The War on Terror - Essay Example

Crises and Conflict "The war on terror is based on the politics of fear and the creation of moral panic" It is true that terrorism has created significant importance throughout the world especially in U.S.A and Britain, the global war on terrorism has created a social and political turmoil, it seems as if U.S.A Army is implementing the principal implications of a real war, rather than taking simple and effective measures to combat terrorism. The war on terror is going on thereby making the political grounds of the country vulnerable day by day and making more and more people psychologically weak. It seems as if both, 'war' and 'war on terror' has given nothing to the people but fear and anxiety to survive. Whether the terror war is based on a series of structured brainstorming sessions that began shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, supplemented by selective research and updates (Ronczkowski, 2004, p. 2) or based on London bombings we are still struggling with defining, dealing with, and addressing terrorism and the roles of officials and agencies in combating terrorism. What have we gained so far Terrorism is there; War on terrorism is going on; we have not gained security against terrorism but a social and moral fear because of politics and legal concerns. Such concerns have emerged a new fear and panic within us. On the other hand the field of terrorism in the context of research or military arenas has revealed that there is a lack of awareness, especially by law enforcement personnel, as to how to best deal with and analyse terrorism and terrorist-related activity. Therefore, how are we expecting law enforcement personnel to identify something about which they do not have a conceptual understanding Law enforcement academies have always focused on training and developing an individual so he understands every aspect of what he can do and what is expected of him in criminal-based situations locally, according to state guidelines. So how can law enforcement personnel be expected to effectively address the international reaches of terrorism without proper training and awareness of what they are attempting to identify and analyse Even it is found out that the information obtained from terrorism analysis is used in strategic planning for areas such as crime prevention and conflicts. However, is crime prevention the same as terrorism prevention Such a war on terror is producing nothing but causing in the society intense fear, anxiety, apprehension, panic, dread, and horror. (Garaeu, 2004, p. 14) The main targets of terrorist compulsion are the civilian population, distinguishing these techniques from conventional acts of war directed primarily against military targets. Often members are selected and randomly attacked and escorted towards the preplanned violence that is directed against targets specified. Terrorism often targets business corporations in the private sector. However the war on terror suggests measures to identify all the predictable and unpredictable impacts of terrorist influence upon its instant victims. The war against terror develops its intentions to fight and inspire anxiety, even among its' own members of the public which are far removed from its immediate surrounding area, as well as generating widespread moral disgust about the use of these techniques. The war on terror is often considered as a war which is aimed primarily at terrorists but accidentally military targets also suffer thereby inviting 'collateral damage' to occur, where many civilians are accidentally hurt, but this differs from violent acts that are intentionally directed against the general public. One cannot say how much such a war is beneficial for eradicating terrorists but this is for sure that such wars cause moral turmoil among the citizens. (Just et al, 2003, p. 7) The number of US institutes and research centres and 'think thanks' which have now added this subject to their research agendas against 'war on terror' or, have been newly established to specialise in this field are subjected to multiple views and dimensions. Rather it would be better to say that these 'multiple views' are the results of increasing fear and panic among the public. In Britain and other European countries the increase in interest in the subject 'war on terror' has been more modest and even versatile: some universities are now beginning to recruit specialists in terrorism studies to teach the subject as part of the curriculum of political science or international relations. Yet throughout European academia there is still a deep-seated reluctance, if not outright refusal, to recognise that studying terror as a weapon, whether by sub-state groups or regimes, is a legitimate and necessary scholarly activity. (Fawn & Buckley, 2003, p. 25) War on terror has created moral panic and public fear, and of course both the Government and the terrorists are responsible for the situation which is influenced by their negotiations with targeted governments, but fear has secondary consequences that further undermine government authority. Researchers draw on classic case studies to suggest that fear fragments and isolates society into anxious groups of individuals concerned only with their personal survival (Allen 1984). As Hutchinson (1973) puts it: "Terrorism destroys the solidarity, cooperation, and interdependence on which social functioning is based, and substitutes insecurity and distrust." (Just et al, 2003, p. 255) This is of course the case where until now terrorism has provided multiple wars and conflicts within us of which 'war on terror' is one. The breakdown of social trust and cooperation could have serious effects on how society functions. If trust is essential to the accumulation of social capital, mistrust is likely to undermine a society's social resources. The war on terror has eroded trust which has not only diminished political involvement of all kinds, ranging from involvement in electoral politics to activity in local educational and community groups but have also resulted in declining the social capital. This has put up a boost to terrorist aims because it has distanced citizens from their government and each other, emphasising personal security over the collective good. What about the public opinion Who cares if their opinion becomes the battleground on which terrorists combat governments but indirectly For terrorists to achieve their goals, the targeted public needs to experience fear. In the extreme, this should lead residents of a targeted community to clamour for negotiations with terrorists that will put an end to violence. In contrast, governments need their citizens to support counterterrorist policies, and must steel them for the potential hardship, restricted liberties, and possible loss of life that these policies entail. Governments should actively urge citizens toward stoicism in the face of adversity. This is consistent with U. S. politicians' actions after 9/11 however many urged Americans to continue to follow their regular daily routine and not succumb to fear. Overall, fear and anxiety lead to less clear information processing, the overestimation of risk, and greater risk aversion in every aspect of the public. These reactions hold important implications for support of anti-terrorism policies. It is due to the fear of 'war on terrorism' that has made national security policies potentially violent in public eyes and who believe that consequences of the war would be less popular among fearful individuals than policies that address the threat of terrorism without increasing the prospect of further retaliatory action. In other words, fear should decrease support for risky overseas military action, but should not diminish support for homeland security policies, such as domestic surveillance, identity checks, and other forms of internal security that do not exacerbate threat. In addition, fear may have even broader political and social ramifications through its other psychological effects. It could lead to an overestimation of the negative consequences of both terrorist actions and government retaliation and reduce the absorption of important information about national security because it diminishes cognitive processing capabilities. 'Social dislocation' is another consequence of fear suggested by the terrorism literature. Terrorism researchers believe that fear leads to a greater mistrust of one's fellow citizens and, thus, weakens social bonds. (Just & Kern, 2003, p. 258) Research conducted after 9/11 demonstrated that any thing concerned with 'terrorism' threat does enhance support for homeland security policies that potentially dampen civil liberties, especially among individuals who trust the government (Davis and Silver, 2002), and exacerbates negative views of the economy and the stock market. The political effects of personal threat are much weaker or nonexistent, although personal threat curtails personally risky behaviours such as air travel and increases caution in handling the mail (around the time of the Anthrax scare). Experiencing the attacks is an important source of fear and anxiety. Individuals are expected to physically be closest to the event to be most emotionally aroused and fearful. This is consistent with evidence that if one has physically experienced the attacks, would lead to a greater sense of personal than national threat after 9/11 and heightened levels of post-traumatic stress syndrome (Galea et al, 2002). Individuals who lived in the Northeast were more likely than other Americans to feel fear and report symptoms of depression, but did not perceive any higher level of risk to the nation as a whole. Having known someone who was missing or killed in the attacks led to higher levels of fear, depression, and risk, although it had greatest impact on levels of fear and depression. Gender in this case of fear and depression matters a lot as women were more subjected to depression and panic as compared to men. According to a research, women take certain issues like war, terrorism and threat personally so are more personally afraid of persecution than are men, despite the fact that men are more likely to be the victims of violent crime (Ferraro, 1996). Women are also more fearful of war and terrorism (Raviv et al., 2000). Consistent with our expectations, women reported higher levels of fear and anxiety, depression, and risk appraisal than men, although gender differences were most pronounced on fear and anxiety. One might think that 'terrorism' and 'war against terror', both escort the general public towards various social and psychological disorders as every war upholds negative consequences and 'terrorism' is such a war that brings destruction in every aspect. Those who do not suffer physically, suffer indirectly through fear and anxiety. References/ Bibliography Allen, William S. (1984). The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945. New York: Franklin Watts, revised Davis and Brian D. Silver. (2002). "Civil Liberties vs. Security in the Context of the Terrorist Attacks on America". Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, September, 2002 Fawn Rick & Buckley Mary, (2003) Global Responses to Terrorism: 9/11, Afghanistan and beyond: Routledge: New York. Galea, Sandro, Jennifer Ahern, Heidi Resnick, Dean Kilpatrick, Michael Bucuvalas, Joel Gold, and David Vlahov. (2002). "Psychological Sequelae of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks on New York City" In: New England Journal of Medicine 346(13): 982-987 Gareau H. Frederick, (2004) State Terrorism and the United States: From Counterinsurgency to the War on Terrorism: Clarity Press: Atlanta. Just Marion, Kern Montague & Norris Pippa, (2003) Framing Terrorism: The News Media, the Government, and the Public: Routledge: New York Raviv, A., A. Sadeh, A. Raviv, O. Silberstein, and O. Diver. (2000). 'Young Israelis' Reactions to National Trauma: The Rabin assassination and terror attacks. ' Political Psychology, 21, 299-322 Ronczkowski R. Michael, (2004) Terrorism and Organized Hate Crime: Intelligence Gathering, Analysis, and Investigations: CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL. Read More