History 405N Week 8 Discussion: Terrorism in the 21st Century
Discuss how you see the "war on terrorism" as of this date. Do you think the United States
should be engaged in such a war? Give reasons for or against this war and whether or not we are
giving up our own principles to wage it.
Jackson (2018) describes the war on terrorism as, “… term used to describe the American-led
global counterterrorism campaign launched in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001” (para. 1). I think it is important that the U.S. be engaged in the war on terror, but I also
believe that this focus should be on protecting our country. It’s hard for me to take a stance on
this because I’ve served in both Afghanistan and Iraq when I was in the U.S. Army. I think it was
appropriate for the U.S. to go to war with Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. These terrorist (al-
Qaeda) brought the war on to our own homeland when they decided to kill thousands of innocent
civilians. I was stationed in Giessen, Germany when I watched the attacks on the news. It was
understood amongst all us soldiers that it was only a matter of time before we were deployed. I
will tell you, not a single one of us had second guessed this decision and were more than willing
to fight for our country. I think as a country; our hands were forced into action as we would not
sit back and allow this to happen on American soil. When we arrived to Afghanistan, many of the
Afghani people were relieved to see us because of the own abuse, torture, and killings they
experienced at the hands al-Qaeda and a corrupt government. These bases in Afghanistan employ
a lot of the local people and provide them with better opportunities than they could ever have
without our country there. So, I believe this war was necessary, but will be never ending. I feel
our sources should be on protecting our own country first against an ever-changing enemy. We
also have our own home-grown terrorist and issues we must focus on as well. Unfortunately, we
will never be able to free this country of corruption or terrorism. Do we pull out of this country
and count our losses, or do we stay there fighting a war we will never truly win?
Iraq was a whole other ball game, and the number of soldiers and civilians lost can never justify
the need for war. I believe that there was a need for the U.S. to intervene in order to protect the
people against Saddam Hussein’s regime. However, I don’t believe the U.S. realized how long it
would take to start a new government from scratch. I’m very much on the fence because I think
of the close friends/soldiers I lost in the Iraq war, and how things are still going in that country,
and I don’t feel it was worth it. But, on the contrary, how can we not step in and help those that
are in dire need to be freed from oppression and a tyrant. Iraq is such an uncivilized country and
religion will always dictate the way this country goes about things, which unfortunately isn’t
good. America will never spread democracy in countries such as Iraq as the religion and customs
are completely different than ours in America. We are fighting a faceless enemy so to say. These
terrorists don’t play by the same rules of engagement, and in my opinion should not be
guaranteed the same rights under the Geneva Convention. Because we are the country we are, we
will never defeat these cowards as they play dirty and there are too many sympathizers in our
country who have no idea how these terrorists operate. Obama pulling out the troops in Iraq
without any kind of plan, set us back so far and allowed other terrorist groups such as Isis to
Discuss how you see the "war on terrorism" as of this date. Do you think the United States
should be engaged in such a war? Give reasons for or against this war and whether or not we are
giving up our own principles to wage it.
Jackson (2018) describes the war on terrorism as, “… term used to describe the American-led
global counterterrorism campaign launched in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001” (para. 1). I think it is important that the U.S. be engaged in the war on terror, but I also
believe that this focus should be on protecting our country. It’s hard for me to take a stance on
this because I’ve served in both Afghanistan and Iraq when I was in the U.S. Army. I think it was
appropriate for the U.S. to go to war with Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. These terrorist (al-
Qaeda) brought the war on to our own homeland when they decided to kill thousands of innocent
civilians. I was stationed in Giessen, Germany when I watched the attacks on the news. It was
understood amongst all us soldiers that it was only a matter of time before we were deployed. I
will tell you, not a single one of us had second guessed this decision and were more than willing
to fight for our country. I think as a country; our hands were forced into action as we would not
sit back and allow this to happen on American soil. When we arrived to Afghanistan, many of the
Afghani people were relieved to see us because of the own abuse, torture, and killings they
experienced at the hands al-Qaeda and a corrupt government. These bases in Afghanistan employ
a lot of the local people and provide them with better opportunities than they could ever have
without our country there. So, I believe this war was necessary, but will be never ending. I feel
our sources should be on protecting our own country first against an ever-changing enemy. We
also have our own home-grown terrorist and issues we must focus on as well. Unfortunately, we
will never be able to free this country of corruption or terrorism. Do we pull out of this country
and count our losses, or do we stay there fighting a war we will never truly win?
Iraq was a whole other ball game, and the number of soldiers and civilians lost can never justify
the need for war. I believe that there was a need for the U.S. to intervene in order to protect the
people against Saddam Hussein’s regime. However, I don’t believe the U.S. realized how long it
would take to start a new government from scratch. I’m very much on the fence because I think
of the close friends/soldiers I lost in the Iraq war, and how things are still going in that country,
and I don’t feel it was worth it. But, on the contrary, how can we not step in and help those that
are in dire need to be freed from oppression and a tyrant. Iraq is such an uncivilized country and
religion will always dictate the way this country goes about things, which unfortunately isn’t
good. America will never spread democracy in countries such as Iraq as the religion and customs
are completely different than ours in America. We are fighting a faceless enemy so to say. These
terrorists don’t play by the same rules of engagement, and in my opinion should not be
guaranteed the same rights under the Geneva Convention. Because we are the country we are, we
will never defeat these cowards as they play dirty and there are too many sympathizers in our
country who have no idea how these terrorists operate. Obama pulling out the troops in Iraq
without any kind of plan, set us back so far and allowed other terrorist groups such as Isis to
