America’s War on Terrorism

America’s War on Terrorism

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 know it. "The attack of September 11 will be the precipitating moment of a new kind of war that will define a new century. This war will be fought in shadows, and the adversary will continue to target the innocent and defenseless ("The Terrorism Research Center"). " The unconventional methods of terrorism make these terrorists the first formidable opponent the United States has faced in years, since the ending of the Cold War.

Due to its victory in the Cold War, the United States is now the last remaining superpower in the world, and along with that supremacy comes an inherent responsibility. The responsibility of a superpower can be interpreted in two distinctly different ways. One of these is for a country to become semi-isolationist. The other is the opposite, in the sense that it deals with a country imposing its authority on other countries, thus not being in any way isolationist. Both of theses have their benefits while at the same time, their disadvantages.

The first possible respon...

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...undamentalist terrorists, mainly the Al'Qa'ida, have for America and all that America stands for. Now that the Islamic fundamentalists have openly attacked America, the war on terrorism has arrived upon the world. The atrocities that the world will soon face will not be like any experienced before and the world will be forever changed after this war is complete. September 11th has forced America to face the hatred it has created for itself throughout the world, especially in the Middle East, for its unethical foreign policy tactics. America is once again tested to prove its dominance in the world, but will it pass the test of terrorism? Only the future holds the answer.

Works Cited

CNN (1), World Trade Center Survivors Describe 'Holy Hell'. http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/new.york.scene/.

"The Terrorism Research Center". http://www.terrorism.com/index.html