Monday, June 22, 2020

Terrorism Is A Disease - Free Essay Example

Terrorism is a disease that has plagued nations for the past few decades. Middle Eastern terrorists have been the ones billboarded to make the high-profile attacks that kill or injure high numbers of people. Terrorism used to be a low intensity conflict on militaries agendas, and many governments were often not preoccupied with it. In recent years, that agenda has been completely, re-evaluated in the United States terrorism has been causing reforms in major security policies. Those policies now include high security measures that have become a monstrous system that discriminates, invades privacy, and is relatively problematic. Certain ethnic groups have been affected more because of terroristic actions, but everyone is affected by the governments new policies that restrict freedoms. This war on terrorism gives strong efforts to crack down on the people hiding in the cracks that pose a threat, but it also attacks on innocent people. Since 9/11 Muslims have continued to encounter discriminatory racial generalization from American people. According to the FBI, 94% of terrorist attacks carried out in the United States from 1980 to 2005 have been by non-Muslims. This data explains that American terrorists are about 9 times more likely to have an affiliation with terrorism. According to the same document, there were more acts of Jewish terrorism in the United States than Muslim affiliates. Why have Americans attributed the whole Muslim community to terrorism? Leigh Carmichael from the Zwemer Center stated, after 9/11, the medias role was significant in molding the opinion of the general population in regard to Muslims and cannot be understated. In fact, most Muslims in the West place blame on the media for their poor portrayal, which has resulted in backlash for Muslims. Alongside the media reasons bias could be documented all the way back to thousands of years in history. Different cultures have disagreed in religious practices, and the true portrayal of humanity. The lack of understanding in certain cultural practice will cause people to discriminate since theyre different from their own. Some of the injustice can be put to blame on their own cultures since people will practice inhumane rituals. Muslims partake in a religious practice called Hallah it requires slaughter houses to slowly cut the blood vessels and throats of animals. Then animals are hung from ropes while the blood slowly drains from their bodys. In the western world this isnt a popular practice and is widely discouraged. 9/11s terrorist attack accounted for by the Middle-Eastern terrorist group Al-Qaeda is favorably the most problematic opposition Americans have against Muslims. In Al-Qaedas footsteps terrorists groups have continued to form and threaten American soil such as ISIS and the Taliban which are also share the Middle East. These terrorist groups have forced the U.S. to create stricter foreign security legislations, and national security policies that have made life difficult not only for Muslims, but Americans as well. These policies have forcibly put Muslims on an island when open to all of the waves of racial discriminatory actions. Since 9/11 normal activities such as transportation has completely changed in this new era because of terrorism. Men and women in government-issued blue uniforms now police the airports which has become one of the most conspicuous adjustments post 9/11. Where airports previously had used private security guards, Congress gave this agency sweeping authority to perform warrantless searches, pat downs, [including sensitive body parts], scan and log the facial features and apprehend American citizens of all ages. There has been an abundance of regulations such as the banning of liquids and other items on planes. Officials working in the airport are strictly forbidden to come anything close to profiling of Middle eastern men like the ones who carried out the attacks of 9/11. Some of these workers find it difficult to resist to prejudge Muslims based on decades of cultural experience that they are the source to terrorism. Traveling is one of the main divisions that Muslims specifically face issues in, but they also like other minorities struggle to compete for jobs because of their differences in cultures and appearances. The new era post 9/11 has endured many changes, and major controversy around privacy, which was spotlighted by the government rebel Edward Snowden. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which created a secret court, was amended in 2001 and 2008, lowering the legal bar for the government to engage in wiretapping and other surveillance practices, National Law Journal Reports. It has been documented that the NSA (National Security Agency) transposed from an agency that mainly spied on terrorist, and foreign countries to spying more on American citizens illegally, according to charges by Snowden and others. It is estimated that that at least 30,000 drones will be airborne in American airspace by 2020, part of an $80 billion industry. Although some drones will be used for benevolent purposes, many will be equipped with lasers, tasers and facial scanning devices, among other weapons. We the people Americans are supposed to be the model for the western world, and rights are advertised as the most important value that is demonstrated by the U.S. Our rights supposedly include the right to privacy and its impossible to keep to your self if theres drones humming around the streets scanning faces, and super computers monitoring everything you put into googles search bar. What kind of country is supposed to model others if they break their own values and keep it as a secret? All aspects of a persons life are policed by government agents and all citizens are suspects, their activities monitored and regulated, their movements tracked, their communication spied upon, and their lives, liberties and pursuit of happiness dependent on the governments say-so Whitehead writes. The surveillance data that is collected for the authorities is then turned over to fusion centers. These centers serve as a clearinghouse for information shared between local, and federal agencies. Fusion centers constantly monitor our communications, everything from our internet activity and web searches to text messages, phone calls and emails White head reports. This data is then fed to government agencies, which are now interconnected: the CIA to the FBI, the FBI to local Police. The monstrous data collecting system benefits the government in tracking terrorism and helps keeps tabs on foreign countries, but theres still a huge downside of the excess data they obtain. The data industry is almost seen a profit orientated privacy scandal rather than tracking down suspicious activities from possible threats. The United States post 9/11 has completely renovated its system of national security. Activities that people could do without setbacks and check ups are no longer around because of new security policies. People who think that their privacy is secure without others knowing whats going on behind closed doors is not the reality. The Government uses google maps, cell phones, drones and the internet to track everyones activity. There is always an eye watching peoples everyday movements and logistics to better detect terrorism. Even though these data collecting centers are doing the people a favor to keep people safe from terrorism is the other aspect of the technology used to spy on citizens logically moral? Or is it there an exception in the current era because of all the stress, and anxiety from possible threats? The new security policies implemented in the United States reflects the effect of terrorism in the post 9/11 era. The negative influences from terrorists attacks is showered upon certain ethnic groups and American citizens natural rights.