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Terrorism: The Role Of Terrorism In The United States

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Terrorism has been a constant threat in America for hundreds of years. Terrorism is defined as attacks against unprotected civilians by private groups. Way before the country became a superpower, Americans developed a sense of vulnerability because of all of the outside forces. One of the first acts of terrorism in our country was led by the Barbary Pirates, who attacked American merchant ships from some North African countries. This group, sponsored by a Muslim organization in Turkey, was fought by our Navy between 1801 and 1805. An example of a terrorist attack from inside the country was started by a man name John Brown who fought against slavery by going to Harper’s Ferry and raiding the supplies of the American army (Johnson). Even though …show more content…

It is shown that when a nation adopts active foreign policies they are more likely to create resentment among foreign groups which could be a reason why there have been many terrorist attacks in the United States in the past few years (Savun). The main component of foreign policy is to give widely dispersed benefits while imposing widely divided costs, an example of this being the decision to go to war. Foreign policy was dramatically altered by the attacks on the Pentagon and the World trade Center on September 11, 2001. This was proof that even though the United States was the most powerful country, it was still extremely vulnerable and had a lot of problems that needed to be fixed. After these attacks George W. Bush declared a “war on terrorism” and his whole administration focused on developing a powerful foreign policy. He used the military resources to try to mobilize the United States and its allies in preparation for the war that was soon to take place. Before the tragedy of 9/11 occurred, barely any Americans believed that there should be a war against but after the terrorist attack America immediately went to war with them because public opinion was altered. In the years leading up to the attacks of 9/11 there was broad public agreement that the main objective for American foreign policy was to keep our nation and allies safe from the military threats of other countries. Foreign policy was …show more content…

After 9/11, the Defense Department reviewed all of the U.S. defense policies which showed an approach that had quickly responded to the new realities of the war on terrorism. Since 9/11, our defense policy has heavily focused in terrorism and how to respond to nations that the United States has conquered but are protecting terrorists. Our superpower status, even though it means we can not be challenged through military means, leaves us vulnerable to terrorist attacks here and in other countries, which is confirmed by the 9/11 attacks. Some questions were raised during this time like how far the government can go in searching for and prosecuting terrorists. About a month after the attacks, a new law was passed by Congress titled the USA Patriot Act. It was designed to increase federal powers so that terrorists could be heavily investigated. The Patriot Act gave the government the right to tap phones and the internet and voice mail, search through grand jury information and investigate any immigrants that have recently come to the United States. It also increases the penalties of a person who has been charged with involvement in terrorist acts. Even though the word defense was often used when mentioning the United States military policy, there were not many actual defense strategies for the

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