After the September 11 attacks in the year 2001, President Bush announced that his country would crack down on those involved, and later war was launched against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban leaders identified as terrorists (The Times, 2001). Therefore President Bush chose to approach it with a ‘war on terrorism. However, there have been other efforts aimed at counteracting terrorism by the U.S. Although the administration of Bill Clinton as the president for eight years was criticized for failing to end terrorism, there were proper measures put in place to deal with the vice. These included efforts to pass the Omnibus Counter-Terrorism Act of 1985 and preparation of the Presidential Decision Directives to enable deal with domestic and foreign terrorism (‘President Clinton’s Efforts to End Terrorism’).
The measure by president Bush to fight the terrorist has been challenged, and others like the Green Party think that adherence to UN laws on Human Rights should be observed and that there should be a shift away from the use of militarism and self-interest to attack terrorism (2001).
Terrorism activities today are based on the “kill one, frighten a thousand phenomena,” and although people may feel that Osama Bin Laden and his co-workers have done the worst in the attacks against the United States, others, including the US citizens who participate in abortion also take the face of terrorism (Kevin, n.d.).
Terrorism may take the face of international terrorism, right and left wings, domestic or may be based on special interests. There is an indication that Terrorism is an old venture; for example, Narodnaya Volya is a terrorist group indicated by the authors to have operated from 1878 to 1881 in Russia and insisted on the toppling of the czars. This alone may be an indication of how much deep terrorism is and that stringent effort and measures should be put in place to end the vice. Terrorism can not only be seen to be a problem of the United States but has affected other nations as well. The terrorist may use various types of weapons like nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons to do his job.
According to Turk (1982), innovative policing mechanisms are required to counter-terrorism. Terrorism is a time, for example, the right-wing, came up as a result of paramilitary training sponsored by the Christian Identity Movement, and counterfeiting and bank robbery was the main source of their funding (Smith, 1994). Right-wing terrorism constitutes small groups trying to fight to solve the feeling of victimization. Tuck (1984) has found out that American terrorists of the 1960s and 1970s seemingly came from upper-class and urban areas, and their class structure performed a role of preparing them in making up their manifestos and carrying out campaigns to execute crime against their enemies. Hamm (2005) views that the attacks of the September 11 were a turning point in political violence history.
Efforts by Bush to applying the military approach have achieved some targets in ending terrorism but are not presently a sufficient solution since the terrorist may choose to revenge. The approach has also sparked enmity between the US and countries allied to the Islamic religion. Since terrorism is old and maybe engraved in society, other ways of counteracting it may be necessary, although non-famous, like negotiating with the terrorists. Other ways that the US has put in place involve championing sanctions to be placed against countries perceived to support or indulge in terrorism. The sanctions could, for example, be economical. Generally, punishment for the terrorists and the countries perceived to be involved in the major way utilized in counteracting terrorism. The US has influenced bodies like the UN to impose sanctions on countries perceived to support or engage in terrorism.
References
Clifford E. Simonsen & Jeremy R. Spindlove (2004). Terrorism Today, The Past, The Players, The Future 2nd edition. Cassidy Kevin. A Review. Pearson, Prentice Hall.
Greens. Green Party Statement on Measures to End Terrorism. 2001. Web.
Hamm Mark (2005). Theoretical Criminology. 2008. Web.
President Clinton’s Efforts to End Terrorism. BuzzFlash Perspectives. 2008. Web.
Smith, Brent L. (1994) Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
The Times, 2001. ‘Bloody Echoes of Pearl Harbour’.
Turk, Austin. (1984). Political Crime. in Robert Meier (ed.). Major Forms of Crime. Beverley Hills, CA: Sage Publications. pp.119-35.
Turk, Austin (1982) Political Criminality: The Defiance and Defense of Authority. Beverley Hills, CA: Sage Publications.