Terrorism

Ricardo Lagos is currently a professor-at-large at Brown University that used to be the president of Chile back in 2000. Before being president, Lagos held two cabinet jobs as minister of public works and first minister of education, the former being more recent than the latter. He is a native Chilian and when he was abroad, a coup d'etat overthrew the democratic government of the time and replaced it with a dictatorship under Pinochet, which was overthrown again for a democratic government. I believe the reason that Al-Qaeda gives the world for their hatred of all things related to Western society is the undevelopment of the Eastern society and the problems that Westerners are bringing to them. The Western scoiety depend on the resources found in Eastern nations and the conflicts that ensue from it all generates strife and suffering that Al-Qaeda resent. The exposure to Western civilizations could also expose more and more civilians to different religions then that is located in the Middle East, for example Christianity meeting with Islam.
 * Ricardo Lagos 6/7/11**
 * Do now #2 6/7/11**

I remember that shortly after the Twin Towers fell, former President Bush gave out a speech addressing the tradegy and kept the whole nation levelminded. I agree with this method of approach because if he had not done this, the U.S. would most likely be in war with the Middle East instead of fighting just against the terrorists.


 * Task 1**
 * Terrorism -** the action of creating destruction and chaos in order to achieve one's goals by any means necessary

1. Terrorist - anyone that one views that is using destruction, violence, or mayhem to coerce others to do what they want or manipulate a situation to their advantage; religion is often a cover for terrorist actions but can be fuelled by whatever reasons like greed, religion, or politics
 * Task 2**

2. Osama Bin Laden - the Arabian terrorist leader who established Al-Qaeda who was born in 1957 and was killed in May 2011

3. September 11 - a terrorist surprise attack that happened on Sept. 11, 2001 where Arab suicide bombers hijacked U.S. airliners and used them as kamikaze weapons against the citizens of the U.S. in hopes that the fear would give them leverage in their goals

4. Munich Olympics (1972) - as known as the Munich Massacre, the Israeli Olympic Team was taken hostage and were killed by a group of Palestinian terrorists from the group Black September

5. State sponsored terrorism - terrorism that a government deploys against its own people or support to international terrorism through acts of violence like intimidation, coercion, and fear in order to achieve a goal

6. Islamic Jihad - Shiite terrorist organization specializing in car bombs with plans to overthrow the Egyptian and Lebanon government through a coup d'etat and establish an Iranian fundamentalist Islamic state; has strong ties with Iran

7. Al-Qaeda - terrorist network with extreme resent to the U.S. that disperses money and resources to many radical Islamic terrorist groups; has more than 50 cells worldwide

8. Middle East - the site of ancient civilizations and birthplace of three religions and currently endless economic and political turmoil with area ranging from Eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to Northern Africa to Eastward Iran

Main Idea of article - The war against terrorism, terrorism, wars currently against terrorism
 * Task 3**

- Historian Hoffman stated that the war against terrorism was a "war without boundaries...it is a war directed against multiple enemies, not just one adversary." What did he mean by that? I understand that terrorists aren't all part of one unified group, but isn't the main enemy terrorism in general? If its not terrorism as the whole ideal, could it be the people that are being recruited? Is the whole war against terrorism making sure that new people don't become insurgents, but become counter-insurgents? - I give it to Bush that the is the only one thing he has ever done right in my eyes. His quote about the role of the Armed Forces, that "we will stay on the offense against the terrorists, fighting them abroad so we do not have to face them here at home" is idealistic and really the perfect goal of all Armed Forces. Their job is to put their life on the line on the front to make sure that we are safe home; they're the buffers that are giving up their lives to make sure the disaster doesn't come to us and I commend them for that - that's honor, valor, and courage at their best. However, I highly disagree with what he did; his job as President is to ensure our safety, not hide a war from us. Even though he has some preconceived obligation as President, his job is to keep our nation together and to not spew lies at us

All in all, the war against terrorism is a war that isn't definitively defined; it's a war with endless possibilities, an endless war that isn't so much a war but an attack on something that is almost a way of living. In all of America's past wars, the battle was a conventional army vs army conflict; with the war against terrorism, there is not one enemy, there are multiples under the same ideal. Unlike America's past invisible wars like the ones against poverty and drugs, the war against terrorism is an invisible war with real-life implications; it's not a fake rally of arms with hopes of good results - it's the real deal with hopes that something good will come out of it.