Americans and Terrorism After 9/11, Application Essay Example

After the 9-11 terrorist attacks, U.S. policy proposed retribution as the reason behind the invasion of Afghanistan. The American population agreed: this was a just war, and this sentiment was echoed by international support for such an operation.

The War on Terror, however, then expanded to Iraq, fundamentally calling into question the connection between war and terrorism. War on Terror showed itself as a geopolitical strategy to make the Middle East more hospitable to American influence. This could only be accomplished by military victories alongside support of the citizens of invaded countries.

The exact opposite has occurred. A demonization of America which already existed in the Middle East because of its unquestioned support of Israel has become radicalized. As the philosopher Reza Negarestani writes, “In War on Terror and its desert militarism, such lavish feasts of arsenal invite Jihad.” (141) A military response to terrorism only promotes more terrorism. The U.S. government has failed to learn this. Furthermore, its current support for Al-Qaeda aligned fighters in Syria, as well its previous support of Al-Qaeda in Libya and Bin-laden thirty years ago in Afghanistan show that the idealist rhetoric about War on Terror is rather realist at its core: the U.S. is merely playing the geopolitical game of trying to strengthen its position in the Middle East: if this requires to fight “terrorists” or give them arms (like in Syria) so be it.

The American public has learned nothing from this experience. They failed to exercise their democratic rights to make a change, just allowing these conflicts to continue. Democracy in America is therefore a perfect system for those in power: an apathetic public lets the policy makers pursue their aims without any checks and balances. Foreign policy from Bush to Obama is not different, killing civilians throughout the world.

References

Negarestani, Reza. Cyclonopedia: Complicity With Anonymous Materials. Melbourne, Australia: re.press, 2004.