The united states and the global war on terror

Thesis Overview

<p> </p><p>INTRODUCTION<br>1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY<br>Terrorism is a security problem that has plagued the world for centuries, states like USA just took a different softer approach towards it till it took a gruesome turn in the 20th century. Although attention to terrorism has increased sharply in recent years, it is by no means a new phenomenon. For decades terrorists have carried out attacks against non-combatant targets causing massive destruction by means of vicious assaults.,…</p><p>President Bush met with senior officials, as he said, ‗to assign tasks for the first wave of the war against terrorism. It starts today. A week later he explained, ‗Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. The 9/11 Commission considered the fatwa issued by the so-called ‗World Islamic Front‘ at the request of Osama Bin Ladin and Ayman al Zawahiri, calling for every Muslim who can to murder any American anywhere, to be a ‗declaration of war. The concept of a ‗war on terrorism‘ or ‗war on terror‘ has thus been taken literally rather than metaphorically in the sense of opposition to an idea, such as the war against fascism or the war on drugs.<br>Two weeks after the attacks of 9/11, the Security Council unanimously adopted anti-terrorism resolution 1373 (2001) on 28 September 2001, which reaffirmed the Council‘s unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist acts of 11 September and obligated all Member States to criminalize the wilful provision or collection of funds for terrorist acts and to freeze any financial assets and economic resources of those who commit or attempt to commit terrorist acts or participate in or facilitate the commission of terrorist acts and of persons and entities acting on behalf of terrorists. Moreover, all States must refrain from providing any form of support to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts and prevent terrorism by denying safe<br>haven to those who finance, plan, support, commit terrorist acts and provide safe havens as well. They must prosecute anyone who has participated in the financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting terrorist acts and should also ensure that terrorist acts are established as serious criminal offences in domestic law and seriously punished. They also must intensify and accelerate the exchange of information regarding terrorist actions or movements, forged or falsified documents, traffic in arms and sensitive material, use of communications and technologies by terrorist groups, and the threat posed by the possession of weapons of mass destruction. Before granting refugee status, all States should take appropriate measures to ensure that the asylum seekers have not planned, facilitated or participated in terrorist acts. The Security Council also established a 15-member Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) to monitor the resolution‘s implementation, revitalized in 2004 to provide expert advice on all areas covered by resolution 1373, to facilitate technical assistance, and to promote closer cooperation and coordination with regional and intergovernmental bodies. Terrorism in the twentieth century tended to accompany political conflicts centred on nation-states, in struggles for national independence or liberation from oppression or occupation. In recent years international terrorism has taken new directions through the linkage between struggles in different places and the rise of groups motivated by transnational religious ideologies. As the Bishops‘ Working Group pointed out (Countering Terrorism, p. 5), Al-Qa‘eda has both highly specific aims (US withdrawal from Saudi Arabia and the destruction of Israel) and more generalised ones (the removal of Western influence in Islamic lands and the establishment of an international Muslim caliphate). This requires the maintenance of a state of enmity between authentic Islam, as understood in Osama bin Laden‘s purist strand of Wahhabism, and the United States and its allies throughout the world.<br>Terrorism is not a new challenge to international order, although the influence of the United States has resulted in significant rethinking of the international law and politics of terrorism since the attacks on the US of 11 September 2001, which has had ramifications in all regions, including the Asia Pacific.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <br><p></p>