War On Terror: A Campaign To Counter Anti-Americanism

The war on terror is an international military campaign launched by the US govt after the 9/11 attacks. The main targets were Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen by the military. The intelligence department involved institutional reorganization and increased funding. The diplomatic department continued efforts to maintain a coalition of partner states and a campaign to counter anti-Americanism in the Middle East (Ivie, 2005). The domestic dimension following the Patriot act led to the formation of new institutions such as Homeland Security that detained thousands of suspects. The war on terror both has its upsides and adverse effects.

A major criticism leveled at war on terror is that it does not fulfill the requirements of a just war under the international law of the United Stations. Therefore, by invading a country that doesn’t pose an impending threat the US undermined International Law. The United States, therefore, committed a war of aggression that is regarded war crime (Amoore,2006:336-551). Another criticism leveled at war on terror is that it might set in motion invasion of other countries by powerful states.

An adverse effect of war on terror is that it has been estimated by the National Intelligence to have led to a rise in the threat of terrorism. The estimate was reported by sixteen intelligence agencies (Ivie,2005). They explained how terrorism rose in numbers as a response to past and present military intervention and occupation. Structural violence which is the suppression of the economy by the United States has also been attributed to a rise in terrorism.

The war on terror has also faced harsh criticism for some of it’s methods which have been deemed inhumane. CIA agents captured suspected terrorists and transferred them to countries known to employ torture as an interrogation technique in an effort to extract intelligence (Amoore,2006:336-551). The United States also faced criticism for detaining suspects in Guantanamo Bay without any fair trial. Apart from all that the US also used unmanned drones to kill suspected terrorists, which might have also led to loss of innocent lives including kids.

However, the war on terrorism had success in its first years which included: prevention of further widespread attacks on Americans and the arrest of hundreds of terrorist suspects globally. The war on terror also led to the toppling of the Taliban regime and subsequent shutting down of terrorist-training camps that were in Afghanistan (Amoore,2006:336-551). In addition to that the military capture and led to the elimination of many of Al-Qaeda’s senior members. The war on terror also led to fostering increased levels of international cooperation in an effort to counter global counterterrorism afflicting nations.

Despite the success of the war on terror in it’s first year, many critics have argued that the failures of the counterterrorism unit formed by America have far outweighed its favorable outcomes. Among the points they raised were that the war on terror especially in Afghanistan led to the scattering of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, therefore making the efforts to counteract terrorism much more of a headache (Ivie,2005). The war on terror also led to increased anti-Americanism in America due to oppression by the military. Another harsh criticism that the war on terror faced was allegations that the war on terror was nothing but a contrived “Wag the dog” to mask US political agenda that included gaining control of the global oil reserves, increasing military spending and expanding US military spending in other countries.

Bibliography

1. Ivie, Robert L. Democracy and America’s war on terror. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2005.
2. Amoore, Louise. ‘Biometric borders: Governing mobilities in the war on terror.’ Political geography 25, no. 3 (2006): 336-351.