As an American, I realize that America plays a major part in what happens around the world. We have been a world leader since World War II. However, everything that happens in the world is not necessarily related to anything we have done or are doing. To assume that the world revolves around America is not only self-centered, it is stupid.
CNS News posted an article yesterday about the Country Reports on Terrorism 2009 at the U.S. Department of State, which was released this week.
According to the article:
"Counterterrorism Coordinator Daniel Benjamin said that the Obama administration's strategy to fight terrorism around the world includes determining America's own role in possibly increasing the number of terrorists."
Note to Mr. Benjamin--terrorism has always existed. It has been used against civilian populations during war ever since war has existed. We have all heard stories of civilian populations being terrorized when a country is conquered. Tyrannical governments have used forms of terrorism to control the populations they rule. If you look at the way the Taliban treated the citizens of Afghanistan when they were in charge of the country, terrorism was really not a stretch for them. There was little regard for innocent life, and there was no problem killing innocent people for a 'greater cause.'
Isn't the root of terrorism the idea of killing innocent people for a 'greater cause?' The logic of suicide attacks falls down when you try and figure out what they accomplish other than terror. What did the blowing up of Flight 103 over Lockerbee, Scotland, actually accomplish? It killed a lot of innocent people, saddened many families, and cost the world a lot of human potential, but what did it actually accomplish? We need to understand that terrorism will exist regardless of what America does. We are not capable of controlling or appeasing terrorists to the point where they will become peaceful world citizens. It's not about us. The people who have websites to encourage terrorism enjoy some perverted sense of power when innocent people are killed in the name of their god. You notice that the people who host these websites are not the people blowing themselves up.
The article concludes:
"The report also outlines the increasing radicalization of people in the United States, including U.S. citizens, and U.S. citizens abroad who are now actively planning and supporting terrorist attacks. Those include Anwar al-Aulaqi, who is linked to both Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people last year at Ft. Hood army base in Texas, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man who tried to set off a bomb in a plane landing in Detroit, Mich., on Christmas Day."
The problem with terrorists is not America--the problem with terrorists is terrorists.
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