terrorism. What were the motives of the terrorists that carried out the 9/11 attacks on the USA?

 

2. What are the aims and methods of the “War on Terror”?

The war on Terror is the political, military and legal action taken by the USA in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks. The objectives of the “war on terror” are supposed to counter terrorist attacks and prevent others from happening especially from terrorist organisations such as the Al Qaeda. Terrorist organisations carried out attacks on the USA and its allies throughout the later part of the 20th century, prompting occasional military responses. Following the 1998 embassy bombing in Kenya and Tanzania, United States President Bill Clinton launched “Operation Infinite Reach” this was a bombing campaign in Sudan and Afghanistan against targets associated with the Al Qaeda. In October 2000 the USS Cole bombing occurred, followed by the September 11th attacks. These attacks created an immediate demand throughout the United States foe a decisive response. However the “decisive response” has thought to have caused more deaths through the killing of civilians from even more terrorist attacks such as the 7th July Bombings in the UK.

The aims and methods of the “War on Terror” were published by Bush Administration:

Defeat terrorists and their organisations

Identify, locate, and destroy terrorists along with their organisations

Deny sponsorship, support and sanctuary to terrorists

This Objective includes trying to persuade other countries to help the USA to defeat terrorism by destroying the terrorist’s “hide-outs” and to make sure that all their funding sources are disrupted, “We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them against each other, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or rest” (extract from President’s speech from His Address to the Nation, )

Diminish the underlying conditions that terrorists seek to exploit.
By saying this the President means to partner up with the “International Community” to prevent the emergence of terrorism

Defend US citizens and interests at home and abroad

Counter terrorism methods are techniques and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and other groups do in order to prevent or stop specific terrorist attacks. In a joint congress on September 20th 2001, President Bush quoted methods on how he will try to prevent terrorism, “We will direct every resource at our command – every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war- to the disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network … and we will pursue nations that provide aid or safety to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with is, or you are with the terrorists… He will lead, oversee, and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard our country against terrorism, and respond to any attacks that may come… These measures are essential. But the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it and destroy it where it grows.” ()

The USA PATRIOT Act, commonly known as the 'Patriot' act, is an Act of Congress that United States President George W. Bush signed into law on October 26, 2001. The acronym stands for " Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" This acts widens the range of authority of US law enforcement agencies for the purpose of fighting terrorism in the United States and abroad it also enables law enforcements to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial and other records; eases restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the United States.

Britain has also contributed to the War on Terror,

   Great Britain 

Country representatives arrived at CENTCOM 18 Sep 01. There are currently 43 personnel at CENTCOM.

RADM Burnell-Nugent serves as Deputy Commander for all coalition naval forces in theatre, responsible for coordinating extensive operations. British forces have participated in MIO and Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) operations.

The Royal Air Force has provided aircraft throughout the region and contributed high-value assets in the critical areas of aerial refueling, Airborne Early Warning (AEW), and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR).

British ground forces have participated in both OEF and ISAF missions. A company of 40 Commandos and Royal Marines deployed to Kabul and has contributed to mine clearing operations, including the provision of specialist equipment at both Bagram and Kabul International airports.
Great Britain was the first nation to send military representatives and campaign planners to CENTCOM. They have deployed the largest naval task force since the Falklands War to support OEF. Additionally, they have provided the only coalition TLAM platforms to launch missiles during the commencement of OEF hostilities. Great Britain assumed the lead for the ISAF operation.

Q3:- Will the “War on Terror” succeed?

The war on terror has been continuous since the September 11th 2001 World Trade Centre bombings. It is difficult to say whether the war on terror is going to be successful or not due to the arguments and protests against it.

The war has succeeded in some ways as after the September 11th 2001 bombings the USA has not been attacked at all. Saddam Hussein was the 5th President of Iraq; he was executed for producing and harboring “weapons of mass destruction” and was considered a tyrant as well as a dictator. The USA urged Iraqis to stand up to Saddam; he was considered a threat to the stability of Iraq. Saddam Hussein caused havoc among Iraq he had invaded Kuwait and started the Gulf war in August 2 1990. In hi speech of “State of the Union” the president says

We have the terrorists on the run. “We're keeping them on the run. One by one, the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice.” . This reassures us that the war on terror has a purpose and is successful.

However many people may argue that the “War on Terror” is very unsuccessful and that it has caused much more deaths than done any good. The war on terror was issued in 2001 but in 2006 Israel invaded Lebanon. The conflict began when Hezbollah militants (“Party of God” political and parliamentary party situated in Lebanon) fired rockets at Israeli border towns as a diversion for an anti-tank missile attack on two armored Humvees (army vehicles otherwise known as Hummers) patrolling the Israeli side of the border fence. Of the seven Israeli soldiers in the two jeeps, two were wounded, three were killed, and two were captured and taken to Lebanon. Five more were killed in an attempted Israeli rescue. Israel responded with massive airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon. There were also more suicide attacks in the UK known as the 7/7 July bombings. The 7th July bombings were a series of coordinated bomb blasts planned by Muslim terrorists that hit London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. At 8:50 a.m., three bombs exploded within fifty seconds of each other on three London Underground trains. A fourth bomb exploded on a bus nearly an hour later at 9:47 a.m. in Tavistock Square. The bombings killed 52 people and the four suicide bombers, injured 700. It was carried out by members of the Al Qaeda seeking revenge and carrying out the attacks for the same motives for the 9/11. There has been no resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict whereas in fact matters are getting worse; some citizens are worried about the success of the war as much of it is carried out in secret.

In 2001 the USA wanted to invade Iran but the government and their citizens were very unhappy with US policies therefore many protests and riots arose. Another case that could be argued that the only reason the USA captured Saddam Hussein was that it was supposed that he had weapons of mass destruction, and as the USA is a very powerful country they could have feared that Saddam would launch attacks against them, although when Saddam was captured there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction found, this could be interpreted into a suspicion that as Iraq is one of the world’s largest countries that are rich in oil, the USA could be trying to overthrow the Iraqi government and rule the country themselves and steal the oil.

Overall I do not think that the war on terror is going to succeed; there are many reasons for my belief such as America sending troops into Iraq, supposedly to “Give birth to a new Democracy” but in my opinion it is only an excuse for his real motive and it is oil.

America could always withdraw their military bases from Iraq and send their troops back to the US but then there oil supply may be cut off and oil is a major factor of their large economy, once America have gone down in the economy they won’t be as powerful. So it is very unlikely that they will ever get out of the Middle East, this corresponds with Al Qaeda’s motives as Osama Bin Laden wants the US military to leave the Middle East but if America will not leave the Al Qaeda will cause more deaths with more attacks. The Al Qaeda will not stop to get what they want and neither will the USA, so the war on terror will be an on going war, killing millions of people in the process, President Bush even admitted himself that the war on terror will not end, “The war on terror is a task that does not end”. Many innocent people’s lives are being taken in the process of “Giving birth to a new Democracy” and many more terrorist groups are forming.