War on Terror Essay

[shrd]

Introduction
The War on Terror was started by the events of September 11th, 2001 and july 7th
, 2005. Since then the foreign policy of the US and UK has
been much changed. In the UK it is now legal to hold a terror suspect in
jail for over one month without pressing charges, something unheard of
in 2000. In May 2003, Amnesty International charged the War on Terror
with, instead of building a safer world, “has made it more dangerous by
curtailing human rights” (War on Terror). They also claimed that, far
from the original goals, the war has made people more fearful, as well as
deepening divisions between people of different faiths and origins. The
War on Terror has made foreign policy more stringent on people who are
of the Islamic faith, and has led to hate between different cultural
groups, as well as the downfall of modern human rights.
Blame
The first name that comes to mind when you hear War on Terror is
probably Osama Bin Laden. Many think he is to blame for all of this fear,
yet this is not so. The three people to blame for the deepening uncertainty and fear are former President of the US George Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as former Vice-President Dick
Cheney. As stated in an essay regarding executive power after 9/11, “the
Bush administration’s anti-terrorism practices represent a stunning assault on basic principles of justice, government accountability, and the
role of the courts,” (Parker and Fellner, 2004). This was a reply to a statement Bush made to a 2002 graduating class from West Point Military
Academy. Even Walter Murphy, a constitutional law scholar at Princeton
has criticized Bush for abusing the constitution. Some time after this, he
found out he was on the “terrorist watch list” and learned that attacking
the President (even verbal attacks) will ban you from flying (Murphy,
2007). Another shocking discovery is that the Pentagon is watching peace
marchers, and thousands have been placed on no-fly lists, which are
very hard to get off of (War on Terror). Meanwhile, in the UK, legislation
has passed to allow terror suspects to be held for forty-two days without
charge, lengthening that duration by two weeks (Home and dry, just). As
stated in Article 6 of the UNDHR, “everyone has the right to recognition
everywhere as a person before the law,” and Article 19, “everyone has
the right to freedom of opinion and expression,” and, as a result, both
the American and British laws are in violation of human rights
(UNDHR). Some have even gone so far as to say the War on Terror has
led to what could be described as a War on Freedom.
Ignoring Human Rights?
Amnesty International has condemned the events of 9/11, and “calls
in the strongest terms for those responsible to be brought to justice,” besides “argue[ing]s that the response to these crimes must be conducted
in strict conformity with international human rights standards,”
(Amnesty International: Human Rights Backlash). Amnesty International
has also claimed that the War on Terror is really a War on Freedom, this
claim supported by their ideals of human rights, and the fact that the
main forces in the War on Terror are totally ignoring human rights. After
a brief look at the former DCI Michael Hayden’s comments about the
threat of Al-Qa’ida, one can easily see that the US will stop at nothing to
bring this global jihad to an end (CIA). The Department of Homeland Security was created only for the task of counter-terrorism. This War on
Terror has taken its toll on human rights, and this war looks like it will
now be won by which side takes away more freedom from the people.
Erosion of Public Freedom
The freedom of American citizens is being slowly eroded. With the
creation of the DHS, the US is protected at home and abroad, with the
DHS, CIA and FBI leading and dominating counter-terrorism efforts.
The DHS has established a colour-coded threat level, to tell Americans
what risk the US is currently at for a terrorist attack, and in their efforts
to prevent an attack, the Transportation Security Administration has
even disallowed airplane passengers to have gel shoe inserts as “carry
on” (TSA). This erosion of freedom has led to a heightened level of fear
and security towards terrorists and the American homeland, and has
deepened divisions between different cultures, mostly hate felt towards
those of Islamic origin. In six years, the number of reported anti-Islamic
hate crimes has quintupled, from twenty-eight incidents in 2000 to one
hundred fifty-six in 2006, and 130 victims of hate were Islamic in 2008,
out of a total of 9, 691 victims (FBI). There are many people in the US
today who say anti-Islamic hate crime incidents are less than 2001/02,
and they’re right, levels increased exponentially after 9/11, and then
died down again, but critics like Rush Limbaugh also say that "there is
no backlash against Muslims in America" (mediamatters.org). Others
claim this is just common hatred, others would tell you to look at the
number of anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2008, a number that exceeds one
thousand (FBI). In reality, however, hate crimes against any religion
should be frowned upon, no matter who is being offended.
Conclusion
The War on Terror has made the people world feel as is they are in a
dangerous place, especially those of Islamic faith, and has created a
counter-terrorism oriented foreign policy. There are a few former world
leaders who started the War on Terror, and many organizations that have
responded to the reaction of global terrorism, but, above all, the War on
Terror has taken away our rights as humans. This War on Terror really is a
War on Freedom.

[aariz]

nice try but the essay is not up to the mark. There is lack of more headings.

[Eshmile]

honey u will neva get the topic war on terror. instead they might say dialogue as a solution to war on terror or the future of war on terror, so try them and refer to past questions from essay n current affairs on this topic.

[Abeera]

i think this essay is not up-to-mark and will not bring good result.