“The conduct of the USA in its battle with terrorism has weakened its international support and done little to improve its security.”
“The USA’s marked disregard of human rights – routinely pursuing acts it would condemn others – has made its proclaimed purpose of spreading the freedom agenda appear hypocritical.”
“It has failed to recognize that the best antidote to terrorism is to uphold human dignity. By revealing its imperial mentality it has lost its moral credibility.”
When September 11, 2001 occurred, Bush and his administration quickly declared war on Afghanistan and Iraq. So many American citizens had lost loved ones, and the rest of America sympathized with them. What if it were their family? Everyone wanted to take action as soon as possible because they were afraid there would be another attack and others wanted to avenge their lost families. The people of America supported Bush, but as time went on people began to lose their pride and started questioning. Other countires also started losing their support.
Has anything improved? So much death has resulted from this war. So many young men and women risking their lives for a war that seems like will never end. The privacy and human rights of American citizens are violated with the Patriot Act.
Innocent Iraqis are forced to live in and endure the war. As families try to escape the war, they face more challenges and struggles. An article I read in Marie Claire, “Survival Sex: Iraqi Refugees” by Danielle Pergament, describes the desperation for educated, successful women to find jobs. Iraqi women result to prostitution because there are no jobs available to them. People are learning more about what really goes on in these war zones. They are realizing how not so glorious war is. Other countries also taken back by what they are witnessing in the war.
Should have Bush thought things through first or was immediate action necessary? There were so many assumptions by Bush and his administration. Did Saddam Hussein have WMDs? Bush labels Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the “Axis of Evil.” Terrorists do not originate from these countries alone, they are everywhere. Target whole countries? That is stereotyping whole peoples from that country as terrorists.
http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/international/iraqi-refugees-prostitutes-sex?click=main_sr
I fully agree that the 9/11 attacks was the sparking event which evolved into a great racist stereotyping battle. After America got involved with the Middle East and it's people, more focus was put towards the extreme violence, torturing acts and suicide bombings thus leaving all of America's focus towards the negative situations taking place, especailly if it involved an American reporter, solieder etc. I agree that this is unfair to these people because we are exploiting their lives and showing the rest of the world these negative images. Yes, awful stuff has and will happen due to terrorist groups, but not all Middle Eastern people hold these violent ideals. Every country has exprienced or is experiencing murder, hate crimes, rape and many more violent acts. So how is it fair that the U.S. is focusing on only the bad within the Middle East instead of the good? How would America feel if another country was exploiting our issues to the entire world? Keeping this in mind, Middle Eastern people fill a huge gap in America's ethnocentric views. Americans tend to view Arab and Islamic males as possessing terrorist ideals.
ReplyDeleteI think that this was really well written, but I have to respectfully disagree. I think that at that time it was necessary because they could not get away with they did, something has to be done. I think that once we started it we can't stop or it would cause mass chaos, we do need to leave, but not abruptly, and the death numbers are really dieing down. I think we need to gradually leave the war.
ReplyDeleteIt really is interesting how many different reactions come out of a devastating event such as Sept. 11. When our nation is attacked, it brings a wave of fear and uncertainty. We realize that maybe our nation isn't as powerful and safe as we once suspected. When the initial shock first dies down, what usually follows is an immense amount of anger and resentment geared towards whoever committed these terrible acts. We want immediate retribution inflicted towards the perpetrators. In this rage, many times we begin stereotyping and resenting anyone that resembles those that committed the act of terror. When we learned that those who committed the 9/11 attacks were Middle Eastern, we immediately began to suspect anyone with Middle Eastern decent. To this day we stereotype those who are Muslim. Granted, this isn't fair to stereotype and harbor resentment against people who clearly weren't guilty of the acts, but is it possible to act in a reasonable manner when you're country has been attacked in such a manner? I think to a certain extent this is permissible (of course this is assuming we do not act on these sentiments), but after a while it's time to understand that these acts were committed by fundamentalist terror groups, not average Muslim citizens. As a collective people, Muslims and Arabs are peace-loving and spiritual; they are not all the crazy terrorists we sometimes make them out to be.
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