Stankavich 1

Michaela Stankavich
Aughenbaugh
English 12
15 April 2016
Has The War On Terror Hurt Us As A Nation?
When asked about the war on terror, Christy Weaver had said in a personal interview I
conducted with her It wasnt originally a bad thing. She mentioned that it gave us better safety
regulations and seemed to make America a safer place to be in general. The war on terror hurt
America more than it helped. Before we actually discuss the war on terror though, we should
probably discuss an event that happened prior to it.
On September 11th 2001, America suffered from a terrorist attack that was apparently
done by a group of Muslim extremists. Two planes crashed into the world trade center, also
known as the twin towers, and caused them to catch fire and collapse in on themselves. Another
plane had crashed in Pennsylvania, it was known as flight 93, in a field. The plane was headed
for Washington D.C, but it thankfully didnt make it that far. The third attack was on the
pentagon. A third plane had crashed right into the building (Weaver).
All in all, the number of casualties that came out of the attacks were astonishingly high.
In response to these deaths, and the attack in general, President Bush proposed a war on terror. At
first, a lot of other nations agreed that it was a great idea. They too decided to take place in the
war and sent their troops out to places like Iraq and other areas that claimed to have Al Qaeda
related activity.
However, as stated by John Whitbeck, people started changing their minds about it all.
Whitbeck says himself, If the world is to avoid a descent into anarchy, in which the only rule is

Stankavich 2

might makes right, the world - and particularly the united states- must also recognize that a
world filled with injustice, violent outbursts by those hoping for a better life - or simply seeking
to strike a blow against injustice or their tormentors before they die- can never be eradicated.
(Terrorism: A World Ensnared By A Word). This can be simplified by saying that as a nation, and
as other nations should also do, we need to stop unjust actions like pointing fingers and playing
the war card whenever there are major issues, and instead find better ways to handle the issues at
hand. So, has this war on terror hurt us as a nation, or has it made us stronger? Depending on
whom you ask, the first answer may prove to be more common than the second.
On the opposite side of that argument though lies the side that believes that it made us
better as a nation. They claim that the upgrades to airport security make things safer to fly now,
since the restrictions on things that you can bring on a plane make it much harder for someone to
smuggle a weapon, let alone something as dangerous as an explosive, on board. The technology
involved in modern background checks also makes us safer, because its extremely easy to bring
up all the personal information about whomever it is youre looking at. This effectively makes it
harder for that person to travel, or fly for that matter.
While these things are great to have, it doesnt exactly change what weve done to other
countries while fighting this so-called terrorism war. Afterall, Isnt going into a country and
using drones/bombs technically considered terrorism?
Another argument is that Muslim terrorism is actually a bigger problem than it seems,
and we must put an end to it. The Al Qaeda terrorists and other Muslim extremists have caused a
lot of damage to Iraq, Iran, Turkey and many other countries. That being said, it makes sense to
go in and try to put an end to Islamic terrorism. They also say that the goals of the war make it
justifiable as well. The goals of the war were to get rid of, if not just drastically lower the rates

Stankavich 3

of, terrorism as a whole. The war was designed to make the world a better and much safer place,
not just America. This is a great goal to have, and its nice to be able to see the USA and other
nations working on a common goal together.
However, we will likely never have a world without terrorism. Its also unlikely that
everyone will look at some of our actions during this war as humane or just. For this next, and
final, argument we will look at the side that claims that the war on terror hurt America more than
it helped.
As said by Andy Beckett in his article The Making of the Terror Myth, George Bush
was never asked about terrorism, but used the word or a variant twenty two times in his speech
after 911. Obviously, he wanted to make sure we knew it was a terrorist attack. However
jumping to that so quickly wasnt exactly a good idea, considering where we ended up now with
all this Isis business going on. Also, on the topic of Muslims and their connection with terrorism,
not all Muslims are bad. In fact, in their book the Koran (or Quran) they seem to preach peace.
Some good examples of Muslim beliefs are found in the section known as The Cow. A quote
from this section that proves them to be benevolent is Whosoever hath done evil and his sin
surroundeth him; such are the rightful owners of the fire; they will abide therein. (Watt).
Basically, what that says is that people who thrive on sin and wrongdoing will be forced to live
in the fire. Christianity calls this fire hell.
Moving on now to the actions that seem to stand out when other countries think about
Americas involvement in this war on terror. A good example of this is a topic discussed by Tim
Reid in his article about Guantanamo. We had taken 742 prisoners, under the suspicion that they
could have been terrorists (Reid). As it turns out, we actually knew that they were innocent.
Therefore, we held innocent people as prisoners in a torture prison and we knew that they were

Stankavich 4

innocent. Does that not sound like terrorism? Claiming hostages and keeping them locked away?
Now, you may ask why these people werent released if we knew they werent guilty. According
to Reid, Cheney claimed that by releasing the prisoners the detention efforts would be revealed
as the incredibly confused operation that they were. The United Nations did not feel
comfortable about this, and it lowered peoples views on America greatly. What makes it even
worse is that Frances Gibb pointed out that judges actually banned the use of evidence that could
have helped defend these prisoners in the Guantanamo case (Gibb). Is this not unfair? Why
werent the prisoners given the right to a fair investigation? Our 6th amendment pertains to the
rights of the accused, does it not?
An article found on the department of H.L.S terrorism database states that there was an
analyst who said the following about pre-911 documents on Al Qaeda. We knew enough by
1991 to lobby hard for the inclusion of the potential threat from Bin Laden and his associates in
assessments of the potential repercussions of war with Iraq. (Working With Al-qaeda
Documents: An Analysts View Before 911). So, part of this could have actually been prevented
if we did something about it early on.
A more recent example of the USA looking more like bad guys than good guys is a drone
attack that took place in 2010. The US had launched a drone attack that actually got us some
international backlash. The united nations again was not comfortable with this and we got even
more negative feedback than ever before (Fisher). In conclusion, the war on terrorism helped a
lot, but it also hurt us as a nation.

Stankavich 5

Works Cited
Beckett, Andy. The Making of the Terror Myth. Globalpolicy.org, N.P. 15 Oct. 2010.Web.
10 Mar. 2016
Fisher, William. U.S Drone Strikes Draw International Scrutiny. Globalpolicy.org, N.P.
31 May. 2010. N.P, Web. 11 Mar. 2016
Gibb, F. Judges Ban Secret Evidence in Guantanamo Case. Globalpolicy.org, 5 May. 2010. N.P,
Web. 20 Mar. 2016
Reid, Tim. George W. Bush Knew Guantanamo Prisoners Were Innocent. Globalpolicy.org,.
9 Apr. 2010. N.P, Web. 12 Mar. 2016
Watt, William Montgomery. The Koran. Everymans Library: N.P, N.D. Text. 10 Mar. 2016
Weaver, Christy L. Personal Interview. 3 Mar. 2016.
Whitbeck, John V. Terrorism: A World Ensnared By a Word. Globalpolicy.org, N.p., 18 Feb.
2004. Web. 6 Mar. 2016
Working with Al-qaeda documents: An analysts view before 911 Department of homeland
security terrorism. Database. 14 Mar. 2016