including doubting the need for the large presence of American troops in Iraq .
Dying to Win is a timely book that concludes the cause of suicide terrorism is the presence of foreign troops as an occupying force in a weaker state . It specifically concludes that the cause of suicide terrorism against the United States is the presence of combat troops in Iraq and on the Arabian Peninsula . Dying to Win is one of the first attempts to address the critical questions surrounding suicide terrorism and examines the conditions that permit the social acceptance of such carnage. Professor Robert Pape has created the "world's largest database on suicide terrorism" and examined the 315 suicide terrorist attacks worldwide between 1980 and 2003 , analyzing a myriad of variables in determining that occupation by foreign troops is the "taproot" of suicide terrorism . Dying to Win is a groundbreaking undertaking that is a necessary read for every decision maker in government, and especially all military officers.
In Brym’s article he discusses what research has shown about the motivations of suicide bombers. Brym and my fellow classmate explained to me how suicide bombers may be motivated by politics, religion, or retaliatory aims (Brym, Kyra Howard). Both Brym and Howard helped me view the issue of suicide bombers in multiple
In Robert Pape’s Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism he investigates the three hundred and fifteen suicide terrorist attacks that have occurred from its beginning in 1980 up until 2003. By examining these attacks he explains the three logics behind suicide terrorism, the strategic, the social, and the individual logic. Pape uses Dying to Win as a tool to educate the public on suicide terrorism. He hopes people will begin to understand that it is not irrational, but requires reason and strategy. He brings to light that suicide terrorism is not directly correlated with Islamic fundamentalism, but rather political objectives, trying to put to rest many preconceived notions. By understanding the logic behind suicide terrorism people can work together to prevent it from happening in the future. After reading this book it is clear that suicide terrorism is not random, but does demand some thought in order for it to work.
This I’ll admit was a very interesting book that looked at what could have really caused the Iraq war and whether we really had to go to war. The book talks about the flaws with the reasons that Bush proposed for going to war with Iraq and why we haven’t had a fuller victory yet. The book basically goes into details about the four observations that arise from examining certain aspects of the war and afterwards. In the next few pages I’ll be summarizing the book then stating my analysis and opinions about ideas presented in the book.
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.
The FBI defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives (fbi.gov).” By this definition, terrorism can be classified as internal or international based on the overall intent of the attack. Terrorism has been around since the beginning of time, but it’s only since 2011 that the world has come to fully understand the meaning of terrorism. The following paragraphs will highlight four different types of terrorist attacks that all took place within the United States spanning over a 40 year time period.
Sageman, Marc. "The Journal of International Security Affairs The Normality of Global Jihadi Terrorism 2005th ser. Spring.9 (2005). .
Miller, M. A. (2013). The foundations of modern terrorism: state, society and the dynamics of
Pape, Robert A. "The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism." American Political Science Review 97.3 (2003): n. pag. American Political Science Association. Aug. 2003. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. .
Rational choice is based on the belief criminals act in a rational way. Rational choice could be related to terrorism when you understand how terrorist acts, their beliefs, and their actions. Terrorism happens when there are suitable targets, motivated offenders, especially without strong ties to the community, such as those who are unemployed, and absence of guardians such as the police, which would be explained by rational choice theory (Anderton & Carter, 2005). Like other forms of violent crime terrorist attacks are usually carried out by young males (Silke, A. 2003). This is important fact to know for law enforcement to know who to target. A Rational choice view of terrorism has certain factors to consider such as timing, international
In her book, Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century Cynthia Combs claims that terrorism, no matter the cause, is never acceptable3. While I do agree that killing innocent people is usually wrong; I don’t think you can make the sweeping generalization that terrorism is never acceptable. I predict that given a fair and unbiased analysis some cases of terrorism are morally acceptable.
Deducing from all the readings it appears that the major cause of suicide terrorism is being occupied by a foreign power and the loss of identity. Though there are several causes to what may inspire someone to commit such acts the focus will be on this one. Pape states that suicide terrorism is a response the requires strategy and more often than not is employed by groups whose sole goal is t...
The battle initially started as a mission of justice against enemy insurgents for the deaths of a few American contractors. Emotions ran high with the top leaders as well as with Americans as they cried out for action against the enemy insurgents. But as the fog of war finally cleared from the city of Fallujah, the only thing left was a bloody nose on the face of America and lessons learned for her leaders.
The thought of knowing that a terrorist attack is coming but not knowing how to stop it is a very scary thought. Some people when they become scared during such situations would be willing to do almost anything to find out any information about the attack while others would try to stay within their moral convictions and the law. There are many different theories in the world, and they would all have a different answer to the dilemma that was presented.
“Terrorism involves the use of violence by an organization other than a national government to cause intimidation or fear among a target audience;” at least, this is how Pape (2003) defines terrorism in his article “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism” (343). The goal of this article by Pape is to discuss suicide terrorism and how it “follows a strategic logic, one specifically designed to coerce modern liberal democracies to make significant territorial concessions” (343). Similar to Pape, Bloom (2004) and Horowitz (2010) also delve into the exponential increase of suicide terrorism and why it occurs. Although Pape, Bloom, and Horowitz concur that suicide terrorism is increasing, they disagree why it is so prominent. While the arguments presented from each of these researchers is powerful and certainly plausible, suicide terrorism is in fact not irrational, but strategic and is most often caused by state occupation and, when organized, aimed specifically at democracies.
The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition. The US wanted to destroy Saddam Hussein’s regime and bring democracy. To addition to that, US and its allies believed that Iraq had secret stocks of chemical and nuclear weapons, hence Iraq was a threat to the world (Axford 2010). In March 2003, US air bombed Baghdad and Saddam escaped Iraq. The invasion disarmed the government of Saddam Hussein. President Bush in March 2003 gave a premature speech, that tyrant of Iraq has fallen and US has freed its people. President Bush flew into Iraq to show the world that the war is over, even though nothing was accomplished (Kirk et al. 2014). Iraq was facing 13 years of scantions, therefore regime diverted its resources to flexible networks of patronage that kept it in power (Dodge 2007, 88). Iraq faced widespread of lawlessness and after the violent regime changed US could not control the situation. Iraqi civilians were looting, attacking ministries building and this resulted into a series of event (Kirk et al. 2014) . From a military perspective the regime was taken down, but they made no commitment to rebuild or secure the country.