How would you evaluate the success of the War on Terror so far

Respond to the following prompt:

How would you evaluate the success of the War on Terror so far? Do you think this war will ever end? Why or why not?

400 words for question above

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Respond to the two answers and give your take on them

200 words each answer

Answer 1: After the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks the United States launched an international war on terrorism. The strategy was that the United States wanted to stop terrorist attacks, not just on the States but Internationally. One of these strategies was the “4-D” strategy, which consisted of 4 main objectives: to defeat terrorist organizations with global reach, to deny such organizations sanctuaries from which to operate and launch attacks, to diminish the conditions that give rise to the use of terrorism, and to defend the United States through “proactive” defense of the homeland.

The Military, is the key player in the war on terror. The military has been the main source of intervention during this time. There are two types of military response, the first is direct military intervention, which involves sending American troops to fight, occupy, or defend territory in other nations. The second form of military involvement is, indirect involvement, which involves providing various kinds of support to facilitate the use of military force by a third party. Examples of indirect support include intelligence, sending military equipment, advising, money, or training all via the Unites States military. Both types of involvement have been used during this war.

The war on terrorism, in my opinion is far from over, and I am not sure it ever will come to an end. Maybe I feel this way because terrorism has been around practically my whole life, so it’s hard to know any different. I think the United States has done a decent job handling the war on terrorism. I think the number one thing the United States has done well is tightening up on homeland security.

It is hard to measure the effectiveness of this war, although we haven’t had another attack like 9/11, I think it’s hard to tell if the U.S intervention has had anything to do with that. Prior to 9/11 we hadn’t had any wars or attacks from the Middle East, and even since then, thankfully we haven’t had any more attacks. I think it’s hard to measure if that’s because, there is very low reward for the terrorist groups to attack or involve the United States even more so, or if it’s because of the United States involvement, since 9/11.

The United States military has killed thousands of terrorist groups, and yet terrorists attacks are still happening all over the World, and may arguably be worse than ever have before. With this being said, I think the War on Terror is far from over and is something I would hope to see end before my lifetime, but I do not think it is likely. There will always be extremists groups, that don’t agree with government policies and or religion (whether their own or internationally). I think some groups feel that their only response unfortunately, is violence. We will never live in a world where everyone is on the same page religiously, or politically, and because of that I think the door for terrorism will remain open.

Answer 2: My evaluation of the success on the war on terrorism is simply neutral in a sense. America has come a long way from battling countless foreign nations in historical times, to experiencing an environment of global peace in modern times. Although, there needs to be an update in regards to what the society of today considers terrorism to be. When I think of the war on terrorism, I immediately envision international conflict with another nation of people. A prime example of what initially comes to my mind when I think of this concept, is America’s history with the Islamist terrorist group “al Qaeda.” On the morning of September 11, 2001, the al-Qaeda had carried out one of the deadliest attacks in the United States history. In which a plethora of casualties had resulted from this criminal act, thus sparking the political movement of the “War on Terror” (Vanhoof, 2020).

Traumatic situations such as the latter example is widely considered a terroristic deed, but what about when it comes to domestic acts of violence? What about the circumstances in which the individuals who commit horrendous crimes—that result in multiple casualties—live amongst you and were raised on the very soil you stand on? To many times have I turned on the news and witnessed multiple reports on school shootings in this past year alone, and to many times were the suspects considered as “mentally ill” and not labeled as a terrorist. What separates a foreign assailant from a domestic attacker, in the sense that they both commit violent acts that take many lives yet one is a terrorist and the other is not? This contributes to my assumption that the war on terrorism will most likely never end, as all sides are not held to equal standards of accountability. In addition, I don’t believe there will be a point in time where all acts of terrorism can be efficiently stunted.

There is a popular saying that goes along the lines of bringing a horse to water, but the horse will only drink of its own volition regardless of your efforts. The government cannot make an individual or group see the error of their ways if they simply do not want to accept the truth. Much like the fact that if said individual or group is determined to carry out an act of terrorism, no amount of reasonable input will make them stop. Now when it comes to international affairs, there can be a collaboration amongst the nations to take down a mutual hostile target. It is such unity that certifies the eradication of well-known targets, and eliminates the bigger threats so to speak. Even so, smaller groups and domestic assailants can slide under the radar undetected and are not dealt with until they make their move. This is primarily why I remain neutral on the success of the war on terrorism, because the foreign threats are handled with urgency but the domestic acts have not been tamed. Overall, I am curious to see what others have to say on the matter, as I am very passionate about this topic.

– Final document should have 3 different responses