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By Janice S. Ellis, PhD, Kansas City, MO –
Terrorism beyond and within our borders, how will we successfully win this war? Or, will it become a part of our way of life, to be watchful, even fearful of those who look or don’t look like us if they act suspicious or look out of place?
The terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium is another painful reminder of the times in which we live. ISIS is claiming responsibility. But ISIS is only part of the problem when it comes to terrorism.
Are we in or have we entered the Age of Terrorism? We have lived through two world wars, the Cold War and the Nuclear Arms Race on a global level. There have been many regional wars where the United States has been engaged at one level or the other: The Korean War, the Vietnam War, and more recently the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And now, there is the war against terrorism, only this enemy is more amorphous, not neatly defined or contained, philosophically or geographically. The enemy could be seas and continents away or they could be in your country, your city, your neighborhood. Terrorism beyond and within our borders, sadly is becoming a way of life.
While the typical terrorist has been thought to have Middle Eastern origins (from Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia), that only represents one profile. While it may not be the norm, a terrorist could be anyone from any ethnic or geographical region. In recent months, we have seen Americans, Africans, Asians and Europeans, white and black become radicalized and sympathetic to the terrorists causes.
Terrorism Beyond And Within Our Borders
So where is the enemy? The reality is the enemy could be anywhere. That is not to engender fear or hopelessness in terms of being able to enjoy the safety and security that has defined America for centuries. Except for the Civil War, and the terrorist attack of 911, America unlike most other countries in the civilized world has been spared the ravages of war in its homeland.
Terrorism beyond and within our borders. Photo Credit: youtube.com
But is our sense of safety, of being all powerful and untouchable, a thing of the past, an era that has slipped in the pages of history as part of the golden age of an American fortress? For we, like the rest of the world, have become vulnerable to an enemy that places little or no value on life, including their own. Terrorism beyond and within our borders can strike at any time.
Our intelligence capability, our military might, our police protection provide a great element of comfort. But, it will take us all to thwart, minimize and defeat this enemy. We must educate ourselves about the many facets and faces of terrorism. We must educate our children in way that will help them better understand and manage, without paralyzing fear, the world.
Knowledge and vigilance will be the average citizen’s greatest weapon to minimize being a casualty of this war – terrorism beyond and within our borders – that likely will not be defeated anytime soon.
Feature Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org
14 Comments
An enemy can really be anyone. It is often created within our border or country. We should maintain peace and equality to all.
What a refreshing topic. This is not always talked about but it is very alarming. Every country must have their own security and defense ready anytime.
Terrorism is unacceptable under any circumstance. We as a nation need to join our hands together to fight against terrorism.
It’s really scary when you don’t know where or when the next terrorist is going to strike. It’s impossible to know what makes them tick. A lot of terrorist acts are freak occurrences from people with no criminal backgrounds. I think it all ties back to gun control, not just in the States, but everywhere abroad. I agree, that early education will help police and military officials thwart terrorists along with stricter gun/weapons regulations.
This is our sad, unfortunate reality now. Terrorism is very much a part of our culture and society.
I like your idea of a solution you have given in this post, sincerely the war of terrorism might not end soon but if we follow your advice of everyone having the weapon of knowledge and vigilance we might get to eradicate terrorism.
Terrorism won’t be subdued unless everyone in the world believes and thinks the same way. There will always be different opinions as a product to different upbringings, society, culture, and inherent aspects.
Terrorism knows no race, knows no country. At this point in time, we never really who the terrorist are, and what motivates them to do what they do. The notion of terrorism has somehow evolved also, and we never seem to stop and think of what really caused such problem. What made it worse, and what makes it even more worst. We have to be careful on what we take in mind, and what we teach our children about terrorism. Because if we do this recklessly, we might end up just making it worse.
It wouldn’t be a good idea for us to just fold our hands and watch even suspicious people get away with terrorism beyond or within our borders. Collective efforts are needed to kick this menace out of our country.
most worst aspect of terrorist forces firstly they are not bothered about the destruction cause to their own land and people,there is no such feeling among them secondly including terrorist nations in the list they have access to the most modern war equipment and even nuclear and chemical weapons so we can imagine how destructive they are.
Terrorism beyond and within our borders can come from anyway and just being scare will not cut it.The best bet is educating one another and also being vigilant to avoid unnecessary war in our country.
No matter how we fight against terrorism they will still be there. There are always people who are against to something.
We have are own version of that here. The ABU SAYAF. Never the less we are in constant battle with these elements. I do not understand why people join such groups though?
The police, intelligence and army act as a source of protection against terrorism. It will take us all to defeat the enemy.